Megan

Hey Megan! I love your project idea. What a great way to get first graders
writing and thinking about something special that has happened in their
lives. Writing personal narratives gives the students an opportunity, as
you’ve mentioned, to share something about their culture or experiences;
ones that may be different from their peers. I know you wanted to
strengthen the cultural responsive part of this project, but I think you have
it. When introducing the topic to your students, you could begin with your
own journey; maybe share something about your culture or
experience-share your own digital narrative example with them. I always
like to use props and dress up when introducing a new project! This way,
the conversation is geared more towards writing something about a specific
tradition that they have experienced. You have nailed many of the Engaged
Learning Indicator requirements! Way to go! Students will be producing
authentic work and creating valuable artifacts (the book) that will be
cherished for a lifetime. This is student-directed because the students will
be choosing their own small moment to share, and since this is a diverse
population with lots of experiences and traditions, I think you can add being
culturally responsive as well. Breaking this in chunks during the writing
process and having students partner to read and offer feedback is a great
way for peers to collaborate. This would be a great opportunity to include a
peer rubric. Students could even document the entire process via a digital
portfolio such as https://web.seesaw.me/ or https://www.classdojo.com/ .
This is a great way to show the parents the process rather than just the
finished product.

This project reaches all the components of a Loti 5, due to all the
possibilities to include digital content, extending publishing to a wider
audience that exists outside of the classroom, and its authenticity. May I
recommend possible ways to take this to a Loti 6? This is a great
opportunity to take this project globally! Perhaps you can connect with
another class via sites such as https://www.epals.com/#/connections .Here,
students connect with a classroom around the world and communicate with
one another. One topic of discussion could be a comparison of traditions
and costumes: What do schools look like? How are birthdays celebrated?
What are some favorite sports they play?
Another site I think would be great to introduce during this project is
https://www.globaledguide.org/projects/my-identity-your-identity-culture-proj
ectm. Here, students will have opportunities to examine elements that form
their identities. https://empatico.org/about/ is another great one! Empatico
allows educators from around the globe to virtually connect their
classrooms together.

You mentioned sharing this video via Flip and producing QR codes. I think
this is a great student friendly and fun way to share their publishings. Flip
also makes it easy to print the QR code for others to scan. I would like to
suggest another way to represent the work. Have you tried
https://www.adobe.com/express/ ? The platform has changed a bit since I
had students produce narrative videos, but it looks like it’s even better than
ever and it rates very high on
https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/adobe-express. I have
seen kindergarten students use it for Student Led Conferences, doing
similar to what your project entails. Under the video selection, kids can
snap a photo of each page, one by one: title page, dedication page,
beginning, middle, end, and all the illustrations. Then for each slide/photo
uploaded, the students push the record button and record a voice over for
the image displayed, one by one. I think this would be easier to do on
iPads, so reserve the cars as soon as you can! :) I think you’re going to
love it! You can then create a link of each students’ video to generate QR
codes on sites such as https://goqr.me/ . The QR codes can be placed
around the school or even in your local bookstores! Parents could come to
listen to books created, which would be yet another way to extend your
audience outside of the classroom. This would also be a great way to
celebrate the work during your class Celebration of Learning!

I hope some of the ideas listed above prove useful. I am open to sharing
some of my experiences with you and open the conversation to using new
sites and exploring them together as well.
Pam Hodgson, Engaged Learning Project Idea

Hey Pam! I enjoyed reading all about your engaged learning project and
wish I could be a participant learning alongside your students. What an
excellent way to promote 21st century skills and provide real world
experiences at the 4th and 5th grade levels! You have a strong plan in
place that even promotes a personalized learning plan (PLP), offering voice
and choice, and countless opportunities to collaborate with peers within the
classroom, mentors, and even high school students. Parents are informed
about the project every step of the way via Cobb’s LMS and they even have
opportunities to offer insight from personal experiences and offer feedback.
Will the students have opportunities to create their own apps or games, for
example, during this competition? What a great way for students to take on
a real world role and create a product!

