Project Identity

FEH BOCES Learning Technology Grant for Digital Storytelling and Communication

Creating Project Identity

Led by FEH BOCES, the grant consortium is comprised of six of the nine school districts in the FEH BOCES area: Brushton-Moira, Chateaugay, Malone, Salmon River, St. Regis Falls, and Tupper Lake. In this rural region, an average of nearly 2/3 of students are classified as economically disadvantaged, and 17.5% are classified as students with disabilities.

Grant for Innovation

Project Identity will give students a chance to tell their personal stories using innovative learning technologies. As students explore their own identities, cultures, interests, and passions, they can also connect to the identities of their peers and gain a variety of perspectives.

Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES, in cooperation with six of its component districts, has won a Learning Technologies Grant through the New York State Education Department to develop and implement this innovative project.

Project Identity aims to teach students the civic mindsets necessary for college, career, citizenship, and life.

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Phase 1: Professional Development

From those six districts, 60 teachers and leaders representing a cross-section of grade levels and content areas will participate in collaborative professional development exercises. Through this training, they will explore personalized learning and how to adapt the classroom to celebrate students’ cultures and language identities.

Phase 1 Artifacts

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Phase 2: Implementing with Students

Then those teachers will work with their students to create their own Project Identity using a variety of learning technologies to communicate their story. Students will discover a range of technological avenues for digital storytelling while developing social, emotional, and cultural competency skills.

Additional Resources

• Values List
• Cultivating Genius by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
• The Peace Chronicles by Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
• The Green Book Vox Video shared by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad – January 10, 2023
• The Identity-Conscious Educator: Building Habits and Skills for a More Inclusive School by Liza A. Talusan
• Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark) for Filmmaking
• Mountain Lake PBS Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival, Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
• Edutopia: Resources for Responding to Trauma and Tragedy
• Story Seeds Podcast
• The StoryCenter

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Phase 3: Sharing a Toolkit

Through creating and carrying out the project, educators hope to build a bank of ready-to-use Project Identity resources that teachers throughout the state can use to replicate Project Identity in their own learning environments.

Year 3 Documents

Other Resources

• Summer 2023 Newsletter
• Fall 2023 Newsletter
• Creating a Learning Environment Where All Kids Feel Valued
• Powerful, Evidence-Backed Ways to Connect With Students in the First Week of School
• Fostering Relationships in the Classroom
• Exploring Perceptions about Identity through Self-Portraits
• Daily Rituals that Build Trust
• 23 Ways to Build and Sustain Classroom Relationships
• Microaggressions are a Big Deal: How to Talk About Them and When to Walk Away – from NPR Life Kit
• AI and Checking for Bias

YEAR 3 Artifacts

Tech and Book Guides for Teachers to Replicate & Sustain Learning Activities into the Future:

• FEH BOCES Project Identity Book Guide curated by Dr. Stephanie Affinito
• Digital Technologies Technologies for Storytelling & Communication Project Guide by EdAdvance

To the extent possible under law, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Project Identity. This work is published from the United States.

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