MARCH 2014ISSUE 4

Meet the iLead team page 3

Student portfolios page 2

A series of reports on academic programs at San Francisco Day School

Welcome to the fourth edition of Spotlight on Excellence. This issue focuses on the role of integrated technology at San Francisco Day School. Inside, learn about how our teachers are using technology to enhance curriculum and transform the way in which our children think, learn, and express their ideas in today’s digital world. I hope you will take a moment to visit some of the online links so that you can truly appreciate the extraordinary work produced by our students. Enjoy! - Dr. Jackson, Head of School

SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE

The LMC goes mobilepage 3

Apps we like page 4

Inside: Students use apps like eBackpack to manage portfolios and exchange information with teachers...parents can access too!

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At San Francisco Day School, the implementation of a large iPad program is an opportunity for students to enhance their learning and for teachers to grow in their teaching. Access to technology helps us fulfill our purpose: to impart to our students the academic skills, critical thinking, and joy of learning which will serve them all of their lives. When we integrate technology, we strive for educational experiences centered on face-to-face interactions and opportunities to be more creative and effective problem solvers.

Our core values guide us as we make choices about how to design and plan lessons. We believe that critical thinking and

creativity are inspired by learning activities that are active. Our children are not passive receptors of knowledge. Instead, learning is more compelling when students are deliberately involved in the construction of that learn-ing. Dr. Tony Wagner, in his 2012 book Creating Innovators, explains that experimentation and exploration must be encouraged if we want our children to tackle complex challenges.

By bringing iPads, laptops, and other digital tools into the classroom experi-ence, we are providing tools to support the experimentation and exploration that is a hallmark of the active learning process. When we work with our students, we work hard to model technology use that supports our habits of mind. If a student asks “how do I draw a line?” we encourage her to persevere in trying different features of the app without worrying about “breaking” something. If a student announces that he is done with his project prematurely, a teacher might ask if there is another way of looking at the problem and invite him to work through the problem more deeply. When something changes or goes wrong with technology we strive to model the flexibility and resilience that we value. Our children will not use iPads or laptops — as we know them — when they are adults. But their responses and skills in using technology to enhance learning will travel with them throughout their lifetimes.

Our approach and these messages are woven into a challenging and rigorous academic program. As our tech-nology program unfolds in this dynamic school, I continue to be amazed by the ways students and teachers are using digital tools in projects and situations that we had not envisioned. I hope that you will enjoy this issue of Spotlight and a sampling of what we are seeing in the first year of our integrated technology program featuring iPads.

Sincerely,

Christopher K. SokolovDirector of Technology & 21st Century Learning

A WORD FROM OUR DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY

“When we integrate technology, we strive for educational experiences centered on face-to-face

interactions and opportuni-ties to be more creative and

effective problem solvers.”

www.sfds.net/technology/spotlight

Check out examples of student work online! www.sfds.net/technology/spotlight

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K

TECHNOLOGY FROM K TO 8A WORD FROM OUR DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY

K 1 2

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8What does integrated technology look like at SFDS? Our students are: K) Creating unique art while studying artist David Hockney 1) Developing their first electronic portfolios 2) Celebrating the spontaneity of real-time screen captures 3) Writing and digitally sketching character studies 4) Geo-caching during a class field trip 5) Using iMovie to create a documentary about the Bay 6) Examining the personal benefits of a growth mind-set 7) Adding new work and projects to a personal portfolio 8) Designing a visually rich science demonstration for peers

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“Educational software, like textbooks, is only one tool in the learning process. Neither can be a substitute for well-trained teachers, leadership, and parental involvement.”

- Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)

www.sfds.net/technology/spotlight

Check out examples of student work online! www.sfds.net/technology/spotlight

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In early December 2013, Kindergartners were introduced to their first class time with iPads. And the lesson? Hockney! Children in Ms. Richard’s art class have been studying the work of David Hockney, and used their iPads to prepare for a field trip to the Hockney exhibit at the deYoung Museum. First, students examined some of the landscapes typically associated with Hockney, and then made observations about Hockney’s use of color and shapes. Next, the students used watercolors to paint vivid landscapes including sky, land, and a horizon line from a memory of a favorite place. Under the guidance of Ms. Richards and Mr. Brill, the kindergartners used the iPads to expand their artistic visions with support from the Drawing Pad app (http://drawingpadapp.com/). They experimented with color and exaggeration as they digitally re-created their landscapes in wild and imagi-native colors. The app offers brushes in a range of sizes, colors in every hue under the sun, and plenty of room to edit, paint, draw, edit, color, and edit again. Drawing Pad also enabled the students to play with line weight, opacity, shades, tones, textures, and color theory. We traditionally wait until first grade to regularly integrate technology in school curriculum, but this was a great way to connect with the artist’s work and to further de-velop habits of mind and artistic mindset skills.

