Phase 4, the Experimentation phase of the design thinking project was possibly the most challenging for me just because of the time and demands of this project and closing out the school year at work. It was very difficult to juggle the demands but my team picked up the slack and made it extremely to contribute and understand the direction we were taking on the experimentation phase. Thank you Jake, Kristin and Candace. Continuing our preferred methods of communication, we utilized emails, shared google documents, google hangouts/chats and blackboard. We began by creating the checklist on a shared google document and we discussed our next steps. Then we revisited our focus question: How might we provide English Language Learners with the supports they need to maximize their academic growth toward meeting and/or exceeding the SBAC standards for ELA and Math, as well as EL reclassification? We talked about our end users, teachers of ELL’s and we can create something that goes beyond the routine strategies in the classroom. We decided to create an opportunity that will extended learning and followed-up monthly through ELL parent nights, hosted by teachers and ELAC parents.
We then synthesized the experimentation phase and decided how we would format these ELL nights. At these nights, groups will be formed with parents, students and the host teachers, broken down by ELL level. Each group will rotate within un-conferenced breakout rooms in a “World Cafe” setting, receiving resources and modeled ELD strategies (from students and teachers) along the way. Field trips (both physical and virtual) will be incorporated to allow for authentic language immersion, as well as opportunities to showcase learning and ask more questions. Our goal is to develop a community-wide program which empowers parents and “ELLevates” students toward improved academic achievement through teacher led and data-based learning sessions.
Our prototype emerged from this discussion and the ideas that were discussed. We then began creating a shared document through google slides to organize our phase. We then published our prototype onto the google+ community for our cohort, created google form that was organized to receive feedback on our prototype. Once the feedback was received, we organized it on a google sheet. Then we collaborated on google hangouts and began synthesizing the feedback and we responded to it together by typing it onto the google slides. Much of the feedback was extremely positive because most felt ELL students and their families have been overlooked and that we had great ideas to engage families, make them part of the education process and for them to feel valued.
I would implement the process of collaboration that we utilized during this phase and in the creation of our prototype with my students as it fosters 21st century skills of collaboration. Besides teaching students how to work in groups, I would emphasize the importance of working effectively and respectfully with diverse groups which is challenging task for my second graders. The willingness to be flexible and helpful to reach a common goal and share the responsibility of the collaboration and accomplishment. This process would not differ if we implemented it with actual end users as we created the prototype with end users in mind and we selected colleagues and future leaders of our cohort to give us their experienced feedback.