EDL-600
Creating a Student Recognition Space
Ryan Horton
SDSU M.A. Educational Leadership
This project proposal is meant to work in unison with my EDL 680 20% project on improving school culture through a revamped Advisory period curriculum. In that project, I researched and thought about how my school could benefit more from using our time in Advisory in different ways. My school is still very new. We are a small public charter school located in the Downtown San Diego Library. Last year was the third year in operation, and we graduated our first class of seniors with a 100% graduation rate. There are a lot of things that we do well. We put a MacBook Air in every students hands. We incorporate Project Based Learning into every classroom, and take time as a school to send students on Job Shadow experiences twice a year. We have Student Led Conferences that help our students take charge of communicating what is happening at school for them. I really believe in the direction most things are headed at this school, which makes it a fun place to work.
However, there is still a lack of school culture. Students shuffle out of the building each day when the bell rings and the school is empty. I remember being on my high school campus all the time, whether that be at practice or staying after to work with a teacher, or meeting with a club of some sort. Advisory classes have become a problem. Our senior class, in large part, stopped coming to this class each day. They would just show up to school 45 minutes late and beginthier day then. Since there is no credit toward grauation given for this class, there was no consequence for this behavior, and with the old curriulum, there was not much in the indivdual teachers power to influence students otherwise. Also, there is not much school pride. Students should be proud of the school they are at here. There are so many advantages, and the students get a pretty good education, but there is just not much in place yet in terms of unifying them as a grou.
My motivation for this project was to find a way to improve school culture. I did not want to alter the after school schedule, and I know that the administration is against adding sports teams, so that is not an option either. I also want to integrate technology. Our students here have so much technology at their fingetips that it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. I am also motivated by the LCAP goals our school has made. Goal #5 in this document states that we, “Maintain a minimum 93% school wide attendance rate through positive interventions and behavioral supports that reduce chronic absenteeism and maintain a low suspension and expulsion rate” (e3 Civic High LCAP). I think that if this Project is truly successful, students will be more engaged in what is going on at school. This would make them more likely to come to school every day, and increase their intrinsic motivation in the classroom overall.
For my EDL 680 Project, I gave a new vision to our Advisory class. Students meet with their Advisory class for forty minutes, four times a week. My project was focused on dealing more with student’s social and emotional health,whie building relationships within each class. Each Advisory group stays together with thier teacher for their four years through school, so not focusing on these things seemed like a missed opportunity.
Still, I do not think that this change of direction would do quite enough, so I wanted to supplement it with another proposal. For this project, I want to create a space for student recognition. There are so many students at our school who do great things after they go home, but have no way to share those passions with most of their classmates. If there was somewhere on campus to highlight these activities I think that it would inspire students to join each other in their passions, talk to new people, and create a more inclusive atmosphere. I think that it would do a lot to help improve the overall school culture.
What Will a Student Recognition Space Look Like?
My initial plan for this space was to create a slideshow that students could add their story to, showcasing something they were proud of accomplishing outside of school. The space would have a projector, and the slideshow would run on a loop while students were not in class. However, after thinking about this idea, and reading feedback from my fellow students, I do not think this would be enough. Students will not value something that is not given time and built up into something that is shown to be important. Therefore, I will incorporate this idea into the Advisory curriculum.
Each Friday, I will have class levels meet on a rotating basis. The 1st Friday of the month will have Freshman meet, the 2nd Friday is for Sophomores, and so on. During these meetings, we can have large team building activities that fit into the Advisory curriculum, but will also make time for students to present some of the extracurriculars that they have been busy with. Coming from the students, these presenations will have more importance than a simple slideshow. I would still want to have a space on campus that made sure each short presentation was accessible, but adding this step makes is much more valuable.
Funding
Since this project aims to address the LCAP goals of our school, any funds that are deemed necessary can come from the LCFF general fund. The items needs and cost are listed and explained below.