I like that surveys will be sent out beforehand to create student profiles. I
also noticed that you will have self-assessments for students to complete
as well as formative and summative assessments. What are your thoughts
about having students complete a pre-assessment questionnaire just to get
an overall idea of their tech background knowledge? This would encourage
them to choose a category that will be more rigorous and new when
preparing for the NCTC competition.

You did a great job incorporating technology standards while including

some of your gifted standards. I wonder if the state standards could also
include some of the science standards students are learning?
I agree with your mention of Engaged Learning Indicators listed. If there is
any possibility to add science standards, this would be a great opportunity
to include that multi-disciplinary indicator.

In your reflective questions, you mentioned strengthening the project to be

seamless and ongoing. I wonder if you could have students connect to
another class globally so that students in other countries, possibly
completing a similar task, may offer feedback? This would add the culturally
responsive indicator and create more opportunities for the learning to
continue.

I agree that your loti level could reach a stage 6 due to the high level of
quality tech that will be incorporated, with the addition of authentic tasks.
Reaching that broader audience, even beyond high school will take you
there!

What if students could teach the younger regular ed classes and get them
excited about the design process? They could share their projects and
mentor them using
https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/design-squad-global as a
starting point. http://www.kidsthinkdesign.org/products/index.html is
another site that invites young designers to share their projects as well.

I hope my suggestions are useful. I teach the little ones, so I was really
trying to visualize what I would like to see happen in terms of technology
mentorship in my classroom. I would welcome a visit from the older grades
to teach us about their involvement in NCTC and their creations, while
having them as mentors once a month so that my 2nd graders are being
exposed to all the possibilities that tech brings!

Great work.
Kaylin

Hey Kaylin. I enjoyed reading about your collaborative project about

microorganisms. This offers high levels of engagement for all students.
Students have opportunities to get outside of the classroom and explore
the outside world to get a deeper understanding of how microorganisms
work to benefit the survival of plants and animals. The students have
opportunities to work collaboratively and offer feedback to one another.
Bringing in Park Rangers and Skyping with a scientist will motivate
students to dig deeper in their research and project demonstration. I love
the idea of presenting to high school students and sharing the research
with other classes in different schools. You have listed many options for
presentation such as iMovie, Flip, Power Point, and Sway. You did a great
job enabling many of the engaged learning indicators. Although it wasn't
listed, I think you could also include student-directed, as students are
choosing their path to research and presentation model. Students are in
charge of their own learning as you serve as facilitator and co-investigator.
With the use of rubrics, conferences, and formative assessments along the
way, you have created seamless/ongoing learning because you are able to
provide feedback on performance throughout the entire learning process.
Great job!
I agree that this is a Loti 5, with the potential to be at the Loti 6 level. By
incorporating a wider range of technology, this will allow for an even greater
tech rich environment using advanced technology and tools that might be
used by professionals. Some examples might include:
● https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/uhandy -a
microscope attachment for mobile devices inspires field investigation
● https://www.commonsense.org/education/lists/ar-and-vr-games-and-a
pps-for-learning - a curated list of AI and VR that extend what we see
in the classroom or bring the outside world in.
● https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2020/10/story-spheres-create-im
mersive-audio.html I found this article that offers insight on a tool
called Story Spheres: This site allows students to create audio
recordings to 360 imagery. Story Spheres lets you upload short audio
 recordings in which you describe to viewers what they're seeing.What
a great way to showcase what the students are learning as part of their
project design.
● https://mysteryscience.com/ -this is a great site to offer lessons on
various science types, including microorganisms
● https://askabiologist.asu.edu/games-and-simulations This site offers
games and simulations for students studying about as biologists and
more.

You have a well thought out Engaged Learning plan. I hope you find some
of the suggestions helpful in adding to some element of the project. I find
this topic interesting and will continue exploring. I will let you know if I
come across other interesting ways to incorporate tech.

Great work!