Telling the PLP story
Student reflection with Adobe Voice and Explain Everything
Students at Fayston Elementary School worked hard this year with their team of teachers, not just to implement personal learning plans (PLPs), but to understand them to such a level that they could tell their stories. Using the digital tools Adobe Voice and Explain Everything, students crafted video explanations of their individual PLP projects to share with their families at student-led conferences.
Students from Fayston School were kind enough to travel up to Burlington to present their work on PLPs to educators and administrators at the 2016 Dynamic Landscapes conference. They were accompanied by Fayston speech-language pathologist Amy Jamieson and guidance coach James Stephenson, and you can read and watch their whole presentation right here.
The students ended the presentation by screening the digital reflections they produced with Adobe Voice and Explain Everything, with a few words about how they learned to think about preparing a reflection that could tell their PLP story.
Hana taught kindergarteners about nature
Hana: I found out there’s an organization called Four Winds, which actually taught at my school about nature. So that was perfect for me. So I would go to trainings and I got to teach a lot. And this video shows the whole process.
Rohin used multiple strategies to raise money for the class trip
Rohin: So my PLP was fundraising for our class trip, and I didn’t really have a lot of pictures, it was mostly things we did on the computer, like documents for the stuff we did, like selling flowers. So I used Explain Everything and kind of drew my own pictures and before I completed my goal, or maybe a little bit before my goal.
Amy Jamieson: I really liked the creativity of Rohin’s because he chose not to use the Adobe Voice and had to get super-creative, not having a lot of photos. And the reflection of himself personally throughout the year was really great.
Ruby and Oliver provided a free four-session soccer clinic for preschoolers
Rubi: We planned a soccer clinic. We decided to work together because we have similar interests in soccer.
Oliver: And we used Rubi’s [materials] because she had a little bit more information in hers. But they basically say the same thing.
Sarah started a babysitting business
Sarah: So my PLP was to become a babysitter, because I really like to help out people and I knew that most parents can’t do two things at once, so they probably can’t hang out with their kids and do their work. So I thought that helping them out would be a good idea.
Jordan ran the lighting for productions at a local theater and school events
Jordan: So my goal, my PLP goal was to do the lighting for the talent show? But then one of my math teachers, Mr B, since he worked at the Valley Players, he said that I could actually do the lighting there, for lots of plays, and it was lots of fun.
Amy Jamieson: And I have to say that Jordan had a first version of this Adobe Voice, and he reflected on it and wasn’t super happy with it, so this is version #2. So he was self-directed and motivated to revise it and come up with a second version of his digital reflection.
(Please note: Jordan’s first version was the one we used as an example to all the other students, so it was really awesome in itself. –Life)
Amy Jamieson: Jordan really put himself out there in front of all his peers, when we as teachers came to him and said, “We’d really like to use this project, because we think it’s a great way to tell your story, and give the other students an idea of what we’re looking for.”
Ruslan built and sold woodworking pieces for fundraising
Ruslan: Hello, my name is Ruslan, and my goal was to raise money for the 6th graade trip at the end of the year, like Rohin’s, but my goal was more specific. I was hoping to raise $450.00 with woodworking items. And I accomplished it.
Scaffolding digital reflection
For a full look at how Fayston pulled off these amazing student-centered, goal-driven PLPs, I highly recommend checking out their full presentation. But as a quick note about these digital reflections, Amy Jamieson kicked off the school year by making her own Adobe Voice presentation and sharing her PLP as a model for everyone.
