A Course Reflection

Go back and reexamine the NETS-T Standards - There are five standards identified as skills and knowledge teachers need to support digital age learning: Digital Citizenship, Digital Age Learning, Digital Age Work, Professional Growth, and Student Learning. The Essential Conditions, showcase the conditions necessary to effectively leverage technology for learning (iste.org). Create a personalized reflection in a Google Doc or other Web 2.0 tool that focuses on your areas of strengths and your areas of needs based upon the NETS-T standards and Essential Conditions listed above. Support your reflection with the corresponding NETS-T standard.  Share your reflection with your course facilitator via link.   Where do you see alignment with these standards and the 21st Century Technology Leadership Certification coursework? Which NETS-T standards correspond to your areas of strengths and needs? What is your action plan for applying what you have learned after this course? All reflections must be done in a Google doc and published publicly.
Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity	I think many of the activities we did over the course connected to this standard. I especially thought the module on communication, as well as, the module on curation and creation gave me an opportunity to explore this standard. Students built projects that engaged the them because of the tools they were learning. One of my strengths in this area is modeling collaborate knowledge construction with students and colleagues in both an analog environment and over the internet. I have always focus my teaching in this area before technology, but once I implemented one to one it only become stronger. I feel one of my weaknesses in this area is engaging students in real world problems. It feel that curriculum is inauthentic at times and does not always target real world skills. I have been working on more projects that connect students to the real world. For example, publishing videos on youtube with a real audience, or sending a picture across the internet to teach a lesson on digital citizenship and communication.
Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments	I think one of the modules that really targets this standard is the module on data collection. Students really had to reflect on the purpose of assessment and what their scores mean to them and reflect about their learning. I think my strength in this area is using digital tools to promote learning and creativity. With every students having an iPad and a smorgasbord of apps, integrating technology into learning is relatively simple with a little gumption. Also now that I have had a chance to observe and collaborate with so many teachers, their ideas have filled my cup. One of the weaknesses is with formative assessments. Technology makes checking for understanding easy, but many of the curriculum embedded assessments need extra effort to turn digital. Another challenge I have had this year has been not having my own class. Often times I am not in a class long enough to give formative assessment. However, I think as I get to know the curriculum better it will be easier to help create formative assessments that fit into the curriculum.
Model digital age work and learning	Almost everyone of the lessons I did, modeled digital age work and learning. Teaching with an iPad has changed my teaching and almost every lesson models some kind of digital age work and learning. I feel one of my strengths in this area is modeling current digital technology. I love trying and learning a new app or a new way of teaching with technology. As I mentioned above, having so many teachers around to collaborate with helps keep the apps we are using current and fresh. My weakness in this standard is communicating with a variety of digital tools to parents. This year, I started using Remind to connect with parents, but I did not have too many parents sign up. Last year, I used email, but only about half of my parents had email. I would like to better leverage social media to reach out to more parents.
Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility	I focused on this heavily during modules two and three. Both of my lessons were focus on digital citizenship. However, elements of digital citizenship can be found throughout the modules as it is always important to keep students safe when online. I feel that teaching digital citizenship is one of my strengths. I was able to have Parent Coffee Klatches, which targeted digital citizenship. Also I personally feel that this is one of the bases we must start with and target our students to teach them about being safe online. Technology is a tool that can be used for good or for evil. One of the areas I need to improve is teaching kids multicultural empathy. I feel I do a good job with a few limited cultures, but I would like students to be able to have more of a world view. I think it would be great to connect with another class in another country or on another continent.
Engage in professional growth and leadership	In these modules, I was able to grow in many ways. The modules made me reflect and think on items and topics that I may have not engaged in. I tried apps I might not have tried, I participated in a hashtag chat, and curated numerous sources. I think because of the position I am in, I was able to naturally demonstrate leadership with technology. All of the lessons I participated in we modeled in front of other teachers. I am also in the position to provide professional development to many people in my school. One of the aspects, I want to work on is reading more research articles on teaching with technology. I read plenty of blogs and many articles, but few a of them seem to be strongly based in research. I think this would help strengthen my practice.
To continue to develop my skills, I plan to keep participating in social media, making youtube videos, and blogging. I think these will help me to stay fresh and develop my knowledge. I will also be able to continue to connect with other educators if I participate in these avenues. In my opinion, connecting with others in the edtech field is the best way to develop constantly stay fresh and grow professionally.