Core Instructional Priority #1:
Equitable Access and Demand
Reflection - Why I Chose This Priority
I chose this core instructional priority because I am passionate about ensuring that all students have access to digital literacy. I wanted to make sure that I was providing meaningful opportunities for students across my school and district to engage with technology in meaningful and creative ways.
Summary of Work & Work Samples
Digital Learning PD / Digital Portfolios
To provide equitable access to digital learning throughout my school site, I worked with my DLeaF team members, Rowena and Lindsay, to develop a PD to promote our goal of implementing school-wide digital portfolios and learning around credible sources. In addition, we had staff test out an Adobe Express tool - Animate from Audio - to promote usage in their own classrooms. As a team, we are hoping to streamline digital learning across our school site so that all students have equitable access to digital literacy.
To further promote equity and anti-racist teaching in my classroom, I had students research an influential Black figure to create a video presentation for. Students used digital resources, like Epic and Britannica, to gather information. Then, they created videos on Adobe Express to present their learning. They learned how to use features such as inserting Adobe Stock media, text/fonts, icons, music, transitions/animations, and voiceovers. We even got a special lesson from Jackson Shaad, an Adobe EDU team member, to get students started on creating their videos!
Choice Boards (Novel Study & ELA)
To provide opportunities for choice in my classroom, I implemented Novel Study choice boards for students to complete after finishing their group book club cycle. Many of my students chose to create their own board games, which provided a fun opportunity for other students in the class to play their games and get interested in more books! As a 4th grade team, we also created a choice board for students to complete following Module 1 of the IntoReading curriculum that we were piloting. Students were able to apply their learning in an exciting and creative way!
In effort to teach students about LatinX heritage & activism, I created a project for 4th graders at Lafayette. Students learned about what it means to be an activist, as well as about the many contributions that LatinX people have made towards civil rights, equity and racial justice. Students learned about leaders like Cesar Chavez, JuliĂĄn Castro, and Joaquin Castro. Then, we considered causes that we were passionate about as a class. Finally, students reflected on causes that they are personally passionate about, and created their own activist posters on Adobe Express.
Family Traditions/Customs Project
Students had an opportunity to speak and connect with their families about a tradition/custom that is special to them. Using their research, students created Google slide presentations that they shared with their classmates. This helped build community and allowed students to share more about their cultures in an authentic way.
CUESF Presentation - Educator Spotlight
In order to spread more awareness about digital portfolios, I took time to share some of the work Iâve done in my classroom/school at a CUESF meeting. It was a great opportunity to showcase the success of my students & school while also learning from and connecting with other educators who are doing amazing things in their own environments!
Generative AI Project with Lindsey Blass (from Adobe EDU Team)
In order to provide equitable access to digital learning, I partnered up with Lindsey Blass from Adobe to teach all 4th grade students about generative AI and how it can be used in Adobe Express. This was a great opportunity for all students to try out a new digital tool, and allowed the other teachers an opportunity to learn alongside their students so that they could implement the platform in their own classrooms.
Reflection
My primary goal for implementing this core priority was to foster equity by ensuring that a wide spectrum of students could access digital learning and literacy. My emphasizing this instructional priority, students not only gained a deeper appreciation for each other, but also enriched our classroom community and culture. Furthermore, empowering students to showcase their learning in creative and diverse ways not only heightened their engagement but also allowed for lasting comprehension of their learning.
For example, students enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to craft videos using Adobe Express. Through this experience, they delved into the life and achievements of influential Black leaders, gaining profound insights into their historical significance and contributions to our world. Moreover, students effectively applied their newfound knowledge from our Module 1 Into Reading pilot curriculum by selecting activities from a choice board, which allowed them to delve deeper into specific skills and stories that we explored together. Some students chose to create a mural that represented the plot of a story, while others practiced point of view by creating âTweetsâ from the perspective of characters from the stories. Student work came out great and the choice board fostered a strong sense of creativity, choice and independence in our classroom.
In the future, I would like to support more teachers at my school site and in the district to prioritize equitable access and demand in their own learning environments. I feel that I started to do this through site-led PDs and presentations with the DLeaF committee at Adobe and CUESF, however, I would like to find ways to be more proactive and intentional about this goal next year. I love supporting my colleagues and am very passionate about providing equitable access to digital learning across the district. I would like to put more effort into building my presentation skills through attending more PD sessions and continuing to seek out opportunities to practice and grow. I plan to spearhead this next year by connecting with my admin at the beginning of the year and planning a school-site PD session on Adobe Express early in the year.
