(0:00 - 2:34) Hi, my name is Melinda Kalk, one of the owners and founders of Tech4Learning and Wixie, and I'm so excited today to host Allison Scott and Diana Betancourt-Ortiz, who will share some information about using Wixie with their ELLs, and I was fortunate enough to be introduced to them last year, and they have since presented, and it looked fabulous, and I'm so excited to have them share with the rest of you today. So I will turn my mic off and pass it over. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you so much, Lindy. We're very excited to be here. Yes. Our presentation today is called Tech Power Talk, and thank you all for being here with us today. I'm going to assume that all of our technology is working correctly, so if you, like, can't see our screen, or if you can't hear the audio at any point that it seems like you should, please do something to make sure that we know so that we can stop and actually fix it. So I am Allison Scott. I am the instructional technology, like, resource coach at some schools in Prince William County, Virginia. I have my bachelor's in elementary education, and I was a classroom teacher for many years before switching to this role. I am a VISTI certified coach, and I have other certifications like Wixie, Book Creator, Nearpod, Minecraft, Microsoft, and Apple Teacher. Hi, my name is Diana Betancourt. I'm the English language learner teacher in Prince William County, Virginia. I have a master's in special education curriculum assessment, and as of right now, I'm a doctoral student for higher education in educational leadership. So in all of the lessons that Diana and I have done together, we have always had a lens of ELL and SPED and technology integration, and so some of the standards that we always have focused on is the ISTE standards and VISTI standards, like Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator. So my focus right now with WIDA is the standards for English learners is listening, speaking, reading, and writing. So leading with innovation and equity, all work is running in critical thinking, especially for English learners and kids with disabilities. I work with kids diagnosed with ADHD, autism, sometimes are dual identified, they are English learners plus a disability. So empowering learners to analyze, evaluate, and express ideas across language and disciplines.
(2:35 - 3:12) Creativity, designing engaging, culturally responsive lessons that foster a voice, choice, and innovation, and technology-rich practices using digital tools to personalize learning, support language development, and enhance access. We are aligned with our Prince William County's 2030 long-range plans in that we support educational technology integration across all SOLs and curricula, and assistive technology to remove barriers from diverse learners. We feel that SPED and ELL and tech together equals success.
(3:14 - 4:14) Through this collaboration and ethical use of AI, we help lead for closing opportunity gaps, ensuring every student, especially ELLs, thrive in a future-ready world. Yeah, but how is Wixie specifically helping your ELL students? So Wixie, how Wixie has helped me in the classroom. I've been using Wixie the majority since last year when I found out because Mrs. Scott, right? I came actually with a crazy idea how I can support my students using technology because sometimes paper doesn't work, just talking doesn't work. I say, okay, we live in a technology era, how I can use what we have right now. And I came to Scott, I say, hey, I guess I had a crazy idea. What can I use to develop vocabulary? What can I use for the students? The students like games, they have Minecraft, they like Roblox.
(4:15 - 6:47) What can I use with technology to enhance vocabulary, writing skills, reading skills? How I can introduce? So she came with Wixie. So vocabulary development, listening and speaking, writing skills, reading comprehension, cultural awareness. Some of the symbols that you see right now is a project I did two weeks ago with my students about, we use HMH curriculum in Virginia. So two weeks ago, we were doing a project about learning about the symbols of United States, like the constitution, the American flag, everything that is symbolic for the American as a nation, right? How you put all these elements in Wixie, we're going to show you how. So we were doing another presentation and she told me about Wixie has already made up for you. So this is why you see the flag and the microphone is already in Wixie. You don't have to create absolutely anything. It's already made it for you. You just, when you get there, you actually change the dialogues, right? You create whatever you want. So this was perfect because she showed me this like two, three weeks ago. It was like, do you know that Wixie has interviews? I was like, oh my God, I want to do an interview with my students. Like they had an opportunity to talk to the American flag or Abraham Lincoln or George Washington or the bell in Pennsylvania, you know, they cannot go to Pennsylvania. So guess what? We're going to bring whatever it is around the world to their classroom. So digital storytelling, my students, some of them are brand new to the country. Some of them are acquiring the English, right? So depending on the level we work with them, right? My students create multimedia stories about their favorite tradition using images, tests, and narration using technology. Collaborate projects, group work, or create a presentation about historical figures, integrating speaking and writing skills using Wixie and ready-made presentations. Again, this presentation was already in Wixie. I just use it and assign it to my students. So each one of them has their own. So you're going to hear that they are not speaking. In this one, they cannot record their voices, but they can change the voices of the microphone and the voice or the flag.
