Standard 5
5. Engage in professional growth and leadership Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.
a. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
c. Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community
Evidence of My Progress
1. Service Learning Project
My project that I collaborated with a kindergarten teacher at a school in Plano, Texas with took me through the process of taking an ordinary lesson, and enhancing it with the use of technology. The most important thing was to select technological resources that improved student learning by keeping in mind the 4E's: Effectiveness, Enhancement, Engagement, and Efficiency. There was also a lot of reflection involved in the process to enhance my understanding of how to incorporate technology in a way that supports and enhances student learning.
2. Technology in the Classroom Piktochart
While technology use in the classroom was not a big issue when I was in elementary school, it is an integral one in today's day and age. This poster I created using Piktochart uses memes to illustrate proper use of technology in the classroom. Memes are a clever way to get student's attention, and a way to help them remember the rules. This is a way I can exhibit leadership in order to develop the technology skills and practices of my students. It will also make my students more effective because it demonstrates my vision of technology infusion in the classroom, so students are are aware of the proper uses and etiquette.
3. Symbaloo
Symbaloo houses a collection of my favorite technological resources that I can use in the classroom. It contributes to the effectiveness of the teaching profession, and the school because it can be easily shared, and it cuts down on time in class that the teacher has to spent pulling up all of the online resources for the day's lesson. Symbaloo is the best example of my personal vision of technology infusion, because Symbaloo makes teaching easier, it is not a resource that is using technology for the heck of it, It enhances learning, and increases the effectiveness of a classroom.