STANDARD 1
Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences and advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.
a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
Reflection
Standard one encourages teachers to use technology to enhance lessons and inspire students beyond the pages of a textbook. As educators grow and instruction evolves, we have a responsibility to take advantage of the growing opportunity technology provides. Technology has the ability to be an extension to the tangible world by exploring realistic virtual spaces, collaborating with students arounding the world, and creating online reflective portfolios that can be built upon throughout that child's educational career.
Professional Growth Plan
As a Technology and Media Integration Specialist, I hold myself to a high standard and aim to "facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity" through professional development workshops, remote training, and one-to-one coaching. It is essential for me to inspire my "students" because they are the teachers in my district and the knowledge I impart on them trickles directly down to the students they teach. Using lesson plan samples and example projects gives teachers a tangible model to follow and a solid launching point from which they can build from.
Artifacts
Digital Story Telling
Using technology to tap into my music students' creativity, I designed a lesson plan which challenged students to create a digital story. Digital stories bridge several subjects together by interweaving storytelling with images, video, music, and sound effects. Giving students the freedom to express themselves and the knowledge on how to put it together provides a needed skill set that far exceeds the confines of the project. For the complete sample video and lesson, including works cited for the video, please click here.
End of Marking Period Reflection
Reflection is important for both students and teachers in order to learn from the past and improve on needed areas going forward. Advances in technology has now given teachers the ability to create customized reflection forms via Google Forms. Results from submitted forms accumulate in a correlated Google Sheet and those results can be used for personal teacher use or shared with the class to spark a conversation. Click here to see a sample end of marking period reflection form and the corresponding results sheet.