(6:48 - 7:04) Question. What do the stars and stripes on the American flag represent? The 50 stars represent the 50 states in the United States. And the 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies that declared independence from great.
(7:05 - 7:52) So we use AI to come up with the questions because some of my students obviously cannot write full sentences yet. So we use AI. We got the AI questions, they type it in, and they can change the voices. Those are the voices that my student chose to, you know, but it's different. And Mrs. Scott is going to show you how you can see those tools. I also want to point out that one of the things we chose to do was, as a means of supporting our students to be able to access these, we would print the QR code and we would embed the QR code on the actual file. So you can see it there. And then we would print these and then hang them up in the hallway. And our students have iPads.
(7:52 - 8:33) So they're able to actually scan the QR code and listen to their peers from their projects that they have in the hallway. So how technology supports ELLs. Technology is playing a transformative role in helping ELLs students to acquire academic language and express their creativity. The voice recording tools, the students record themselves reading scripts or answering questions which allow for that self-assessment and the teacher feedback. There's loads of language support features built in in a variety of presentations that the educator can use. I love that the teacher can provide verbal directions as well as written directions on Wixie assignments.
(8:34 - 11:38) And then also the voice modulator apps. The changing the voices creates fun and creativity. Excuse me, it adds fun and creativity and it reduces the anxiety and encourages the participation, especially for the students that are level one and two, meaning their English is not fully developed yet. And this is something that you heard the two different voices, right? When I do different projects, they can record or they can type it. The majority of my level ones that are brand new in the country, they will type what I'm asking them to or what they are looking for, the research that they're doing for me. So they don't have the anxiety or like Miss B or Miss B, I cannot talk. So I was like, okay, but at least you can type and Wixie can give you that voice, right? Because the whole point is, yeah, yes, speaking, listening and writing. But as I said, right now it's getting them out of the shell, it's supporting them at the level that they are. If they cannot talk right now, technology will do it, especially those kids that are brand new in the country and those kids with disability. I have students that cannot talk, they can point it out, they can play with it, but they cannot talk, right? It's not, are we going to access the curriculum? Yes, using technology. So this is a great, great tool that I'm using now. This is my second year using Wixie. So this is two examples, all my third graders, I work right now, third grade. And these two students are level three. That means they're being in the country for a little bit, right? They can talk and this is HMH curriculum. This is what we do over here in Virginia. This is HMH rigorous academic reading curriculum. So I have pictures already in my thing, in my classroom with costumes, right? So they use my own picture, but they had to change it to their own interpretation. So creativity, right? Costumes, what is costumes for you, right? So it's like, I asked Ms. Allison, what is costumes for you? Because costumes for me is this, this, this. So now I want you to creativity and give me costumes. You're going to do my definition and you're going to talk about it. Express, what is express for you? Give me pictures that you interpret, like what is express for you and tell me what is the definition. So you're going to hear their voices. They're so cute. They love Wixie. They absolutely love Wixie. And I'm not going to deny at the beginning, they were like mortified because they're like, oh my gosh, that's my voice.
(11:39 - 11:53) Oh, but then they love it so much that every time that they see me now, they want to do Wixie. This is my other student. When you express yourself, you show what you feel and think.
