PEAK Schools and Technology 1

PEAK Schools and Technology

Mary Jefferson

Loyola University

Educational Technology Seminar ET 690

Dr. Amy McGinn

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In the book, What School Could Be, Ted Dintersmith gives a glimpse into his nine-month trip

around the USA visiting schools and educational conferences. Dintersmith (2018) found that

students need the following elements from a school to be successful; purpose, essentials, agency,

and knowledge. (Dintersmith, 2018, p. xvi) While reading, I was in awe that the problems and

success we are having at my elementary school, Norwood, are like hundreds of schools in many

different areas of the country. Technology plays a different role in each of the PEAK principles.

Technology can enhance a student’s learning experience, however, there are some drawbacks to

using technology in schools. The four principles of PEAK are Purpose, Essentials, Agency, and

Knowledge. Dintersmith (2018) defines these principles as, “Purpose- students attack challenges

they know to be important, that make their world better. Essentials- students acquire the skill sets

and mindsets needed in an increasingly innovative world. Agency- students own their learning,

becoming self-directed, intrinsically motived adults. Knowledge- what students learn is deep and

retailed, enabling them to create, to make, to teach others” (p.xvi)

Norwood Elementary a Title 1 school located in Dundalk Maryland and is part of Baltimore

County Public Schools. Norwood has grades pre-kindergarten through third grade. Our school is

a STEM school with 71.0% of students receiving Free and Reduced Meals. About 140 of our 500

students are English Language Learners. Norwood Elementary practices Restorative Practices,

Conscious Discipline, and virtues language.

Purpose

Dintersmith (2018) defines purpose as “students attack challenges they know to be important,

that makes their world better.” (Dintersmith, 2018, p. xvi) Although this book is about students in

the K-12 range, the purpose is something everyone wants when they are working on a task.

Students crave learning that is meaningful to them. Dintersmith (2018) says “But remarkable
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things happen when kids learn organically and passionately, instead of painting by the number.”

(Dintersmith, 2018, p. 43) The idea of having students learn numbers by simply painting by

number is a surface level task. Students need to have opportunities to discover the “why” in

learning instead of the traditional “what”, they need to have and know the purpose.

In the six years, I have worked at Norwood we have always been the first to jump into the newest

innovations in teaching. From lesson plan templates to makerspaces we have been a leader in the

county with many of these initiatives. The past two years we have been emphasizing student

portfolios. Last year we did a pilot program. Every teacher was asked to test out a way of

keeping students work and creating a portfolio. This year we started to implement this in every

grade level. The second and third-grade teams developed an e-portfolio with my help on Wixie

and pre-k through first used a folder system. With the management part of the portfolios set up,

we began to teach the students the importance of putting their best work into the portfolio. Each

quarter parents have been invited into a showcase of their students work. The students are

receiving feedback from their teachers, peers and their parents on all their work. I can only

imagine how proud the students are to have so many people that care about them looking at their

work. From the book, Developing Your Portfolio- Enhancing your Learning and Showing Your

Stuff: A Guide for the Early Childhood Student or Professional, the authors describe portfolios as

"an approach to learning wherein the “right answer” is not the teacher’s answer, but rather one

constructed by the learner in dialogue with others” (Jones and Shelton, p.22). Portfolios are a

great way for students to show what they are proud of. One of my favorite parts of building the

students’ portfolio is they pick what work goes into the portfolio, so it is what they are most

proud of r enjoyed the most.

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We are continuing to build the portfolios all year which allows the students to see the growth

they are achieving. As a teacher, I can use portfolios as data to see when my students are

achieving their goals. However, for students being able to look at the concrete evidence allows

them to see their hard work pay off. The second and third graders who are participating in the e-

portfolio have the advantage of showing their families their portfolios from home. These students

can also access their portfolio and add to it from any classroom. In the future, I am hoping that

the older grade levels will be able to mentor and shower the younger students how to build their

own e-portfolio. This way students can record and use pictures to explain their thinking.

Recording would be especially helpful in kindergarten and first grade because their work is not

always easy to read, especially to parents.

