Honoring Student Voices NYSED  LTG

Honoring Student Voices (HSV)

An NYSED  Learning Technology Grant Project 

Project  Overview  

The everyday practices of traditional education have drastically changed over the last fourteen months. What teachers and administrators across the country have learned and experienced, in trying to create and sustain quality teaching and learning in the midst of a pandemic, will permanently impact the return of in-person instruction. Despite the many challenges that were faced by teachers, students and families, particularly in underserved communities, there were several accomplishments derived from the remote learning environment. The use of an online learning platform combined with technologies that served a  variety of modalities, gave all students opportunities for learning by discovery and provided a continued drive for engagement. One of the most significant drawbacks of virtual learning were choices and/or technology obstacles that restricted students from sharing their camera and voice during synchronous learning sessions making it virtually impossible for teachers to assess the learning and for students to have any meaningful interactions with their peers. HSV is a blended learning approach that will leverage the use of digital media and its capacity for providing opportunities for multiple modalities of learning and self-expression to enable student voice across all areas of the curriculum. HSV will focus on the integration of the arts and literacy across core subject learning to support culturally linguistic relevance in a project-based learning environment. HSV will be conducted in three New York City (NYC) Community School District 10 (CSD10) schools in the Bronx: PS 85, a Comprehensive Support and Improvement school (CSI) , PS 159 and PS 205.  CSD 10 is one of the largest urban school districts in NYC serving a population of over 50,000 students. HSV will impact 15 classroom teachers, 7 teacher specialists (technology , library media , literacy coach) and at least 750 students, grades 3 through 5, over a 3-year period. Teachers will collaborate with an artist in residence working with students in a team-building approach where students participate as designers, documenters, and strategists creating multimedia projects that integrate creative arts and literacy aligned with core curriculum standards. HSV will focus on three phases of planning, implementation and dissemination leading to the building, curating and publicizing of materials and artifacts including teacher and student digital portfolios featured on a district website, monthly school-based news casts highlighting current events and made public on a YouTube channel, and the creation of digital media projects in the form of  murals, video, and augmented reality experiences (AR).  HSV  will develop a scaffolded approach to  project-based literacy and arts integration through the effective use of a blended learning model that fosters the 4C’s of 21st Century Learning: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication as a pathway to college and career readiness . The goals of HSV are:

o To provide ongoing, sustained professional learning opportunities to targeted administrators, teachers, and specialists that build capacity to offer a standards-based blended learning approach that integrates arts and literacy with the core curriculum

o To build student voice and  21st century learning skills using digital media to address students’ academic needs and develop evidence- based projects that integrate arts and literacy learning in science, social studies and mathematics.

o To develop and disseminate instructional materials as regional and state-wide public resources supporting the expansion of a blended learning model that integrates literacy and arts-based learning throughout the core curriculum

The Digital Age Learning (DAL) team will partner with school administration to provide ongoing professional development and classroom support throughout all program phases.