Embedded Files
A cross-functional leadership team sets a clear vision for the school, its culture, and what teaching
and learning look like before putting technology in classrooms.
School Progress & PLP
School Progress & PLP
Increasing ENGAGEMENT, collaboration, and confidence
Increasing ENGAGEMENT, collaboration, and confidence
"Nearpod is amazing because it increases students' engagement, collaboration skills, and confidence. Not to mention that it allows students to have field trips to places they have never seen before. The Nearpod with the questions and ability to allow questions in the middle of the video is a great help as well. " - Thomas Baker, 6th Grade Social Studies
Smith.mp4MRs. Smith
MRs. Smith
Hello, my name is Sabrina Smith. I am a 6 and 8th-grade ELA teacher at Akili Academy of New Orleans. With the help of my VILS Coach, I was able to utilize Nearpod, Padlet, and Google Drawing this school year. I found that Nearpod increased engagement of all scholars and held them accountable. Padlet was used to foster collaboration and lay a foundation for Socratic Seminars. This provided scholars an opportunity to take risks and build communication skills. Google drawing was used to convert documents into graphic organizers, create choice boards for projects, and design interactive timelines for scholars. This increased achievement and built confidence among scholars.
Next year, I look forward to deepening my understanding of these platforms and extending collaboration and STEM opportunities for scholars.
Mastering the fundementals with ST Math
Mastering the fundementals with ST Math
"ST Math has been integral in helping my students achieve their IEP goals. They were able to master foundational math concepts through fun puzzles and take ownership of their learning by passing targeted levels. The personalized nature of ST Math aligns perfectly with IEP goals, which are standards-aligned and individualized to each student." - Mrs. Beirise-McAuley
LStockman1.mp4increasing Student Confidence
increasing Student Confidence
An Akili scholar using Augmented Reality for the first time to discover what life might be like on Mars.
Atkins_Amplify.MOVINCREASING STUDENT COLLABORATION SKILLS
INCREASING STUDENT COLLABORATION SKILLS
Mr. Atkins using Amplify to lead a collaborative activity on biodomes.
Ensuring Academic equity
Ensuring Academic equity
IMG_1772.MOV
Mrs. Smith had the monumental task of teaching the entire 7th and 8ths Grade in the cafeteria during the latter part of the school year.
Smith leverages Google Classroom, Nearpod, and Discovery Education to close the performance gaps.
School & District Leadership
School & District Leadership
How does the campus leadership team model and collaborate with each other to support campus goals?
The campus leadership team models collaboration in many ways. The leadership team meets twice a week to review initiatives that will support our school in instruction and culture. These initiatives are then shared school-wide to promote overall school culture and the direction we want to go in instruction. Further, we assign certain instructional and cultural tasks to grade band leaders to bring to their grade-level teams. In grade-level teams, team members can decide on different initiatives that directly affect their students. We give that autonomy to teachers because they know their students best and the things that they need.
IT Artifact Examples
IT Artifact Examples
Have you created documentation of policies for teacher and student device usage?
Scholars, their parents, and staff are given a presentation introducing or reintroducing the VILS program. They then co-sign a handbook at the beginning of the year in order to receive their devices. New and returning scholars participate in lessons around basic troubleshooting and caring for their devices.
New and returning staff also take place in a VILS rollout PD that also introduces new staff to Google Classroom and other commonly used tech tools.
The tech training deck and staff commitment agreement are evidence of district or school policies and expectations for teacher and student device usage.
Principal Pathways self-guided learning.
How are school/district leaders a part of the learning process?
Our principal, a former classroom teacher, is an active participant in all VILS Learning Experiences and is invested in staying informed on what teachers are learning and what resources can be deployed to impact teaching and learning in our school.
How does the district leadership team innovate and collaborate to ensure long-term sustainable practices?
The CMO continues to stay abreast of relevant changes in education and does research on what changes to our practice can effectuate rapid academic growth in our students. The CMO works continuously to secure funding for long-term stability and the organization has never experienced a time when we have had a lack of resources or funding.
We have consistent collaboration across our network regarding VILS, including a weekly Coaches' Synch. We frequently troubleshoot and work to align tech management practices across the network. We have aligned many of our tech management practices and frequently troubleshoot together. We also look outward and gather tips from VILS calls regarding creative documents or management tools.
Have you implemented best practices gained from leadership calls, national calls, and IT calls? Can you point to ways in which you've modified your PL and IT practices as a result of reflection and learning from others?
Some of my biggest challenges as a first-year coach were being pulled in various directions and changing the perception of who I was in the building as an enrichment teacher. I was particularly inspired by the Steven Covey "Big Rocks" video that was shared in an all coach zoom. I have been taking this concept of putting the most important things at the forefront and will continue to do so as I grow in this role.
TLC Members, Mr. Atkins and Mr. Baker.
Teacher Leader CORPS
Teacher Leader CORPS
Were TLC members given the opportunity to lead training at your campus?
Although this year's challenges have prevented us from having many whole group trainings this year, TLC members have been a crucial part of several initiatives. These include modeling what they've learned via VILS workshops and exploring new tech tools. Mr. Baker and Mr. Atkins will be featured in Discovery Education's "Master Class" series.
How has the group impacted school improvement or student learning?
Our TLC members consistently model successful tech usage in the classroom, share ideas and resources, and often make connections across schools.
Ia 1 Review Do Now MD Rational Numbers.pdfMs. Nolan's IA Review Nearpod converted to PDF.
What we'd do differently
What we'd do differently
"Rough start" is a pervasive theme of this school year. While every school in the nation grappled with Covid-19, Akili was also in the middle of a significant leadership change and lost three weeks of learning because of Hurricane Ida, which greatly affected Akili families and staff alike. I was also brand new to the coach role after the sudden departure of my predecessor.
There were so many challenges that I'm not entirely sure what I could have or what we could have done differently as a team. However, so many valuable lessons were learned that we've already started taking hard looks at summer PDs and the BOY rollout next year to minimize damages and strengthen teacher and student practices and norms regarding tech.
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