The second graders are using their new classroom set of iPads to assist in grammar instruction and community building. Mr. Brill worked with the second grade teachers to guide students through the Educreations app, where they constructed and annotated sim-ple sentences. During a subsequent meeting, this same app was used as a vehicle for students to appreciate one another for char-acter traits or recent kind deeds. Second graders often need guid-ance with inter-personal relationships, so this lesson was ideal for group bonding as well as teaching basic writing mechanics. (www.educreations.com)

David Hockney 2.0

Grammar Time

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Building an e-PortfolioPart of a learner’s journey is reflection. A portfolio is a collection of student work created for the purpose of demonstrating learning, showcasing work, and en-abling thoughtful reflection. At SFDS, we are using portfolios in a variety of settings and at different grade levels. In 6th grade, our students were deliberately introduced to the practice of using e-portfolios to help deepen reflection, especial-ly with regard to habits of mind. Students also use e-portfolios at several points across the cur-riculum. They select the work that they feel will demonstrate to themselves, teachers, family, and friends how well they under-stand the topic of the unit. Port-folios include student work — in-cluding feedback and revisions — and student reflections. In-stead of being graded on a series of assessments throughout the unit, students are graded on their purposeful selection of work.

Portfolios are a powerful way to assess students’ learning be-cause students choose what they will be graded on, given a list of criteria called “learning targets.” Throughout a unit, they refer-ence learning targets from their teacher and choose evidence to include in their portfolio. While their teacher may require that students include certain pieces of work, such as an essay or four of the five quizzes they have tak-en, students do not have to in-clude everything they have done in class. When compiling their portfolios, students ask them-selves questions such as, “How can I best show my teacher what I understand?” and “Which of these pieces shows my highest level of so-phisticated thinking?” The process of documenting their understanding guides students to examine their thinking in a new way. Just as we want our students to use evidence to support their ideas in class, here we are asking students to use evidence to support what they know they understand.

At the beginning of a unit, students are given the as-sessment rubric, allowing them to focus less on assess-ment and more on excellence. Students know exactly what is expected of them and can refer to those goals

throughout the unit. Digital portfolios are exciting be-cause they make it easier for stu-dents to show their understanding through audio, video, photographs, or screen-casts that combine dif-ferent forms of communication. For example, in Mr. Turner’s 6th grade math class, students chose to present deeper understanding of manipulating decimals by includ-ing a short video presentation talk-ing the audience through how they chose to solve a problem. In 6th grade art class, students took pho-tographs of their work as they drew, to show progress in how they can (in the words of Mr. Herrick and Mr. Gordon’s rubric), “show setting using drawings that are clear and easy to understand,” and “be com-fortable with your ‘mistakes’ and be able to incorporate them into your finished product.” In Ms. Piersol’s English class, students chose to in-clude videos of scene practice, act-ing notes from teachers and peers, and audio recordings of their bal-lads to display their understand-ing of the plot, characters, themes, and literary devices for a portfolio on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Portfolios are an effective tool to challenge students to not only learn new ideas and concepts each day, but also to choose a mode that best expresses their understanding and

speaks to individual strengths. We are proud of our 6th graders as they rise to the challenge to take further responsibility for their own learning. Thanks to Ms. Anderson for coordinating ef-forts among our faculty and students, and for preparing this description. To learn more, ask your 6th grader to show you a portfolio, or visit: www.sfds.net/technology/spotlight.

Follett Enlight eBooks

Catalist Digital

Drop by the upper school student lounge during lunch sometime and you may overhear:

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Meet Our iLead Student Group

Library Media Center Goes Mobile

“I like the homework app because it has a feature that allows you to chat with your teacher!”

“Hey, can you do a beta test of iStudiez Pro?”

“When should we schedule the coding elective?”

