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Our Story
Whether William Penn students are in school or learning remotely, you will find students actively engaged in their lessons. Through the use of our LMS, students are able to connect with their teachers and their assignments, no matter what the day might bring. Our 1:1 initiative laid the pathway for the successful use of various digital platforms. A typical day includes collaboration, differentiation, and personalized learning. Peek into any classroom and you will see students who are invested in their learning and motivated to succeed. You will see teachers who use data to create individualized learning experiences and engage students in productive learning activities. William Penn is dedicated to enhancing the education of our students through the use of technology.
Vision
To create a culture of learning, our William Penn Elementary community believes that we must meet the needs of all students in our incredibly diverse population. Technology allows us to differentiate instruction and integrate support systems that are nearly invisible, yet incredibly powerful. Thanks to Elizabeth Forward’s nearly ten-year commitment to technology integration, the tools that support our broad spectrum of learners are always at the fingertips of every student. Marrying student needs to innovative and prescriptive solutions and creates a pathway to connect the pieces of a massive puzzle. The big picture is revealed following extensive data dissemination, collaboration during bi-weekly grade level meetings, and the interminable, unwavering support of our district-wide technology leadership team.
Learning
At William Penn Elementary, students’ interests come first. Learning is individualized; therefore,teachers can create customizable learning paths. Students dictate their personalized learning through their interests and voice. Teachers and students collaborate so that students are motivated and have a positive learning environment. Teachers’ roles are to facilitate their learning to enhance the outcome. Students are then encouraged to show their learning based on their interest, using apps such as Clips, Blooket, Quizlet, Epic, and Nearpod. For instance, student voice their excitement of learning their vocabulary through and interactive Nearpod. A fourth-grade teacher creates a Nearpod that reflects the interest and learning needs of the students. This instantly creates motivation while also teaching the concept. Interest-based learning. Not only do teachers focus on students’ interest, but they also focus on individualized academic needs with an emphasis on choice. Our kindergarten students earn badges that reflect grade-levels expectations. Teachers continually assess students to check their progress. This may include numbers, letters, and sight words. If students are currently not earning their badge in those skills, teachers can crate learning paths that assist students with their current needs.
Success
At William Penn, student and teacher success starts in bi-weekly grade level meetings. We focus on student success by reviewing achievement on scores from MAPS, and classroom-based assessments. Teachers use this information to personalize student assignments with digital programs such as eSpark, and IXL.The programs allow teachers to monitor student progress and set goals for students to seek student mastery of concepts. Students can master their personalized goals created from their academic portfolio. The Elizabeth Forward School District uses an LMS (Canvas), to further personalize learning through assignments based on student’s functional levels. Within Canvas, Kindergarten teachers use a digital program called Badgr to track and monitor a student’s progress on the 66 required skills taught in kindergarten.
What’s Next
As we continue to focus on effectively integrating technology in the curriculum, individualized learning based on each student’s interests, strengths, needs, and skills is key in ensuring student success. A “refocus” on Apple technologies will continue to assist teachers in developing project-based activities and will show students how to add a digital creative component to demonstrate their learning.
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