ISTE #5

ISTE #5

According to this standard and its indicator, technological effective educators actively engage in professional growth and leadership in effort to continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning; as well as, to exhibit leadership in their school and professional community through the effective use of digital tools and resources. After reviewing this standard and its indicators, I’ve decided to set two personal goals in which I would like to pursue this upcoming school year.

            As I reviewed the indicators for this standard, I learned that I have quite a bit of work to do in effort to meet this requirement. As listed by the four indicators, technological effective educators participate in local and global learning communities in effort to explore creative applications of technology to help with the improvement of student learning.  Additionally, they exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, by participating in shared decision making and community building as well as, working to develop the leadership and technology skills of others.  They evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis in effort to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources to support student learning and they contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self renewal of the teaching profession, their school and their community. With this in mind, I thought about where I currently stand.

            I know that I am fortunate to have a position with a school district that highly supports technology infusion. However, I must admit, that I have not taken full advantage of the support in the past. Therefore, I believe that change must begin in my own backyard.  My first goal is to review the technology supported professional development courses being offered from the district this school year. Through the year, I’ve challenge myself to enroll in two to four of these courses. Additionally, being the grade level chair for second grade, I’ve spent some time with school administration and recently learned that two members of my team have been replaced this upcoming school year. I was elated to learn that one of the new members to the team is a former computer teacher and is quite technology savvy.  Therefore, my second goal is to spend an extensive amount of planning time with my team to collaborate on best practice technology approaches to our curriculum and the digital resources and tools in which we have available. Overall, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this course. It has taught me a lot about what is coming down the line in education and what I must do to be prepared, if I plan to remain in the field.  Now I challenge myself to be in the learner’s seat and practice the same love for learning new experiences that I expect and require from my students.