You know that feeling you get when your plan actually pans out? Yes, that's how I feel. When we were charged to come up with an innovation plan I was at an impasse. How could I bring innovation into my classroom? After a few brainstorming sessions with my peers and some much needed direction from Dr. Sue, I settled on ePortfolios. It seemed like a great choice because I was also building out an eP for the ADL program. With the help of Dr. Dweck, weeks of research and a few days tinkering with different website builders I'd finally developed my ePortfolio project for my 8th grade Digital Design students.
My Goals & Approach
I planned to roll-out the eP project in the Spring. This would give me enough time to introduce the project, share the progress of my own eP, introduce my students to the Growth Mindset and establish an effective scoreboard that would encourage them to do the necessary preliminary work for their ePs. The goal was to communicate clearly and in a timely manner to decrease confusion and overwhelm for students and families. My goals was to also share the journey of creating artifacts, collecting media and writing reflections with my students, even as I did the same for grad school. At the start of the 22/23 school year I provided a year-at-a-glance syllabus to my students and their families. I made sure that I highlighted our Spring semester project and final exam grade, their ePs. I provided a clear outline of the project as well as my expectations. I explained how the projects we completed in the Fall would be part of the eP so it was vital that students worked hard and executed from the start. As the students began creating work and writing reflections I emphasized the importance of properly naming and organizing their files in Google Drive for easy access when needed. As the Fall semester ended and we prepared for the Winter break I sent home another correspondence to remind both students and families that upon return, we would begin our eP project. I sent home the outline again and encouraged anyone, student or guardian, to contact me with any questions at any point during the project.
The Project
After we returned from Spring Break the students began creating their ePs. At the point they had everything they needed as far as content, they just needed to place and design their sites. Before I let them loose to create we reviewed concepts such as layout, composition, reflective writing, the editing process, color harmony, and typography. The website builder we used was Wix.com. They students created Wix accounts using their student email addresses and all students were strongly encouraged to start with a blank template. The students were given the following:
The students were divided into learning communities using a name generator. They were encouraged to seek guidance, consultations, and immediate feedback from their LC. It took them some time to get used to the idea of an LC, but they eventually came around. I made sure to communicate with the students and their families weekly ensure deadlines were clear and students were on track with completing weekly deliverables. In the end, most of my students created some fantastic work and wrote some great reflections regarding the creation process and working with their LCs. Unfortunately I did not get 100% participation from my students, but it was a great end result considering it was the pilot roll-out.
What worked?
Communicating with families and students from the start of the school year and circling back before and during the project significantly helped with student accountability. For those students who chose not to participate and earned a zero for their Spring final exam grade, I was able to provide months of student and parent correspondence.
Creating LCs using a name generator was also a great decision. It made the students learn to work with different people and problem solve in uncomfortable spaces. The way the students interacted at the start of the project with their LCs and the way they interacted at the end was striking.
Encouraging the students to share their work with their other teachers and administrators worked well also. It encouraged them share and collaborate with people outside of our classroom and even sped up their revision process at times, because they couldn't wait to share their ePs again.
What could you do better?
Although I provided spanish instructions to my EB students, I need to to back and add more photos. I also want to provide a high frequency translations sheet for the words they will see a lot during their design process. I also need to ensure that I have enough Spanish to English dictionaries to accommodate all my students.
Using Wix also came with its share of issues as far as student access, so I provided my campus DLAC with information on Bulb and I am hopeful that we can secure an eP platform with will decrease our access and privacy issues.
What lessons have you learned?
Don't be so hard on myself. I knew better than to expect perfection but I was really disappointed that a small population of my students decided not to participate even after being given several deadline extensions and a simplified alternate assignment.
Technology is unpredictable. You would think as the only graphic design teacher on my campus I would have access to adequate and updated computers, but that was not and is not the case so I had to pivot some days to a connecting assignment on the days my tech was on the fretz.
Take some time away from the ePs. There were some days the project was too repetitive or mundane so I had to incorporate some other assignments and activities to keep the pulse of the classroom upbeat.
How do you plan to promote and communicate your innovation project?
I was fortunate enough to actually roll-out my innovation plan to my students, but it is my goal to expand my classroom project to a campus project and eventually a district-wide initiative. I shared my outlines and materials with my administrators and they were excited to review and collaborate with me. We have plans in July before school begins to make the necessary changes to the project to take it from a digital design project to a multi-content project.
How would you apply what you have learned to your next innovation project?
Take your time! As I work with my campus administrator to transition my design focus project into a multi-content project I will prioritize taking the necessary time to plan, share, collaborate, revise, and revise again. During my initial roll-out I had to make a few changes on the fly, one major change being the timeline. I originally planned for the project to take 6-weeks to complete, but as the students worked I realized we were moving faster than I'd anticipated so I adjusted the timeline to 4-weeks.
I will also encourage any teacher who plans to implement ePs in their classrooms to create their own first. It was helpful to have my own eP to share with my students and also share in the journey of creating our online identities. It demonstrated to my students that we are all learners and can all learn from one another no matter our position in the classroom.
Conclusion
Overall I am happy with my pilot roll-out and I am excited to see how my innovation plan expands beyond my classroom. I received great feedback from my students, colleagues and administrators and am ready to take the next steps.
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