Kindergarten is often the first experience with school many students have. Luckily the thrill and

excitement of this new experience makes them more eager and accepting of work and learning

new skills. Although students sometimes struggle to learn a new skill, most five and six-year-old

do not question what we are learning. However, we have made great strides this year to help the

students understand what they are learning, how they are going to learn it and why they need to

learn it. In my classroom, each of my lessons in centered around the what, how and why of the

skill. I believe that it helps my students to understand the importance of why we need to learn

about a new skill. This year I have seen my students making connections to what we are learning

in the classroom to the outside world. With this new lesson format, my kindergarten students

have a better understanding of why the work we are doing is so important. Another way I am

helping my students to identify the purpose of our learning is by using it in real-world situations.

Ted Dintersmith (2018) said, “we can make education better and more equitable by challenging

students with real-world problems” (p. xvii). As a student myself, I am more engaged in the work
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when I know what I am learning can be applied to life outside the classroom. To help give my

students purpose I have a culminating event that brings their learning from the unit to the real

world. For example, in this current unit, we are learning about the weather. At the end of the unit,

students will dress up and present a weather report to connect all the skills we have learned

during the unit. Kids love to ask ‘why?” and when we give students a purpose to their learning

they will be able to discover the answer on their own.

Technology allows us to bridge the home to school connection which can help make learning

more purposeful. By using technology tools like translators and voice recording students can

bring work and important information home that everyone can understand, and parents can help

students understand the purpose of what they are learning. Writing in kindergarten can be hard

for parents to understand because of phonemic spelling, however, with the use of voice recording

and QR codes, parents can hear their students reading what they wrote. This is also a great tool to

use when visitors come to the school who are also unfamiliar with early childhood writing. Our

school has a heavy English Language Learner population, online translators allow us to send

home information in the students’ home language. This helps all parents to feel involved in their

student’s education.

Essentials

I mentioned before Norwood Elementary strives to find the best practices in education. In

addition to academics, we focus on the climate of the school. Around the time I started working

there we began to develop our knowledge in Restorative Practices. Instead of clip charts and

incentives, we worked on developing students’ grit and respect for one another, we have natural

consequences and ask our students to solve their problems with each other using their words. We

start every day with a community circle to talk about our goals and struggles. This practice is in
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place of a behavior plan. At first, all the teachers struggled. We were also learning new ways to

talk to the students and help them work their problems on their own, virtues language. Virtues

language is part of character education and supports restorative practices. Virtues language helps

students to understand kindness, empathy, patience, and responsibility. Teachers model how to

use the words, for example, “thank you for showing orderliness by pushing your chairs in” and

have students discuss the words during daily circles. Virtues language have helped our students

to understand and have empathy for each other. Giving up control can be hard for educators.

However, we knew it was in the best interest of our students. In my kindergarten classroom this

week we are working on eye contact, listening and turning toward the person who is talking. Our

principal understands that these beginning communication skills are necessary for our students to

have. This generation is being raised with technology in their hands so early that some skills like

handing writing and listening are being forgotten. Another aspect of restorative practices that

helps students and teachers to become successful are “circles, interventions, one-on-ones, and

group meetings with kids” (Mirsky, 2008). We have found that by allowing our students to have

a voice during circles and meetings they are building communication skills at an early age. In

addition to restorative practices, we are working on character education using virtues language.

Our hope is that students who have empathy towards one another will have less bullying and

other issues as they go through school. Dintersmith (2018) discusses the importance of a

program, Youth Empowerment, with a principal, Dr. Mario Santos in his book. Santos points out

that students need to learn how to stay calm and focused. Santos and Dintersmith agree that for

students to make achievements in academics their basic needs must be met as well. Starting with

food and working its way through techniques like calming strategies they can use in school and

at home. Baltimore County Public Schools has recently introduced Conscious Discipline to the
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elementary schools. This program teaches breathing, emotional regulation, and executive

functioning. Since starting this program, I have noticed that my students are ready to learn

academic skills earlier than they have in previous years. Having the essentials skills to life is

something that should continue to be taught throughout a student’s time in school.

Being ready to learn encompasses many traits. Students need to have their basic needs met so

they can focus on learning. Students also need to have essential skills to be successful throughout

their life. In our technology-centered world, we need to provide our students with opportunities

to learn how to effectively use technology, just like they learn reading and math. Something I

would like to bring to our school is coding. We have used this in the past as an after-school club

but not consistently. I think if we were to have teachers use websites like Code.org it would help

students learn more about technology and hopefully give them a better idea of how it works.