(11:54 - 13:09) And for them to have the talkie, like they are like, he chose a happy face because he says that he's a happy boy, but he didn't want to put his face on it. But Wixie is giving him the voice, right? He's using his own voice, but a different character. So this is, again, we print this. I print this, like she said, and we put it outside our classroom. So whoever wants to hear them or see what they're doing, they use the tablets and they can scan it. Anybody can scan it. Actually, right now, if you want to use your phone, you can scan it. You can hear their voices. So not only Wixie is for academic vocabulary, I use them for prefixes, suffixes, whatever you want to integrate technology, you can use Wixie. One of my students, Ashley, were doing prefixes and suffixes. One of the prefixes is none. So she went to give me a research about some words and she's speaking about it. She has to give me pictures of what she's looking for. And this is her voice right now. She's a level three.
(13:10 - 14:13) Prefix words with none are not bad, not fiction, not essential. In the beginning in my class, she didn't want to talk. Now she's talking with technology, and this is amazing. That's why I love it. And the next one, Ms. Black, is a kid diagnosed with autism. Few words, very few words, but you're going to hear her voice. You're going to hear me counting, okay? So then his voice. That's his voice. Those are pictures that he chose that that's where he's understanding, oh, what is that word meaning? And I'm just going to say this, I did it two years ago. And technology has helped me build confidence in the students. He right now went to Gen Ed. I am glad that he went to Gen Ed.
(14:13 - 14:59) Oh, Gen Ed. Yeah. He is right now in second grade, Gen Ed, with same peers, and he talks like there is no tomorrow. So look, from one word, from one word, to now he's going with his peers, supporting in the level that he is or he was using technology. That's beautiful. So this one is pretty much the moment that I went to her room and say, hey, I really want to support the English learners, but I don't know how. I want to support the kids with disabilities. I don't know how. Do you have an idea? And this is what we started doing with the critical vocabulary.
(14:59 - 16:27) She told me about Wixie. I was like, okay, you're Wixie on HMH because I'm the reading. And this is the app smashing that we did. And this is what we presented for HMH that those vocabulary, this QR code are their voices, and we put it outside on the hallway so other kids can hear them talking about it. You know that other people can learn what third grade is doing or fourth grade is doing or special education is doing. So this is a very memorable time that we, this crazy idea started. And it's amazing technology, what technology can do. Yes. Can I watch a video? So this is my student. He comes from Africa. He is level three, and he never used technology. So, okay, I wanted to challenge him, right? I say, I want you to give me more. I don't want you just to record your voice. Now, Wixie, you can video, you can do like a video yourself. You can pretty much do a selfie on it, right? And again, this was according to the standards of WIDA. I want speaking, but now I want you to speak. And when I want you to see yourself when you're speaking, I just don't want to listen to yourself. Now I want to see you. I want to see you doing it. So he was kind of nervous, but he loved it. And this is a video of him.
(16:30 - 17:21) And then show what are you going to, we're going to do. Remember that, what we did was add camera. Okay. Yes. Yes. Oh, no, no, no, no way. So go to video and then camera. This one. And then you record the red one. If you, if you write an entry, you write a short note in a diary or a book. Good job. And add it. Wait, wait. And then move it. So it's get better.
(17:22 - 17:33) Wait, let me see. And now let's click it here and then play it. I want to see how it looks like.
(17:42 - 18:22) You want that one? So this is, again, using technology to, look, we're building vocabulary, we're building skills, right? But at the same time, we're building human beings. And this is confidence, confidence. And you can see it's like, what's that face? What was him? You know, confidence, confidence and believing in themselves, especially it's really hard to come from another country and boom, learn a new language, learn a new culture, learn everything new, right? And technology we see is helping to build the gap that I'm having with my students.
(18:22 - 19:21) And that community feel, because they're all getting to do it and they get to see each other's. Yes. And you can see in the background, the kids were like, I want to see what they're doing too, you know, because then Erica had to do it. Yes. Yeah. So good. And that's us. Do you have any questions? And actually this is Wixie for the people that has like curriculum for doing how to teach students how to email or anything between reading about emails. You can teach your students using Wixie how to email to from subject on how to type, by the way, like when they're a little templates, this is templates already done for you. You don't have to create absolutely anything. There are templates made it for you. If you have any questions, we are open for you guys.
