Dear Westfield High School Administration, 

 

Dance to me has always been finding the connection with yourself and freely creating a world without care. My favorite quote, and the one I live by, is “Dance is the only thing that lets you lose yourself and find yourself at the same time.” - unknown. As you know, I previously taught pre-k where the students absolutely let go and aren't afraid of the opinions of others. As you also know, our students are the complete opposite. Unfortunately, covid, social media and lack of peer interaction has only enhanced their insecurities. When my freshman dance students come to me, they are afraid to try, afraid to tap into their creativity and afraid to talk to one another in order to collaborate. They only feel “safe” when they are concentrated on their phone. 

 

This brings me to my proposal. I would like to pilot that each of my dance and enrichment  students create an e-portfolio to not only track their learning/progress throughout the year, but to allow them to get comfortable with communicating with one another  and truly expressing themselves. My dance students would be able to collaborate in groups, upload their dances, blog reflections on lessons  and receive and give feedback/feedforward critiques. The students from my enrichment classes that I would be allowed to collaborate with, would upload their reflections and work as well.  They will also be able to keep this portfolio with them and acquire the skills to add to their work from their future high school learnings, if that is what they should choose. 

 

To make this proposition successful I am asking for your support and collaboration throughout the year. I am asking to include my enrichment class, at least, one day out of the week. I would prefer this to be on the block scheduling day to allow them the maximum amount of time to work on it. I would also like to ask for permission to collaborate with teachers of other subjects (the students in my enrichment classes).  Having a classroom set of computers so that my students always have access to one would also be ideal.

 

 Yes, I believe that my dance classes would be perfect for this trial due to size, content and creative freedom, but I do feel that communication for students is an issue in all grade levels throughout the school. Upon completion of this pilot,  May 2024, I would like to revisit the possibility of teaming up with another teacher and continuing research on a schoolwide level.

 

This opportunity will not only help each student in my class feel comfortable with collaboration and expressing themselves, but will teach them how to organize their projects, achievements, and progress digitally. Their worlds currently revolve around everything digital and I believe they should be able to understand how to appropriately communicate and showcase their talents accordingly. 

 

Thank you for your time and attention. I welcome all questions and concerns that you may have. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Samantha Jimenez