Once the students understand more about the technology they are using, they might appreciate it

more.

Agency

One school that Dintersmith (2018) visited was in Olympia, Washington. The school, Evergreen

State College set out to break the conventional mold of a college. Evergreen has “coordinated

study programs, students’ participation in helping to design their education, group, and individual

contracts, and a dedicated teaching faculty combine to prepare students well for that world

ahead” (p. 76). Evergreen immerses students in their interests and through their interests, they

learn the skills they need for the life they choose for themselves. Students who have a choice and

feel that they are part of the decisions in their life will be more motivated and engaged in what

they are doing, from a college level all the way down to kindergarten. Student-centered

classrooms have been a buzz term in education for the past few years. Our school, like most in
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the county, strives to achieve this in our classrooms. To accomplish this, we are encouraged to

have materials ready and available to students. This means that the tools they need to complete

an assessment are out and readily accessible. We also use student interest surveys that are

completed by families and students at the beginning of the year. Teachers can use interests to

drive their instructional activities. Classroom teachers use goal setting for the class as a model

for how students could set individual goals. Most students make their own goals based on what

the class is working towards. These goals can be academic but are sometimes related to being a

good friend or other virtues. As I mentioned before, our school has been working on student

portfolios. Students are using their portfolios to showcase the work they are most proud of. In

second and third grade students have an e-portfolio on Wixie. Students have multiple pages

under each skill, so they can see their growth throughout the year broken down by skill. Setting

up the e-portfolios this way helps the students to manage their progress and see what they need

to work on next. Students and parents are invited to review the portfolios during each quarter.

During this time students can evaluate their work as well as their parents. In the book, Digital

Portfolios in the Classroom, author Matt Renwick (2017) says, “What digital portfolio

assessment provides for students is a more level playing field. No longer are we pigeonholing

kids into one, narrow way of showing their learning. Instead, they can speak their understanding

and record it with various digital tools” (p. 35). State tests, summative assessments and other

data taken in the classroom are used to level based on ability, sort into interventions groups and

more. These assessments tools often lack big picture. The progress the students made to get to

that score or the hardships they were enduring while they were taking the test are not included in

the state-mandated standardized test score. A portfolio allows parents, students, and teachers to

celebrate the progress of the by only comparing their work to what they have previously done. A
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digital portfolio allows students to use multiple communication tools, so they are not limited in

what they want to say or show. A digital portfolio allows students the space to track their own

progress and assess themselves.

Digital portfolios are especially helpful to students in our school who are still learning English.

Most students can speak or explain their thinking before they can write. Using digital portfolios

eliminates students writing their feedback or comments on the artifacts they place in the

portfolio. As a teacher, I like that we can take a picture of the artifact and then send it home.

Kindergarten students keeping tracking their papers for a year is not an easy task. In

kindergarten, we have started the year with paper portfolios, but we are hoping in the second part

of the year we can begin to put some work into an e-portfolio. Using an e-portfolio in

kindergarten would really help the students to understand how much they have learned in

kindergarten. Hopefully, this excitement will carry on to first grade with them. Technology

makes it easier for students to take ownership over their work, track and assess themselves and

share with their families.

Knowledge

Dintersmith (2018) points out that to most, summer is considered a lost time for students’

education. He follows that statement with, “Students forget what they’ve “learned” and dread

returning to school where they’ll push short-term memorization boulders back up the hill” (p.60).

Educators know that students who experience something retain the information better. A good

teacher is constantly striving to make an experience engaging for their students, so they

remember it. The traditional elements of teaching to students who sit quietly and take notes is

becoming a foreign way to teach, especially in my building. In the chapter Discovering Human

Potential, Dintersmith (2018) point outs, “Many people are capable of learning, just not in
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school. The right job can be their salvation. Internships, apprenticeships, and entry-level jobs

can make or break a young adults future” (p. 147). Throughout this book, the author is constantly

pointing out that experiences and interests motive students to learn at every level. Knowledge is

what we want out of schools, but purpose, essentials, an agency must also be present for

knowledge to be obtained.

