The Shadow a Student Challenge is a journey that starts with seeing school through your student’s eyes, identifying meaningful opportunities to improve the school experience for your students, and then taking action to create change at your school site.
STEP ONE
Prep
The purpose of the prep phase is to help you prepare to have a meaningful shadow experience.
PREP ACTIVITIES
Create learning goals for your shadow day
Choose a student
Coordinate with your student, parents, and staff
Meet your student
STEP TWO
Shadow
During your shadow day, you won’t be evaluating classes, teachers, or your student. The goal is to immerse yourself in your student’s experience. Plan to spend the entire day getting to know his or her needs.
SHADOW ACTIVITIES
Meet your student at the bus stop
Shadow him or her for an entire day
Capture your learnings
Share your observations, photos, and have fun!
STEP THREE
Reflect
You’ll reflect on the meaning behind your observations and find opportunities for action.
REFLECT ACTIVITIES
Identify your most interesting thoughts and observations
Turn your observations into opportunities
Share what you find with others
STEP FOUR
Act
The purpose of shadowing students is to improve their school experiences. That means taking action! But it doesn’t mean solving everything at once. In the ACT step, you’ll try small experiments called ‘hacks’ to move your school toward Deeper Learning. The toolkit is full of ways to get started. The Shadow community is here to help, too!
ACT PHASE ACTIVITIES
Achieve quick wins with our example hacks
Design your own action plan
Share your questions, challenges, and accomplishments
