CIDNEY WRISLEY
2017 ISTE Standards Reflection
1. Learner - Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning.
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Through this technology course I have learned all new ways of using technology in the classroom, some I have never even heard of. One example of this would be my WebQuest. By going through the motion of completing a few WebQuests on my own or with peers, I learned about the different ways it could be of use in the classroom. I demonstrated ways that an educator is a learner by figuring out through what a good WebQuest has, and also took the time to listen to the children that I am student teaching now to see what type of WebQuest would be useful for them. Another example where I demonstrated myself as a learner was through my social justice podcast. I learned so much about Amy Goodman while doing research for my podcast, and also learned a new tool that I can bring through the classroom by either having students do or making for them to see. While my projects may not yet be perfect, I realize that learning is a standard that I will keep developing the rest of my life whether it be for new ways to improve these projects or learning tools yet to be created.
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2. Leader - Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment and success and improve teaching and learning.
Taking the initiative to bring new tools into the classroom is an important quality for an educator to have. By bringing a new unit website to the fifth grade team, I brought a new tool that I had practiced and found a way for it to enhance the curriculum for teachers, parents, and students. I saw an opportunity where I felt like I could make a change to help fellow educators and the students, so I decided to be a leader and make that change. Through my WebQuest I also demonstrate leadership by finding a new way to improve learning and teaching. I believe this WebQuest will be a way from students to learn through discovery, giving them the opportunity to connect technology to their learning.
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3. Citizen - Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world.
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I believe that I have shown what it is like to demonstrate digital citizenship through the podcast that I made as well as this website. Through the podcast, I am demonstrating ways that students can use technology and media to share important information with the world. I will bring this tool to the classroom, encouraging students to use technology that can empower other people and spread knowledge. I will also show them my website to discuss ways that people can learn how to make websites that can positively benefit themselves and other people. Teaching about educational responsibility through my own experiences of designing a website, including my thoughtful choices will help to add authenticity to my words.
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4. Collaborator - Educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems.
When I did the lesson for project team, I was thoughtful to pick something that I believed would relate to the students, since they are spending much of the year learning about recycling and ways to reuse instead of throw away. In this way, I was a collaborator with them by picking a book that would have meaning. I also spent time reflecting on the video I took during the lesson and figuring out what I could've done differently to maximize their learning. I spent much of my time focusing on ways that I could become a better educator for them. This video was not shown for privacy reasons of the students, although there is a lesson plan attached. I also believe that my podcast was a great example of collaboration since I worked with another colleague, practicing out negotiation skills to determine what was most important for our video. Together we experienced what it was like to create a podcast with trial and error, but together we also learned what types of difficulties the children might have making a podcast, like we did.
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5. Designer - Educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability.
While I have designed many new educational tools the term, I am still learning what it means to be a designer. I feel that I have designed many new tools, but instead of them all being learner-driven, I feel like I am the one learning from them currently. After more experience and use of these tools in the classroom, I will feel more confident on the direction I can take them. For now, I have practiced being a designer by being the learner in the deign of my own website. This was the first technological activity that I had tried doing myself, and from there have learned how to take it a step further by bringing it all together into the classroom. From this experience I would say that designing a unit website for the fifth grade at Springville Elementary was another way that helped teach me what it meant to be a designer. I plan to incorporate more activities to this website that will bring it to life in the classroom.
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6. Facilitator - Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the 2016 ISTE Standards for Students.
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I am learning what it means to be a facilitator through technology. I have found new ways that technology I have created can be a facilitator to children's learning through my unit website and WebQuest. The unit website was a brand new way for me to connect technology to the unit the students are learning so that they could get extra resources, review materials, or ask questions to peers in and outside of school. This is also a way to facilitate parent and students conversations about school because parents can quickly and easily navigate through a website to learn more about what is happening at school. My WebQuest is another method to facilitating learning because students are able to navigate through the lesson completely online. This gives a chance for students to browse subtopics and find one that fits their needs, while likely engaging more because of the use of technology.
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7. Analyst - Educators understand and use data to drive their instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals.
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I started becoming an analyst when I used the data from my project team lesson video and reflected on what that meant as an educator and how I could change my instruction methods. After talking to several students and testing out different online games, I have learned that they love using technology in the classroom and would like to do more of it. This is why making the unit website is another example where I have practiced doing what it takes to become an analyst. This is a standard that I have yet to master, but will keep bringing in data from more experiences and research to find out how I can better help students.
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Standards provided from: https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=1014