What does meaningful student documentation actually look like in practice? In this episode of Story of a Post, we sit down with Chelsea Freeman and her advisee Hannah from Tonasket Choice High School to unpack one Unrulr post and the culture of reflection behind it.
Tonasket Choice High School is a small rural school in north-central Washington, just shy of the Canadian border, with 26 students enrolled. They've been a Big Picture Learning school for eight years and have used Unrulr to document learning for the past three.
Hannah's post comes from her internship at a local tire shop in town. It's a simple but powerful combo: two photos that show (not tell) what she's working on, plus an audio reflection where she digs into how she's learning— the metacognition piece that turns a snapshot into evidence of growth.
Hannah is honest about her journey as a documenter. Like most students at Choice, she started with one or two sentence posts. No photos or depth. Over time, she built her own rhythm, and now when she posts, she reflects much more deeply.
So how did Chelsea get students from "that's awesome" posts to rich reflection? A few things:
Lovingly bribing them. Chelsea runs a weekly raffle. When a student makes a "good post" (one with enough detail to actually support reflection and show growth over time) they earn a raffle ticket. Prizes range from donated coffee shop gift cards to hats, socks, and snacks. Low stakes, high fun.
Prompts that taper off over time. The year started with regular (sometimes daily) prompts in Unrulr to help students get comfortable and find their personal documentation style. As students built their own rhythm, Chelsea pulled back. She wants posting to feel authentic and rewarding, and not like a worksheet.
Modeling, modeling, modeling. Chelsea has her own learning plan, just like her students, and she posts about her goals right alongside them. Her recent journey was designing an outfit out of recycled toilet paper rolls and donated packing paper for the town's "Trashion Show" fundraiser— and winning first prize in the adult category, literally modelling! As Hannah puts it, when teachers post too, it's more encouraging. Students aren't out there documenting alone.
For Hannah, documentation in the moment becomes a lifeline at the end of each term, when students are required to summarize their learning. Nobody remembers what they were thinking three months ago, but a captured moment, with real reflection attached, brings it all back.
For Chelsea, the posts are a window into experiences she can't witness firsthand. She's Hannah's advisor, not her internship coordinator, so she's never seen Hannah at work. Through Unrulr, she sees the photos, the skills, the people Hannah works with, and connects with her student on a deeper level. Over time, those posts stack up into what Chelsea calls a "picture resume." Students aren't just saying they can do something. They're showing it.
Every student at Choice has a learning plan, and Unrulr is where they document progress toward their goals: internships, projects, day-to-day learning moments. The emphasis this year is, don't just capture the moment, be in it. Reflect on what you're doing and what it means. Those reflections become the raw material for end-of-term summaries and a growing record of each student's growth.
Watch the full conversation above to hear Chelsea and Hannah tell it in their own words.
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