Most teachers in my school have been sent to visit the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta for

professional development. This school has broken all the traditional ways of teaching and has

made great strides in education. I described my visit as Disney World for teachers. All the

elements you want in a school are there, everything you could dream of doing for your students

in possible. Most importantly the students are learning, and not just learning they are retaining

knowledge that they are taking into the real world. The Ron Clark Academy has flexible

schedules for students and teachers, house systems for behaviors and incorporates music into

daily instruction. The students are learning the same content as other schools in Atlanta, but the

teachers are teaching through room transformations, real-life experiences, games and students

interests. The students are held to high expectations and their character is held to the same

standard as their academics.

Norwood has had multiple professional developments and book studies on Ron Clark and his

academy. Our leadership team wants to bring in elements of his school back to our school, with

the hope that our students will learn to love school consecutively retain that knowledge. Some of

the changes we are working on are, student portfolios, game-based reviews, increased student-

led discussions, project and problem-based learning. Each teacher has brought back different

tools they learned after attending the professional development at RCA. We have been making

our learning more transparent to the students, so they know what they are learning and why.
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Most importantly teachers are encouraged to find creative ways to help students remember what

they are doing.

In my kindergarten classroom, one way I have seen students master a topic is through the help of

movements. When we learn a new vocabulary term we assign it a hand motion. Some of these

motions are sign-language and others are made up by the class. We also use a hand motion for

every sound in the alphabet. These simple techniques have helped my students to learn their

vocabulary and letter sounds faster than in years past.

Many students in our school speak English as their second language. In my classroom, I

currently have 11 students who do not speak English as their first or home language. The

movements with vocabulary and letter sounds have helped these students do recall the words and

sounds. In the article, Linguistically Responsive Teacher Education (2008), the authors state that

“For example, visual tools (pictures, illustrations, maps, videos) can quickly convey considerable

information to students, thereby reducing the amount of auditory information that they must

process to make sense of the instructional topic” (p.368). For some ELL student’s kindergarten is

their first exposure to English. I have found that keeping directions with visuals as well as color

coding charts displayed on the projectors help the ELL students to understand my verbal

directions and focus on learning. With the help of technology, students can listen and see videos

on topics to help them learn the material. Repetition and reinforcement of topics covered in class

can be beneficial to ELL students. Websites like PebbleGo, Starfall, and BrainPop allow students

to learn about topics with the help of audio and visuals. If we were to send out links and help

parents gain access to these videos at home this technology could help families to understand

what the student is learning.

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In conclusion, my school is demonstrating the attributes of PEAK principles. By using our

guiding lesson questions, “What? How? Why?”, students immediately know the purpose of each

lesson. Conscious Discipline, restorative practices, and character education are all elements of

our behavior plan that helps us to make sure our students have the essential character traits they

need. The e-portfolios our students are creating let them take ownership of their learning and

gives them room to set goals and expectations for themselves. With the influence for the Ron

Clark Academy, we are striving to make each day of learning memorable for our students so that

they can retain knowledge. Schools that strive towards PEAK environments with technology

tools are setting their students up for success in their futures. I felt very connected to make of the

teachers and students that Dintersmith discussed in his book. Our school has students who are

suffering from poverty, homelessness and family issues. The elements of PEAK will make each

of my students feel safe, welcome and ready to learn. After reading this book I felt empowered to

continue to use the PEAK principles to help guide my instruction. Every school should be

striving towards PEAK no matter their status, grade levels or location. I am proud to work at a

school that is working towards this type of environment. After reading and reflecting on this

book I look forward to continuing to strive to have a PEAK environment in my own classroom.
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References
Dintersmith, T. (2018). What school could be insights and inspiration from teachers across

America. Princeton ; Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Jones, M., & Shelton, M. (2011). Developing your portfolio - enhancing your learning and

showing your stuff : A guide for the early childhood student or professional. Retrieved

from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Lucas, T., Villegas, A., & Freedson-Gonzalez, M. (2008). Linguistically Responsive Teacher

Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(4), 361-373.

doi:10.1177/0022487108322110

Mirsky, L. (2007). SaferSanerSchools: Transforming school cultures with restorative

practices. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 16(2), 5-12. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/214192657?accountid=231

Renwick, Matt. Digital Portfolios in the Classroom: Showcasing and Assessing Student Work.

ASCD, 2017.