ST1.4

Strengths

No longer are the days of students quietly sitting in rows. Students at Lincoln Elementary School know that communication is not possible without purposeful collaboration, now that STEAM has empowered these experiences. When entering classrooms at Lincoln Elementary School, it is typical to see students engaged in rich discussions, collaborating digitally on a Google product they share, or designing and creating a prototype using the engineering design process. This collaboration is not just in the classroom, but it can also be found in our STEAM Lab, Makerspace, and even Physical Education classes.

Fortunately, teachers and students at our school have been using one-to-one devices for years. Throughout diverse levels of professional development and experience, teachers realized that the blended classroom calls for much more creativity. In studying the SAMR Model, teachers wanted to challenge students to use technology in ways to augment, modify, and redefine tasks rather than just use it at the basic level of substitution. This transformation led to new student interests among the school and students and to the creation of clubs. These include a STEAM Club, Building Club, Science Club, Outdoor STEAM Club, and other after school teams that have allowed for creative exploration for students.

With technology at the forefront of learning and the creativity of our students at the heart of it, students are immersed in new learning experiences in Art and Music classes. These classes provide outlets for students to share their creativity. When students visit Art class, they are constantly creating new masterpieces with paint, clay, digital tools, and much more. The art teacher collaborates with teachers to integrate science and/or social studies as well. When it comes to Music class, each student is a part of the Google Classroom in which songs, composing tools, and announcements are shared. The arts are embraced outside of these classrooms as well. Students are taken to competitions to travel and share their gifts. These teachers help students embrace the arts through individual expression, plays, musicals, and art expos.

Weaknesses/Challenges

While we are fortunate enough to have an abundance of technology tools at our fingertips, this also poses a challenge as teachers sometimes find it difficult to select the tool best fits their instructional and classroom needs. In relation, technology can sometimes be used by students and teachers in non-purposeful ways. A weakness is ensuring that teachers are evaluating each tool and it's use based on the SAMR Model so that we are providing tasks that transform technology to the levels of augmentation, modification and redefinition.

Action to Sustain Strengths/Action to Address Weaknesses

In an effort to overcome the challenge of integrating purposeful technology, Lincoln Elementary School will provide all teachers with the opportunity to participate in a 1:1 coaching cycle with our Dynamic Learning Project Coaching Fellow. The scope of these coaching cycles focuses on overcoming teacher-identified challenges with the purposeful and meaningful integration of technology.

To sustain our strengths, teachers will participate in technology focused professional development sessions and professional learning communities that provide insight into how to integrate purposeful technology into everyday instruction. These will include #TeachMeThursday sessions provided by our DLP Coach, embedded professional development and planning during school days, and allotted time during faculty meetings to address technology needs.