Observations of Advanced Sewing, or Students Stitch Success

Sewing Class students created Success Criteria, and it changed me as an educator.

Photo by Conor O'Nolan on Unsplash

NOTE: This article first appeared in Medium, LinkedIn, and Substack prior to being published on my site.

While in training to be a school leader, I visited a Fashion-themed school to observe a teacher’s practice.  The goal was to practice teacher feedback and share our teacher feedback with our leadership mentor.  In other words, we were to practice evaluating teachers.  

What I got instead was a MasterClass in student-driven assessment practices that changed me as an educator.

I Don’t Know How to Sew

While training to be a school leader, our mentor took me and my internship colleagues to a variety of schools around the city.  The goal was to see different models of teaching and learning.  During each visit, there was always a classroom visit planned so we could practice our observation and feedback skills.

To be clear, we did not give the hosting school and teachers our intern-level feedback.  We only shared feedback with our leadership mentor.  She would help us note what we didn’t see and reframe the feedback so it would help the staff grow and develop.  

On a visit to a High School with a specialized program for fashion and related industries, we were asked to observe an Advanced Sewing Class.  No way…

All other visits before this had been to more traditional content classes like Reading, Science, Algebra, Social Studies.  But Advanced Sewing?  I can barely reattach a button!

I entered the room so nervous.  Could I make valid observations in a subject where I personally could not complete a task?  Would I have any feedback to share?  What kind of leader was I going to be if I was in a school like this one?

I took out my notebook, sat to the side of the students at a large sewing table with other leadership interns, and prepared to take the best notes I could.  I was anxious, and more than a little unsure of myself.  

What I saw from this teacher and the students changed me as a teacher and as a future school leader.

Student-Generated Success Criteria

(apologies in advance for my bad use of sewing grammar and vocab, I did my best to remember the exact words and connect them properly)

The students came together at the start of the class for an opening discussion.  The teacher prompted them to share their learning from the previous day -- a particular type of stitch.  The teacher showed the students a dress form with muslin draped over a shoulder, and she pointed to a hem on the muslin that was a demonstration of the stitch.

“Take a look at the hem and stitching.  What makes this a good stitch?  Think through your ideas and then tell me what’s on your mind.”

The students began to call out positive characteristics of the stitch.  Some were technical in nature and likely learned during practice the previous day - “each loop in the stitch should be 2 cm apart.”  The teacher listed this quality on a whiteboard.  “And what else,” the teacher asked.

“Straight lines on the hem.”  “No bunching.” “Correct thread size and color.”

And so on, until there was a clear list of criteria that would let the students know they had achieved the same level of quality, or better, that was demonstrated on the dress form in front of them.  The teacher asked, “Are you all ready?”  And with a collective “yes”, she sent them to work at their stations.

What did I just watch?  

I sat there, watching this unfold in front of me with a sense of awe.  The students had created what was essentially their own list of Success Criteria for evaluation and assessment.  The teacher documented their ideas in a simple list generating what was essentially a single-point rubric.  As a leader, I would have rated this Highly Effective using the Danielson 3d rubric language (IYKYK).

More than the evaluation, I also felt more relaxed, more calm.  I had a grasp of the work happening in the classroom.  I observed students taking the lead in assessment, and I could clearly see structures used by the teacher and the students themselves to guide feedback in their design and implementation of the stitching.

As a leader, I had all I needed to walk around and ask students about their learning and design process.  More importantly, the students had all they needed in place to push themselves and their peers to better quality work.  The teacher had freed herself to walk, observe, offer feedback on next steps, or step in and direct teach to support a student still struggling.

Beyond the actual stitching, students first centered their work around goals they set for themselves.  The criteria the students named became shared language with their peers and teachers.  They took a common understanding of the basic stitch and transferred it to their own creations.  The students were able to self-monitor their own progress.  These were confident learners.

This experience also built a new level of confidence in me as a growing school leader.  I felt confident in leading learning outside of my content specialty -- Middle School Science and Biology.  I felt empowered, smarter, and I can only imagine that the students in that room felt the same.  

Reality Check

Did this teacher have students engage in self-directed assessment design daily?  Certainly not.  Did she have days where teaching was messy and less structured?  I’ll bet money she did, especially leading a course like Advanced Sewing.  Is student-driven Success Criteria something she has engaged in before with her students?  Most definitely.  She planned it, and she planned it throughout the year.

When you are leading learning experiences that are learning-by-doing, there are a lot of messy moments.  And a lot of opportunities to let students step up and guide the learning process, as I saw these students do.  When planning out an arc of learning, do you see a time or times in your plans when students might be able to engage in student-driven design of Success Criteria?  Can you make a note of when it will be messy so you can be sure to give yourself some grace and enjoy the learning process?

When I returned to my school, I shared this experience with my Principal and colleagues.  I made this part of my own practice.  And I continued to support teachers as a school leader to open up their practice for student-driven learning and assessment strategies.

I would love to hear your stories of and strategies for student-driven assessment practices.  Comment through this site or connect with me on BlueSky @bryangedu.bsky.social or LinkedIn @BryanGEdu.

I also wrote an article about using Success Criteria as I learn to bake.