Our project for D1199c is a Google Folder that contains a digital literacy folder, a

language learning folder, and a support page folder. This folder is available for all staff and

students at D1199c. The goal of our project includes helping students improve their digital

literacy skills, provide language learning materials for students to use at home or for staff to use

in class, establish a positive and supportive learning environment through interacting on the

support page, and lead to a sense of belonging as a community. This project and the goals were

set up to meet the needs of D1199c and the students at this site, which the former is lack of staff

and materials, and the latter is assistance in language, digital literacy, and also support for their

lives in Philadelphia as immigrants. We have created 9 files for the digital literacy folder to teach

students how to use digital resources such as Google Map, online dictionary, Microsoft Office,

etc. We have divided the language learning folder into three proficiency levels, and uploaded

lesson plans, teaching slides, and other materials into them. For the support page folder, we

created Q&A sections about both life and learning aspects for students and staff to communicate.

Reflecting on the whole experience of creating this project, one of the obstacles we

encountered was the minimal feedback we received from the site. When we first started to

interview the site manager and discuss possible ideas for this project, we had full support from

her, thus we were able to start the project quite early on. However, in the middle of the semester,

we were informed that we had a new site manager. We thought it was necessary to reach out to

him about our progress of the project, but he never responded to any of our emails. Although we

were able to finish the project without help from the site, we were a bit discouraged while

working on it, since we did not receive any positive feedback from them. This made me realize

the importance of communication and providing support, and I tell myself that if I were ever to

be in a position like a site manager, I would provide as much support and encouragement as I can
to help students gain a more enjoyable process than the one I had. Another thing worth

mentioning is that, I think this project probably would not have succeeded if I wasn’t working

with these other four amazing group members. We have a very clear communication from the

start of this semester, and every one of us contributed to generating ideas, giving feedback to one

another. We divided our work equally into creating materials for different proficiency levels, and

we all picked topics to teach about digital literacy skills. We also came up with clear timelines to

follow in order to fit everybody’s deadlines into the schedule, and nobody ever missed a single

deadline. We had a wonderful time working together.

Thinking about the gains, this project had made me grow not only as a teacher, but as an

individual as well. First of all, I found out that I became much more organized. This is because

we have to upload the lesson plans, slides, and materials into the folder. Therefore, I spent a lot

of time organizing them into cohesive, logical, and clear orders for future usage. Moreover, I

became more reflective as well. Since the items put into the folder is accessible to everyone at

the site, after teaching each class, I make corrections or adaptions to them after reflecting on how

the class went. This really benefited me as a teacher because I think that by reflecting on my

teaching, I can make adjustment and improve myself. Connecting to course readings, one of the

main assistance for us creating this project is backwards planning. Having a clear goal in mind at

the beginning really contributed to our definite path for creating the project. This ensures us that

we will not get lost in our ideas and get off the topic throughout the process of creating the

project. Another aspect I have gained is the concept of differentiation. The students at our

teaching site is made up of different ethnicities and proficiency levels. The combination of

reading course readings and actually teaching there made me understand how essential it is to

include differentiation into lesson planning and classroom activities. Students of all ethnicities
can be appreciated and included if we design lessons that address different cultures, and students

of all proficiency levels can be engaged when we plan lessons that allows all of them to be able

to participate.

The future direction for this project will continue to be a folder that everyone at the site

can have access to and use freely. However, we hope that future teachers or staffs can continue

to add more materials into the folder, and make adjustments to keep up with the latest

information. Furthermore, we wish that people who work at D1199c can also monitor the Q&A

sessions, making sure all questions are answered, and if the answers are accurate or not. I really

hope that this project can be helpful to the community of D1199c.

Last but not least, I would like to reflect on the connection between creating this project

and what I have learned throughout this course. At first, I was confused about the idea of

creating a community project in a teaching class. But as the project moved forward, I started to

see the relevance. This course is to prepare us to be future language teachers. However, no

matter what kind of teacher we become, or what kind of institution we teach at, teachers will

always be part of a community. This project gives us the chance to think not only as a teacher,

but also as a participant of the bigger community. By addressing the needs and setting goals for

this project, I had the chance to adventure real-life, hands-on experiences when approaching

language education in general. In conclusion, I think the combination of course readings, actual

teaching, project development are nicely balanced, all working in favor of one another. None of

each can be learned completely individually. It hasn’t been an easy semester, but it has been an

amazing journey. All the things mentioned above that I have learned will be taken with me

throughout my whole future path.

Materials
Google Folder Link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jx8O6CWVPJyOLgHPYK6QxEDb7KX6IeUL?
usp=share_link