Item - Epson Projector
Cost - $449
Explanation - To create a space where students can always see this information, I want to project it onto a wall in the common space.
Item - Projector Short Throw Wall Mount
Cost - $209
Explanation - To mount the projector onto the wall space.
Item - Wall Space
Cost - No Cost
Explanation - Need one wall in common space on campus that can be dedicated to this project.
Item - Form to Collect Student Submissions
Cost - No Cost
Explanation - Google forms can be created and shared with all student with ease, and at no cost.
Item - Teacher Advisor
Cost - $1,200 Stipend
Explanation - I would want a teacher to oversee this project, to recruit students willing to share their work, and to upkeep and operate the technology. If there is no money in the budget for this, I would be happy to operate this project on my own.
Total Cost
$0 - $1858
Determining Success
Success for this project will show itself in a variety of ways. First, the students will be engaged in seeing what their peers are doing during their monthly meetings as a class. Second, attendance will imporove in Advisory classes. In combination with the the ELD 680 project, I think that this is a realistic goal. And finally, I would hope to see a more noticeable school culture. By talking to teachers around campus, and checking in with students, it should be fairly easy to see if students attitudes about the school have changed. If students are finding reasons to stay on campus after school, and not counting the seconds for the bell to ring and escape, that is a major victory.
References
Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. (2011, September 03). Do Happier People Work Harder? Retrieved July 07, 2016, fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/do-happier-people-work-harder.html?_r=1
e3 Civic High Local Control Accountability Plan (June, 2016).https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/l6TpKdjmQZajGTguO2iNZ3OSVaOK24E6sqMEp41Ll0fWHQr2.pdf
Goodwin, B., & Miller, K. (2012, October). For Positive Behavior, Involve Peers. Educational Leadership, 70(2), 82-83.
Schnagl, G. (2015, November 19). Routine, Ritual, and School Community. Retrieved July 12, 2016, fromhttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/routine-ritual-and-school-community-greg-schnagl?utm_source=twitter
Ryan Horton
SDSU M.A. Educational Leadership
This project proposal is meant to work in unison with my EDL 680 20% project on improving school culture through a revamped Advisory period curriculum. In that project, I researched and thought about how my school could benefit more from using our time in Advisory in different ways. My school is still very new. We are a small public charter school located in the Downtown San Diego Library. Last year was the third year in operation, and we graduated our first class of seniors with a 100% graduation rate. There are a lot of things that we do well. We put a MacBook Air in every students hands. We incorporate Project Based Learning into every classroom, and take time as a school to send students on Job Shadow experiences twice a year. We have Student Led Conferences that help our students take charge of communicating what is happening at school for them. I really believe in the direction most things are headed at this school, which makes it a fun place to work.
However, there is still a lack of school culture. Students shuffle out of the building each day when the bell rings and the school is empty. I remember being on my high school campus all the time, whether that be at practice or staying after to work with a teacher, or meeting with a club of some sort. Advisory classes have become a problem. Our senior class, in large part, stopped coming to this class each day. They would just show up to school 45 minutes late and beginthier day then. Since there is no credit toward grauation given for this class, there was no consequence for this behavior, and with the old curriulum, there was not much in the indivdual teachers power to influence students otherwise. Also, there is not much school pride. Students should be proud of the school they are at here. There are so many advantages, and the students get a pretty good education, but there is just not much in place yet in terms of unifying them as a grou.
My motivation for this project was to find a way to improve school culture. I did not want to alter the after school schedule, and I know that the administration is against adding sports teams, so that is not an option either. I also want to integrate technology. Our students here have so much technology at their fingetips that it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. I am also motivated by the LCAP goals our school has made. Goal #5 in this document states that we, “Maintain a minimum 93% school wide attendance rate through positive interventions and behavioral supports that reduce chronic absenteeism and maintain a low suspension and expulsion rate” (e3 Civic High LCAP). I think that if this Project is truly successful, students will be more engaged in what is going on at school. This would make them more likely to come to school every day, and increase their intrinsic motivation in the classroom overall.