Core Instructional Priority #2:
Assessment for Learning
Reflection - Why I Chose This Priority
I chose this instructional priority after witnessing amazing success last year when I first implemented digital portfolios in my classroom. I wanted to develop portfolios with my students that they could carry with them throughout their career at SFUSD. I also wanted to support other educators and students outside of my classroom in doing the same.
Summary of Work
One way that I implemented the assessment for learning core instructional priority in my 4th grade classroom at Lafayette Elementary School was through student-led conferences. Using the templates provided in the previously mentioned resources, as well as a template my team shared with me, I created a digital elementary reflection that students used to reflect and share their findings during student-led conferences. Student-led conferences really allowed students the opportunity to take accountability for their own learning, and I was amazed at how many of them led a productive and honest conversation with their family member(s). In trimester 1, students needed a lot of support completing their reflections, however, but trimester 2 they were much more independent. They took about two weeks to complete the reflection process, which included them scoring themselves on various learning skills, stating strengths/areas for improvement in each academic area, selecting artifacts from each core academic area, and creating a script to help guide the conversation.
Additionally, as a DLeaF team, we have been focused on implementing school-wide portfolios at Lafayette Elementary School. In March, we led a PD session for our staff to remind them about this project (something that was rolled out last year) and encourage participation. This year, we are asking every classroom to have their students upload at least one ELA artifact into their Google Sites portfolios. In my own classroom, my students have made various digital portfolios on Adobe Express throughout the school year that they will be able to upload into their school-wide Google Sites portfolio. For example, after our field trip to the Marine Science Institute, students compiled their learnings from the three different stations they rotated through, as well as pictures from the trip, into a personalized portfolio to reflect on their experience. They uploaded this into their school-wide Google Sites portfolio, and will be able to reflect back on their learning and reflections throughout their entire SFUSD experience.
Work Samples
Reflection
My primary goal for implementing this core priority was to provide comprehensive support for both my students and our school community in developing portfolios that serve as enduring reflections of their academic journey through SFUSD. The significance of compiling their learning experiences in one accessible platform cannot be overstated, and digital portfolios offer an exceptional avenue for students to exhibit the creative and innovative work theyâve accomplished throughout each school year. Since many students started these portfolios last year when they were in 3rd grade, they were able to reflect on the substantial growth theyâve achieved from then to now.
Students at all academic levels were able to participate meaningfully in creating portfolios, and were excited to reflect on the work they accomplished this school year. Students especially found value in embedding the projects they made on Adobe Express into their portfolios. They included web pages that they created about our field trip with the Marine Science Institute, videos they made on the topic of Black History, and graphics they designed to showcase themselves as activists. Additionally students led their own conferences, empowering them to really reflect on their academic and social-emotional strengths and weaknesses. Through this experience, students gained valuable practice with leading a conversation and communicating their progress with both myself and their family members.
While I successfully rallied my 4th-grade team to ensure diligent portfolio updates with abundant work samples, I encountered some resistance in garnering full staff engagement. Looking ahead, I aim to spearhead professional development sessions earlier in the school year and collaborate with admin to carve out dedicated time during staff meetings for strategic planning and implementation. I would also like to develop and share more resources so that teachers feel comfortable and confident implementing them in their own classrooms. This proactive approach will foster opportunities for collective brainstorming, troubleshooting, and mutual support in overcoming any roadblocks that may arise. Recognizing that the effectiveness of school-wide portfolios hinges upon the collective commitment of all staff members and admin, I am eager to cultivate a more widespread understanding, appreciation, and investment in the invaluable endeavor at Lafayette.
Student Work Examination
Overview
In this section I explore student work that did and did not meet the goals / standards put forth. Overall, I noticed that students who were more comfortable with using technology performed better than those who were not as proficient. I noticed substantial growth by the end of the year for all students. Students who were still learning the basics at the beginning of the year were able to proficiently use basic functions like ctrl+c / ctrl+v to copy and paste, as well as take screenshots and upload graphics to their work. Students that already came in with strong digital skills were able to demonstrate more advanced skills, like including gifs in their work, embedding links, and using more design features, which ultimately made their work exceed expectations.
