EDLD 5320 Contributions to my Learning Community

Ashleigh Carter Kegler
Jul 23, 2023
4 min read

Self Grade: 89

Wow! This is my last contributions post, so let's finish how we started, STRONG! EDLD 5320 is like no other course in the ADL program. It is centered around reflection, revision, and collaboration. After more than 12 months of creating and revising my innovation plan I rolled out my ePortfolio project to my students in March 2023. Prior to beginning the project I communicated clearly and consistently to students and families to eliminate any confusion regarding dates, expectations, etc. I am happy to report that 95% of my students completed the project and one even won first place in our district's multimedia competition. I was nervous before starting the project and even a little anxious once the ball was rolling due to a few on the fly adjustments I had to make in class. Overall I was satisfied with the initial rollout.

After selecting a few student ePs I thought would be great examples I shared a few with some members of my original cohort, Patrick Rodriguez and Adrianna Ortiz as well as current classmates Tonya Logan and Chris Hill. Patrick and I worked very closely together while he was in the program due to our physical proximity to one another and our innovation plan similarities. Even with Patrick graduating in May he was still a huge help during the revision process of my eP project. We still texted, Zoomed, and I was even a guest on his teacher podcast, The Rod Class Podcast.

Comprehensive Contributions

Honestly, due to the reflective nature of this course I found that I didn't lean on my classmates as much. Mainly because my original cohort graduated in May and the only other people I have relationships with are Valary and Tonya. The people I leaned on the most during my revision process were old classmates, current colleagues, my DLAC, and my campus administrators. I was fortunate enough to have rolled out my innovation plan in my classroom and collect enough data to present to my DLAC and admin in hopes they would support the expansion of this project beyond my classroom and adopt it as a campus project. I met with my DLAC and campus principal over the summer to discuss the purchase of BULB to ensure the privacy of our students since I was advised not to use

programs like WordPress or Wix, and I was adamant that my students were far too advanced to be relegated to creating ePs in Google Sites. I shared a few example ePs from my students as well as my extensive research on the advantages of student ePs both academically and technically. They were both very impressed with my research, data, and passion for the eP project. We made plans to meet with the campus specialists once we all returned to work to discuss how each content area could implement ePs into their curriculum and how I could work with specialist and teachers on the technical side of ePs. I noted to my principal and DLAC that I'd already developed a professional learning outline in my ADL program and was ready to start as soon as possible. Overall I am happy with the feedback I received from my admin and as we prepare to go back to work in a week, I feel supported and empowered to expand the eP project campus-wide and hopefully in a few years, district-wide.

Contributions to my Learning Community

It was hard to find my place in this course because my original cohort graduated in May. The people I usually worked with were not in my course, even though I still collaborated with them. Vallary and Tonya were the only people in this course I knew from previous courses. Another significant difference was the absence of my ADL angel, Dawn Short. From my first semester in the ADL program I've had at least one course with Dawn and she was, most times, my saving grace. Easy to work with, a great collaborator, awesome encourager, etc. Dawn not being in this class made me feel disconnected. Lastly, unlike last summer, I worked this summer doing parental supervision which made is difficult for me to join live class meetings and collaborate with my peers as I had done in previous courses. I had to pivot and find a way to lend my assistance to others in the ADL program. Our GroupMe was were I contributed the most. The group is constantly growing due to new students enrolling in the program and there were a lot of questions regarding Wix, web design, Canva, etc. This is where I found myself most useful as I have already completed my eP (as it relates to the program) and am a graphic and web designer. I recorded tutorial videos and shared other online resources that helped me. This contribution was not like other experiences but I am still proud that I found a way to help others even while interacting differently. All course work, discussions, and videos for this class were completed.

My Student eP Project Materials

If you are interested in implementing ePs into your classroom, feel free to use my templates as a starting point. Remember, these documents are living and always being revised to improve student experience and outcome. If you have emergent bilinguals (EBs) in your classroom Google Docs has an easy tool to translate your English documents. Check out the short tutorial video below.