Technology Essentials in Education Episode 13:
Organizing Schoolwide Projects

Hello there. My name is Monica Burns and welcome to Technology Essentials in Education.

Today's episode is all about organizing school-wide projects and I chat with Kim Marie Kefalas, a New Jersey technology teacher, and we go into this topic from her perspective working with students and teachers across grade levels.

She chats about her work specifically with students and educators, and we talk about how this may work in a variety of environments.

If you are curious about what the right tools and strategies are for organizing school-wide projects and projects that might take place in a single classroom, well, this episode is for you.

Let's get into the conversation. This episode is brought to you by Jotform. Jotform provides an all-in-one solution to streamline administrative tasks, enhance community engagement, and foster innovation.

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Educational institutions are also eligible for a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise. Head to their website to learn more at jotform.com/enterprise/education.

Welcome to the podcast. I am so excited to chat with you today about projects and organizing school-wide projects with collaborative platforms.

But before we get into all of that, can you share with listeners a little bit about your role in education? What does your day-to-day look like?

So my day-to-day is very interesting. First of all, thank you so much for having me. It's an absolute pleasure.

My day-to-day is very different. I work at two schools. I have a little more than 500 students.

I work on a six-day rotation, so I'm three days at one school, three days at another school.

I have about 40 teachers and I am responsible for kindergarten through fifth grade.

I do have a large amount of things on my plate, but I also get to see a lot of different perspectives: student perspective, teacher perspective, admin perspective, and parent perspective.

That's one of the reasons why I'm excited to talk about this topic today, because when we think about all the things that might happen over the course of a school year, throughout a school, throughout a district, throughout lots of different classrooms, you get to see what takes place with students, with teachers, how families respond to different types of activities.

Today we're talking about school-wide projects. What type of school-wide projects are you organizing this year?

I love school-wide projects because I feel like it really brings equity to the school and it really brings that cohesiveness that we're kind of all in this. We're not just in our little silos in our classrooms, which is what sometimes teachers feel like.

One of the things that I've started at one school is an elementary podcast. This was my dream last year. I said, I think I'm going to try this. I had a principal that was willing to purchase some of the equipment.

We have an elementary podcast and we do a lot of segments on the podcast that bring in school-wide projects.

One of the things that we did was mystery teacher. I used an iPad and GarageBand to disguise the teacher's voice, asking them questions. Even the kids on the podcast did not know who the mystery teacher was; only I did.

They would listen to it, have banter back and forth about who they think it is, talk about the clues, and then the rest of the school got to vote on who they thought it was.

It was nice because the kids would listen to each other and then rule out possibilities like, it can't be that person because they're not on this floor. It was really nice.

We had a contest and then we picked a winner who got a prize like a little stylus. That was a really great opportunity for student voice, for kids to hear each other and be able to communicate and talk in the hallways.

It was so nice to hear them switching classes going, who do you think it is? The parents got involved too, sending in submissions, which was great.

We did that at one of my schools. At another school, since we're elementary, it's very difficult to get kindergarten and first grade involved in these things.

So what we do is use a lot of QR codes, which are elementary friendly and loved by the kids.

Any kind of project we're doing, whether for a special occasion or celebratory month like Black History Month or end of the year, we do door decorating contests that kids all get involved in.

There are QR codes on all the doors. Teachers take time out of their day to bring their classes to the doors to scan the QR codes and interact with the doors.

Students get to vote on which door they liked and we give different prizes like most creative or prettiest. They come up with their own categories.

Any visitor, like parents during conferences or end of the year, can scan those QR codes and get a glimpse of what happens in our school, which is nice because you don't see that day-to-day.

There's this audience built in for students when you're doing something school-wide. There's a larger sense of community. People start to ask questions or know more about what's happening in other buildings, not just down the hall.

That's a wonderful way to think about your why for having a school-wide project.

When you think about some of those whys or goals, what is the goal of a collaborative project and what should students experience by the end?

The goal is really to engage as many participants in the school community as possible.

You can't see what happens daily. As a parent, how many times does your kid come home and say, have a school day, fine? You don't really get a sense of what's happening.

Whereas a school-wide project engages the community and reminds students that what happens in your individual brick-and-mortar school can also be outside the building.

Different people come in and see the work you've done. You get to see different perspectives. Even if kids are working on the same project, they think of things others don't.

Education is not just a solo, isolated event, and school-wide projects highlight that.

That's a great point about having different classes do the same project and letting kids see how it was interpreted differently, creating those 'oh' moments and building a larger perspective on how everyone is different even if working on the same mission.

That connects to goals for creating lifelong learners or students who are curious about the world.

When older students go to kindergarten classes, they might think the kindergartners can't do it, but they're surprised by their perspectives.

It's all the way through, and that's what we really enjoy.

An older student experiencing what a first grader might contribute to a conversation is really special.

When we think about collaboration in a classroom and the tools adults use professionally, how do you use collaborative tools with students at your level?