For my EDL 680 Project, I gave a new vision to our Advisory class. Students meet with their Advisory class for forty minutes, four times a week. My project was focused on dealing more with student’s social and emotional health,whie building relationships within each class. Each Advisory group stays together with thier teacher for their four years through school, so not focusing on these things seemed like a missed opportunity.
Still, I do not think that this change of direction would do quite enough, so I wanted to supplement it with another proposal. For this project, I want to create a space for student recognition. There are so many students at our school who do great things after they go home, but have no way to share those passions with most of their classmates. If there was somewhere on campus to highlight these activities I think that it would inspire students to join each other in their passions, talk to new people, and create a more inclusive atmosphere. I think that it would do a lot to help improve the overall school culture.
What Will a Student Recognition Space Look Like?
My initial plan for this space was to create a slideshow that students could add their story to, showcasing something they were proud of accomplishing outside of school. The space would have a projector, and the slideshow would run on a loop while students were not in class. However, after thinking about this idea, and reading feedback from my fellow students, I do not think this would be enough. Students will not value something that is not given time and built up into something that is shown to be important. Therefore, I will incorporate this idea into the Advisory curriculum.
Each Friday, I will have class levels meet on a rotating basis. The 1st Friday of the month will have Freshman meet, the 2nd Friday is for Sophomores, and so on. During these meetings, we can have large team building activities that fit into the Advisory curriculum, but will also make time for students to present some of the extracurriculars that they have been busy with. Coming from the students, these presenations will have more importance than a simple slideshow. I would still want to have a space on campus that made sure each short presentation was accessible, but adding this step makes is much more valuable.
Funding
Since this project aims to address the LCAP goals of our school, any funds that are deemed necessary can come from the LCFF general fund. The items needs and cost are listed and explained below.
Item - Epson Projector
Cost - $449
Explanation - To create a space where students can always see this information, I want to project it onto a wall in the common space.
Item - Projector Short Throw Wall Mount
Cost - $209
Explanation - To mount the projector onto the wall space.
Item - Wall Space
Cost - No Cost
Explanation - Need one wall in common space on campus that can be dedicated to this project.
Item - Form to Collect Student Submissions
Cost - No Cost
Explanation - Google forms can be created and shared with all student with ease, and at no cost.
Item - Teacher Advisor
Cost - $1,200 Stipend
Explanation - I would want a teacher to oversee this project, to recruit students willing to share their work, and to upkeep and operate the technology. If there is no money in the budget for this, I would be happy to operate this project on my own.
Total Cost
$0 - $1858
Determining Success
Success for this project will show itself in a variety of ways. First, the students will be engaged in seeing what their peers are doing during their monthly meetings as a class. Second, attendance will imporove in Advisory classes. In combination with the the ELD 680 project, I think that this is a realistic goal. And finally, I would hope to see a more noticeable school culture. By talking to teachers around campus, and checking in with students, it should be fairly easy to see if students attitudes about the school have changed. If students are finding reasons to stay on campus after school, and not counting the seconds for the bell to ring and escape, that is a major victory.
References
Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. (2011, September 03). Do Happier People Work Harder? Retrieved July 07, 2016, fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/do-happier-people-work-harder.html?_r=1
e3 Civic High Local Control Accountability Plan (June, 2016).https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/l6TpKdjmQZajGTguO2iNZ3OSVaOK24E6sqMEp41Ll0fWHQr2.pdf
Goodwin, B., & Miller, K. (2012, October). For Positive Behavior, Involve Peers. Educational Leadership, 70(2), 82-83.
Schnagl, G. (2015, November 19). Routine, Ritual, and School Community. Retrieved July 12, 2016, fromhttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/routine-ritual-and-school-community-greg-schnagl?utm_source=twitter