\nWhen second graders in the Forest Hills School District hear that it\u2019s time to log in to the future readiness tool Xello, a cheer often goes up in the classroom.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe district\u2019s youngest students are some of the software\u2019s biggest fans, which delights school counselor Kate McKenzie. <\/span>
\nShe, along with five other counselors, helped introduce Xello to the roughly 7,300 students across six elementary, one middle and two high schools located in the Cincinnati tri-state area.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cWe\u2019re so excited that there\u2019s a Grade 3, 4 and 5 component that is perfectly age appropriate. <\/span>I also love the K-2 aspect of Xello known as \u2018Career Town.\u2019 It makes our youngest students excited to access the program. The program and narrative are so positive that kids want to jump on it,” she says.<\/p>\n
Xello and ASCA Go Hand in Hand<\/b><\/h3>\n
About 15 years ago, the Forest Hills district adopted the American School Counselor Association (ASCA)<\/a> model of focus on academic, career and social\/emotional development. McKenzie says the ASCA programs list goals in three sections:<\/span><\/p>\n “These are the three areas that guide our work. We do everything from teaching whole class lessons to working with small groups, to seeing students one-on-one,\u201d says McKenzie. Career Town<\/span><\/a> is an adventure that students embark on in Xello K-2. It\u2019s a non-violent mystery that underlines the variety of work and workers in a community, and the importance of every worker within a community.<\/span> Xello is a powerful tool for all learners because it\u2019s pretty differentiated and kid-driven.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n McKenzie notes that after they rolled out Career Town, they noticed a shift in the careers that students chose in a second grade autobiography project. Typically, kids would pick historical figures like George Washington. After spending time with Xello, they were choosing non-traditional career paths they really liked, such as ballerinas, soccer players, or anthropologists. <\/span> McKenzie has students in Grades 3-5 log their interests and achievements in Xello. \u201cI want to get them thinking about, \u2018What am I good at?\u2019, \u2018What do I like to do?\u2019 <\/span> When implementing Xello, McKenzie didn\u2019t want it to be one more thing for teachers to have to do. <\/span> And one of the most important ways to ensure teachers are enthusiastic about using Xello is to allow them time to spend in Xello before they\u2019re asked to teach using the program. <\/span>\n
\n![\"social](\"https:\/\/dev.xello.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/Xello-Elementary-In-Post-Ad-V1A.gif\")
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\n\u201cWe really want to find programs that are proactive, not reactive, and that\u2019s where Xello has been really helpful. We might go in [to a classroom] and teach problem solving or active listening or setting goals and we blend Xello in as an addition.\u201d<\/span>
\nXello has been part of the ASCA programming<\/a> for students as young as second grade at Forest Hills. They use Google single sign-on, eliminating the need for the frustrating task of asking 6-year-olds to type in an email address. <\/span>
\nMcKenzie says she thought the kids would like it, but she didn\u2019t imagine they\u2019d take to it quite as enthusiastically as they have.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cThey absolutely love it. I\u2019m not joking that when the teachers say we\u2019re going to do \u2018Career Town\u2019 [a Xello feature for early elementary grades], they cheer. <\/span>Even the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders like showcasing who they are and the 6<\/span>th<\/span> graders enjoy taking the learning style and personality quizzes and doing Matchmaker.”<\/span><\/p>\nHow \u2018Career Town\u2019 for Xello K-2 Captivates and Educates<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n\u201cWorkers around Career Town have disappeared from their jobs, causing chaos. They are unharmed, but they have been lured away by Ernestine McNohire, who plans to build her own community on the moon. It\u2019s up to students to save the day,\u201d reads the official description.<\/span>
\n![\"Career](\"https:\/\/dev.xello.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screen-Shot-2020-03-30-at-1.50.45-PM.png\")
\n\u201cIt\u2019s posed as a game, but it also teaches them the soft skill of problem solving, which is so great. The kids feel a sense of empowerment and the activity helps them gain empathy too,\u201d says McKenzie.\u00a0<\/span>
\nShe also appreciates that students can read the screen themselves or choose to have a narrator read to them, in English or Spanish. <\/span>
\n\u201cThis is fantastic for some of our population. It eliminates all barriers to learning and levels the playing field. It\u2019s not a problem for kids who have behavior issues or academic struggles because they\u2019re either being read to or are following along with highlighted words and doing the same thing as their peers.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\u201cIt was really neat to see that expansion of what they were thinking about and interested in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nA Full K-12 Solution: <\/b>How Xello is Used By Every Age Group in Forest Hills School District<\/b><\/h3>\n
\nXello lends itself beautifully to goal setting and expanding their hobbies. They can start expanding their experiences which will help them craft a better story of themselves as they grow up.\u201d<\/span>
\nIn 6<\/span>th<\/span> grade, students explore the Matchmaker feature and assess whether certain careers suit their personality or learning style.<\/span>
\n \u201cI like that there are similar careers listed at the bottom of every career page. Eighty-five percent of boys want to be professional athletes so I ask them to look at what else they can do that involves sports or movement. They can learn everything else that\u2019s out there,\u201d says McKenzie.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe Forest Hills middle school is a Tier 2 school. In addition to regular classroom sessions with Xello, counselors conduct small group sessions a few times a week with students who are at risk of falling through the cracks.<\/span>
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\n\u201cMaybe 15 percent of kids have no drive or motivation. We\u2019re using Xello as a driving force to find out what is so \u2018meh\u2019 about their lives right now\u2026 It\u2019s a great way for these kids to come to the forefront of the counselors\u2019 minds. We don\u2019t want anyone to fly under the radar.\u201d<\/span>
\nIn high school, students start to play around with the transcript and class scheduling that Xello offers. Counselors can use the interests they\u2019ve logged to make sure they\u2019re taking classes that make sense for each individual. It\u2019s driving some discussions about class choice and future choices, including jobs, type of post-secondary pathway and college majors.<\/span>
\n\u201cIt helps too with kids who don\u2019t know what they want to be when they grow up. We can say, \u2018Let\u2019s look at your Xello profile and see what popped up for you. Then we can see if we can research anything that interests you.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBest Practices For Other Districts: Getting Teachers & Parents Involved<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n\u201cI wanted them to see it as a great way to check off social emotional learning, as a station they can put things in and something they don\u2019t have to plan. It\u2019s kid-driven and they appreciate that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\nTo make the transition to using Xello easy, she created five-minute screencast videos for teachers to play for their kids\u2014one for each grade group from 3-6 (2nd graders didn\u2019t need them because Xello provides an introductory video). Each of McKenzie\u2019s videos walk students and teachers through the login process and explain the learning expectations.\u00a0<\/span>
\nAnother key area for McKenzie was ensuring parents were involved to foster a strong home-school connection.\u00a0<\/span>
\n“We made sure to send a letter home with every kid describing Xello. We shared that this program is one of the ways we can build strong resiliency skills,” she says.<\/p>\nFree Webinar: Empower Your Youngest Learners to Become Future Ready<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n\u201cWe just need 30 minutes for teachers to play around with it to help make it a teacher-driven program and not necessarily a counselor-driven program because we want this to live in classrooms,\u201d says McKenzie.\u00a0<\/span>
\nShe\u2019s looking to create time during the professional development days, that happen at the beginning of every school year, to allow teachers to review Xello and explore the lessons that are available. <\/span>
\n\u201cWith that knowledge, they\u2019ll be able to implement them easily and more proactively throughout the school year.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/em><\/strong>Xello is an Important Resource During This Uncertain Time<\/b><\/h3>\n