Every other week, the iLead student group (6th-8th graders who volunteer their time to be part of this ef-fort) meets up to discuss various aspects of technology — apps they like, apps that do not work well, and best ways to work with the realities of technology in student life. The members of iLead also bring issues from the students to the technology team and administration.

They also help remind students about community norms and are seen as leaders in the student community when technology problem solving is required! Mr. Sokolov and Mr. Corrigan facilitate the great conversations that these intrinsically curious students have about learning and leading with technology.

A great library is a conduit for exchanging information, ideas, and learn-ing. Now, the SFDS library media center has the technology to facilitate this exchange in more ways than one: the LMC has gone mobile! Our librarians Ms. Otero and Ms. Mendiola have been working to curate and expand our collection of eBooks and audiobooks alongside our outstand-ing print collection. LMC has launched three apps that will allow students to access the school library database, read eBooks, and listen to digital audiobooks.

Destiny Quest allows Day Schoolers to access over 20,000 items in the database. Students can renew titles, place holds, read summaries, write reviews, view suggested reading lists, and access eBooks.

Enlight Reader is the platform to read the SFDS eBook collection. With this app you can highlight, take notes, generate citations, search keywords, and define words while you read.

Catalist Digital is the virtual audiobook lending library for our school. Ms. Otero is building the library with hundreds of audiobook titles so far. Students can access these audiobooks 24/7 from any computer or mobile device.

Contact Ms. Otero or Ms. Mendiola today for a demonstration or to learn how to set up your mobile connection to the SFDS Library Media Center. (www.sfds.net/groups/library-media-center)

Apps We LikeANIMATION CREATOR HD Why It’s Cool: Using simple yet powerful drawing tools, students can design and create imagi-native, eye-popping animations to express original ideas and understanding of curricular concepts.Examples at SFDS: 2nd Grade Simple Machine Science Unit, 3rd Grade Butterfly Unit, 7th Grade Independent Reading Projects

BOOK CREATOR FOR IPAD Why It’s Cool: Students (and teachers!) can design and publish their own books. Students can lay out their own stories, and even import video, music, and speech within the app. Most impor-tant, this tool allows students to self-assess their work, mindset, and progress.Examples at SFDS: Cross-curricular Portfolio Reflection Projects, 8th Grade History Museum Projects, and 6th Grade Decimal Multiplication Journals

EXPLAIN EVERYTHING Why It’s Cool: Students use the whiteboard screen to record audio and video, annotate infor-mation, and write on the screen while recording in realtime. Work can also be sent to other apps such as eBackpack for sharing and storage. Examples at SFDS: 4th Grade Amusement Park Math Assignment; 6th Grade Science SolarOven Project; 8th Grade Spanish Reading and Pronunciation Evaluation

HOPSCOTCH: CODING FOR KIDS Why It’s Cool: The problem-solving and critical thinking skills students will obtain “playing”Hopscotch are useful throughout a student’s educational experience and in every career path.Hopscotch is an approachable and elegant introduction to the world of coding. Ages 8 and up. Younger child? Check out the app Daisy the Dinosaur. Examples at SFDS: 4th Graders Social Studies Project

iMOTION HD Why It’s Cool: Students can make stop-motion animations as well as time-lapse movies. It also works well with other apps: your work can be saved to the camera roll and brought in toother tools such as our staple favorite, iMovie. Examples at SFDS: 5th Grade Science Project on the SF Bay Model; 7th Grade English Independent Reading Project

LAYERS - STANDARD EDITION FOR IPAD Why It’s Cool: Layers is a great tool for doodling, drawing on a photo, or painting your next masterpiece. We use this app in grades 5-8 and enjoy the ability to use transparent layers and to go back in time for a project. For younger students, we suggest Drawing Pad for iPad. Examples at SFDS: David Hockney Art Project completed by every student at SFDS

eBACKPACK Why It’s Cool: Teachers can “pass out” materials to students and students can “turn in” work. It is a safe place to store their work – like a “flash drive in the cloud.” Students and parents can access eBackpack through the iPad app or on the web at http://sfds.ebackpack.com.Examples at SFDS: Every grade level across curriculum; 8th grade feedback: “Helps me stay organized;” “Love being able to find handouts in eBackpack instead of losing the paper copy.”

Catalist Digital

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“Hey, can you do a beta test of iStudiez Pro?”

“When should we schedule the coding elective?”