The biggest thing is spending time understanding the tool. We give students clear parameters: this is the tool and how we're going to use it.

Kids are naturally curious and want to learn. They are not afraid to press buttons like adults are.

Kids push buttons to learn. The most important thing is getting them comfortable with the tool before the project happens.

Give them the opportunity to learn the tool and observe which students take ownership.

We make little name badges and call them expert students, like Seesaw expert or whatever tool is used.

They get to help other kids become familiar with the tool, which also motivates others to learn it to earn an expert badge.

Setting parameters like how many times to respond or write sentences is important so students know what's expected.

Once they're familiar, the tool just becomes like paper and pencil, their tool for the project.

Creating an environment where students can play and try things out as expectations are layered on is important.

There's probably someone nearby who can help them figure out how to do things, building capacity and independence.

Ask three before me is a helpful strategy where students help each other before asking the teacher.

I've spent time in first and second grade classrooms modeling this approach, encouraging students to share what they figured out with peers.

The most important word is 'tell others' because students want to do it for their friends, not just tell them.

We have to teach this repeatedly to build independence and avoid over-reliance on the teacher.

Our goal is to become independent learners, moving away from always having the teacher do things for them.

Teaching students to tell three is a big part of how we teach these tools.

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Thinking back to when I was a fifth grade teacher, students had iPads and it was always a challenge to explain how to do something without touching their iPad.

It's hard to explain without instinctively touching someone else's screen, so I'm glad you mentioned that.

Do you have any favorite tools that foster collaboration in the classroom?

Elementary is different; it has to be easy and something kids can do successfully.

We use Canva a lot, especially the collaborative whiteboard feature where students can put stickies of their ideas.

We also use Book Creator, which has collaboration features and lets you link books together so students can work on parts and combine them.

It involves voice, video, audio, drawing, and many multimodal tools that make it easier for elementary students.

We also use Seesaw as our learning management system for collaboration.

There are many layers to this, and elementary skills build a foundation for middle and high school.

What are some challenges in collaboration between students?

Rules and procedures are very important in elementary school to set expectations.

Students love to collaborate and hear each other but need parameters like commenting on at least two people's work or giving feedback.

We allow think-pair-share where students read, talk about, and then share with a friend, which involves more thinking.

Confidence with the tool is crucial; otherwise, students get distracted exploring the tool instead of focusing on the task.

Kids want to push every button and play with new tools, but eventually they learn to use it for the intended purpose.

Teachers sometimes forget that young children want to explore, and that needs to be allowed before effective use.

Once they play and get it, they can use the tool effectively for the task.

Even adults want to press all the buttons when they get new tech.

For teachers wanting to bring more collaborative projects, my first recommendation is to look to others for inspiration.

I was a third grade teacher for 22 years and often felt siloed with little time to collaborate.

Social media can be powerful for finding inspiration without getting overwhelmed.

Pick a platform and look for ideas for your grade or subject because teachers love to share.

I started on Facebook in third grade groups and got inspiration from others.

Don't be afraid to duplicate someone's project; you may need to tweak it for your grade level.

There's a lot of inspiration out there that makes you feel like you can do this.

Second, use students to help you by assigning project assistants who can rotate and help during projects.

Start small, don't be intimidated by big projects, use inspiration, get help, and collaborate with a teacher bestie.

You can't be afraid to try; kids are okay if you fail because it teaches them it's okay to make mistakes and improve.

Listen to the kids' feedback on what they liked, didn't like, and what they'd do differently; they have wonderful ideas even in kindergarten.

Use that feedback to inform future units or projects.

Kim, this has been so informative and actionable with lots of great strategies and tips.

For anyone making a mental bookmark without links, where can people connect with you and learn more about your work?

One of the best places to find me is LinkedIn, where I'm very active.

I'm also active on X, Twitter, or whatever you call it.

I'm busy with 500 students, so not an everyday poster, but I post when I see things.

I'm good at communicating and if you send me a message, we will talk, share, and brainstorm ideas.

I love to bounce ideas off people. I have email and a small website I'm still working on, which I'll link for you.

There are lots of ways to communicate with me, and I'd love to hear from anyone who needs help because we've all been there.

I'll make sure to link all of that for everyone listening today.

Kim, thank you again for all your great insights and tips today.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you asking me and had a great time.

It was lots of fun chatting with Kim today. Let's go through a few key points to help make this topic easier.

Some takeaways from today's episode: school-wide projects can build a sense of community across classrooms and grade levels.

Collaborative projects give students an audience beyond their classroom, including families and visitors.

Clear parameters help young students stay focused and understand expectations during collaborative work.

Student experts and peer helpers strengthen independence and reduce over-reliance on the teacher.

You can find ways to connect with Kim Marie Kefalas and resources from today's episode in the show notes.

Such a fun conversation. Let me know if you try out a school-wide project this year.

A big thank you to Jotform, the presenter of today's episode. To learn more and get a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise, head to jotform.com/enterprise/education.