Met Goal
Student A: This student created a portfolio that is neat, creative, and complete with various work that he completed throughout the school year. He included narrative, informational and opinion essay samples that demonstrate grade level writing and digital literacy capabilities. He also included photos from the year, as well as answered the reflection questions provided. His portfolio is complete and he did an excellent job arranging all of his work in a meaningful and succinct way.
Student B: This student is on track to meeting the goals of the portfolio project, as outlined on this checklist. This studentâs portfolio is organized, visually appealing, and full of amazing digital work! He has graphics from the last two years included on his home page and work samples from STEAM, 3rd grade, and 4th grade on individual pages. He is still working on inputting the rest of his 4th grade work samples into his portfolio, but is on track to having it completed by the end of the school year.
Did Not Meet Goal
Student C: This student is one that I struggled to reach all school year. She is significantly behind her peers academically and socially, and has a hard time with independence and agency. It was difficult to scaffold the portfolio project for her without having her work 1:1 with an adult. In order to support, I inputted some sentence frames into her portfolio for her to complete. She successfully did so for her STEAM Cardboard Challenge entry, however, has not made substantial progress with uploading and reflecting on her 3rd or 4th grade classroom work samples. While her portfolio is less developed than the majority of the class, she continues to try her best to include as much as she can.
Student D: This student came into the school year with limited digital literacy skills. A concern her mom addressed with me at the beginning of the year was that they donât use much technology at home, and that she felt her daughter was falling behind. Throughout the year, her digital skills really blossomed. At the beginning of the year she had a difficult time even getting signed into her computer and apps, but as she became more confident she started creating work that surpassed my expectations. She even started to create her own Google slides and Adobe Webpages about topics of personal interest (Taylor Swift) in her free time. Unfortunately, she has been falling behind in her portfolio. While she has gained a lot of digital literacy skills this school year, she still takes quite a long time to complete work online. Thus, she has not been able to make substantial progress on her portfolio. She is missing all 3 of her writing work samples, photos, and her reflection. She also does not have any 3rd grade work uploaded, which I found out is because she did not do any digital work outside of STEAM in her classroom last year. I plan to provide her with time to finish by the end of the year so that she can document and reflect on all the amazing work she's done this year! Moving forward, I plan to connect with the 3rd grade teachers to make sure they have the support they need to ensure their students are adding to the school-wide portfolios.
Reflection
Overall, the students really enjoyed building their portfolios and gaining valuable digital skills. Many have taken their learning and used it to create their own personal projects, like graphics on Adobe Express to promote their band concert, and Google Slides to teach others the history of their favorite singers. Every student was able to demonstrate growth, and the projects they created were ones that provided opportunities for them to be excited about their learning. In the future, Iâd like to learn more about the possibilities of having a template in Google Sites that struggling students can utilize, rather than starting from scratch. This, however, seems to prove challenging since these portfolios are started in 3rd grade, so by the time they come to me in 4th grade, they have already started. I want to connect with our STEAM teacher and the 3rd grade teachers at my site to see if we can streamline a process / template for students who need extra support, so theyâre set up for future success.
Resources for Getting Started
1. Get started with Adobe Express by having your students create some type of identity poster at the start of the year. My first year I started off with a simple graphic, but as I got more confident I had students create activist posters which allowed them to experiment with more features in Adobe Express.
2. Try having your students type their writing pieces if you donât already do so! I had my students go through the writing process for each type of writing in their notebooks first, and then publish online. They created Google Slides, Webpages, and videos to share their writing pieces.
3. Try out the Adobe Express monthly challenges. These are easy, fun ways to get students familiar with the tools and thinking creatively. These pieces also make for great additions to their portfolio! My students really enjoyed the Generative AI challenge, and were able to use what they learned in future products to create personalized and creative work.
4. I had students start adding to their portfolio around February, but you can start earlier or later! Use some sort of checklist so they know exactly what work samples they should upload into their portfolio. You can provide specific samples that you want them to include, or give them some choice. I made sure my students uploaded at least one sample from each genre of writing (informational, narrative, opinion),but I let them pick from all of the work they did throughout the year.
5. At the end of the year, have some sort of publishing party to showcase student work! Invite families and other staff members to join to make it special.