In Southern California’s Downey Unified College District, the Apple Studying Coach program helps lecturers supercharge their lesson plans with expertise.
One thing transformative is occurring within the Downey Unified College District in Southern California.
“There’s a buzz,” says Allison Field, principal at Lewis Elementary College. “It’s thrilling — there’s by no means a boring day right here, and that’s as a result of our children are immersed in studying environments which are really dynamic.”
Throughout the district, college students are utilizing Apple expertise to create tasks as various as podcasts with GarageBand, animations with Keynote, and flicks with Clips — and these adjustments are reshaping school rooms. On the heart of this transformation is a bunch of educators who’ve utilized their data from the Apple Studying Coach program to rethink how lecturers and college students strategy their research.
Downey Unified is dwelling to 22,000 college students from transitional kindergarten by way of grade 12 throughout 22 colleges, together with eight Apple Distinguished Faculties. Greater than 10 years in the past, the district started utilizing iPod contact to help with studying fluency for English language learners. Quick ahead to as we speak, and all elementary colleges present an iPad to each scholar and, because the pandemic, center colleges are additionally 1:1 with iPad.
Downey follows the coherence mannequin, the place all colleges have the identical entry to expertise, training, instruments, and companies. For instance, every faculty has an Innovation Lab with coding, robotics, and inexperienced display movie tasks, and Scholar Tech Squads present management alternatives the place older college students mentor youthful college students and facilitate districtwide creativity and innovation competitions. As well as, a cornerstone at Downey is that each one educators are offered skilled studying alternatives — and because it launched in 2021, this consists of Apple Studying Coach. Thus far, Downey has 15 licensed Apple Studying Coaches, with an extra 5 educators at present enrolled in this system.
By a mixture of self-paced classes and digital workshops with Apple Skilled Studying Specialists, every Apple Studying Coach beneficial properties a deeper understanding of easy methods to help lecturers within the classroom as they combine expertise into studying. Upon finishing this system, every Apple Studying Coach comes away with an actionable teaching portfolio they will start utilizing instantly.
Marnie Luevano was licensed as an Apple Studying Coach final yr. Her position as an tutorial expertise coach at Downey Unified brings her into the district’s elementary colleges, the place she helps lecturers reimagine how they use Apple expertise to supercharge classes.
“We work with lecturers to determine new methods their college students can exhibit what they’ve discovered past using a worksheet or just writing an essay,” says Luevano. “After which the children are taking off with it — they’re so excited. Each time we go to the colleges, the children can’t wait to inform us in regards to the podcast they’re ending or present us the duvet they designed for certainly one of their tasks. They’re not simply making an attempt to get the project finished — they’re actually having fun with the method.”
This yr, because of the Apple Studying Coach program, the district’s coaches are deepening their use of Apple’s Everybody Can Create assets. Each week, a brand new Everybody Can Create mission is featured and distributed to educators, and the district expertise group has created a digital fluency deck to offer its lecturers expertise targets for college students based mostly on grade stage. For instance, by the top of first grade, college students will be capable of document video utilizing the digital camera on iPad, and by the top of second grade, they are going to be capable of construct on that talent to mix video with images and audio in iMovie.
Jennifer Robbins has been working in Downey for 27 years and is the district’s director of elementary training, in addition to an Apple Studying Coach. She hasn’t simply seen a change within the college students as their entry to expertise has elevated — she’s additionally watched her fellow educators be taught and develop.
“Apple Studying Coach gave us the instruments to have the ability to meet educators the place they’re, irrespective of the extent of their expertise data,” says Robbins. “So we wish to give voice and option to our children, however we would like the identical for our lecturers. We work to customise the training for them too.”
The outcomes for Downey have been measurable. In an period of declining enrollment throughout California public colleges, Downey has seen progress in its scholar inhabitants. Principal Field, who can be an Apple Studying Coach, credit this system with serving to to remodel colleges within the district, together with her personal.
“Apple has really been a sport changer in training, each for our lecturers and our college students,” says Field. “In making use of the Apple Studying Coach mannequin, we’re attaining the next stage of engagement, and it’s opening up so many prospects — we’re fascinated by what an augmented actuality program or app design studio would possibly seem like for our college. It’s serving to us create a tradition that embraces change and innovation, and prepares our college students for the long run, and I’m very enthusiastic about what’s subsequent.”
MacDailyNews Observe: Apple Studying Coach is a free skilled studying program that trains tutorial coaches, digital studying specialists, and different teaching educators to assist lecturers successfully use Apple expertise within the classroom. Greater than 1,900 educators have already accomplished this system in the USA, and the subsequent cohort is now accepting purposes by way of Could 30. Moreover, Apple Studying Coach is increasing to 12 extra nations, along with the USA, by the top of the yr.
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