Equity and Citizenship Advocate

Artifacts for Standard 1

Leaders use technology to increase equity, inclusion, and digital citizenship practices.

Education leaders:

  • Ensure all students have skilled teachers who actively use technology to meet student learning needs.
    • RiverHawk Bits and Bytes Newsletter Series and JLS Learning in the Loo: As the Instructional Facilitator, Technology (IFT), I constantly seek the opportunity to model instructional technology to staff, hoping to instill my enthusiasm for actively using technology in the service of meeting student learning needs. As the creator and curator of content for the RiverHawk Bits and Bytes Newsletter at Belmont Ridge Middle School (BEM) and Learning in the Loo at JL Simpson Middle School (JLS), I created a space that allowed staff easy access to relevant technology news and learning hacks centered on promoting skilled teachers who ensure learning opportunities for all students.
    • LCPS Teacher Device Setup Handouts and Quiz: When Loudoun County Public Schools provided all teachers with their own Lenovo Thinkpad L380 as a mobile instructional device, I got the pleasure of ensuring that teachers understood the robust capabilities of the hardware and software provided to them. As such, I was part of the team that created guides for educators on getting to know their new devices and planning staff development for each teacher who would receive a laptop at Belmont Ridge Middle School. Ensuring that all teachers have access to the technology they can actively use with their instruction was a turning point in all students experiencing deeper learning in every classroom they enter.

 

  • Ensure all students have access to technology and connectivity necessary to participate in authentic and engaging learning opportunities.
    • Meet the Mustangs Virtual Back to School Night Website: Back to School Night is an important component of creating a warm and welcoming school community for all families. Technology is a great way to connect all families to these events regardless of their schedules. Creating this virtual Back to School Night website allowed even new families who joined later in the school year to be introduced to the authentic and engaging learning opportunities each of their educators’ provide.
    • Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Parent Presentation: When BEM instituted the MAP assessment as an indicator for measuring personal student growth, my principal and I saw the need to communicate the addition of the new data collection tool to our school community. We developed a presentation explaining MAP and ensured all parents were given MAP scores for their child and understood this personalized standard of measurement tool and how it portrayed knowledge of student learning.
    • BEM Parents as Educational Partners (PEP): To ensure each student has equitable access to resources for success, educators must begin at home. As a co-sponsor for the PEP program at BEM, I have grown immensely as a leader in the school community. The value of collaborating with guardians to set students and their families up for success using connectivity tools like Translate helps all involved contribute to the diverse culture of a global society. The mission of PEP creates responsiveness to the needs of diverse cultures and languages in the school community and rewards all students with access to curriculum both in school and at home.

 

  • Model digital citizenship by critically evaluating online resources, engaging in civil discourse online and using digital tools to contribute to positive social change.
    • Teamsgiving: As part of Willard Middle School’s (WMS) Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) team, I declared the day before Thanksgiving Break, Teamsgiving, to support our recognition system tier as part of our Pyramid of Interventions. Teamsgiving is a full-day event of giving back to the school and surrounding community through challenges culminating in an awards event. As part of the charter event, students participated in the challenge of creating dance videos for long-term care facilities in the community. This use of digital to contribute to positive social change helped build strong relationships within our school community.
    • The Website Evaluator for Students: While learning to search the internet for information is an important skill, making informed judgments about what is found online is essential. The art of critically evaluating internet resources should govern how students use what they find online. Forming a balanced assessment of these resources by distinguishing between content and its presentation is the key. Students think that if it is on the internet that it is infallible. Unfortunately, anyone can post anything, and the web is not an experts only zone. To teach students to think critically and evaluate websites, I created this Google form that helps students evaluate content based on three main criteria: separating form from content, judging the source, and checking the validity of information.

 

  • Cultivate responsible online behavior, including the safe, ethical and legal use of technology.
    • Digital Citizenship Coffee Talk: To be approachable, accessible, and welcoming to families, my principal at BEM held a monthly coffee talk presentation for parents. He used this event to engage in two-way communication about the strengths and needs of the school community. I have co-presented on a couple of topics, but the most memorable for me has been our talk on digital citizenship to cultivate safe and responsible online behavior for adolescents. We created a means for families to support digital citizenship in their students by presenting device-free dinners as a united front and requiring device-free lunches regularly at school.
    • Common Sense Media 6th Grade Curriculum Packet: Authenticity in today’s world is built around the digital age. To build and maintain a safe and healthy school environment, I was part of the team that constructed the curriculum for our digital citizenship week at BEM. The curriculum packet and schedule for digital citizenship week encouraged all members of our school community to be active and responsible digital citizens, reinforcing positive digital conduct with age-appropriate activities to meet each stakeholder’s range of learning needs.