What's an Inspiration Wall??

I had a lot of questions on this from my post Empower Students By Publishing their Words (in 20 Seconds or Less)!, so I figured I'd make a separate post here.

When I was a third grade teacher, we created a classroom space that they were completely in charge of. We called it our Inspiration Wall. Anytime we were reading a book or an article, or listened to great music, or heard a quote from a video- the students were able to call out "WOW! Those words moved me. Let's put it on our Inspiration Wall!" It was so cool to have them become aware of words that carry power for them and make them feel a certain way. 

The students were in charge of the space. They chose where it went in our classroom and even what colors we used. We included pictures, quotes, song lyrics, photos from home, and much more. We even included funny memes that we found online. We hung up pictures of ourselves doing science experiments, too. When we received college mail (more details on the College Project can be found in my book), we would hang up handwritten letters or pennants there, too. I loved getting cheap calendars towards the end of the year, especially the ones that had cute animal pictures or beautiful scenescapes of mountains or beaches. These photos made great additions to our inspiration wall at school!

The students even started to create their own Inspiration Walls at home! It was really neat to have them bring in their own pictures of things that inspired them. 

Other variations may include a digital Inspiration Wall, such as in Google Slides, Padlet, or other platform (think of how many of us have Pinterest boards!). Students may also keep their own Inspiration Notebook where they capture these moments, too. 

I loved having those reflective moments with kids about what inspires us and each other! I think it's a great life skill for us to lean into moments that feel good!