ISTE 5 Reflection

Holly Crosby

Reflection on Standard 5 - ISTE-NETS for Teachers

      Standard five of the ISTE-NETS encourages teachers to engage in professional growth and leadership. Teaching is a profession where you are never finished learning. Teachers must continuously grow and improve through professional development, in order to keep up with today’s technolgy. By growing individually one shows that they are becoming a better leader. As the use of technology increases, educators need to grow with technology as well so that they are able to allow their students to excel in a digital world. The indicators for standard five are as follows:

A.    Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications for 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.

When I reviewed these standards, it made me think about my own reflection on how I am growing as a teacher using technology.

A.    At James Island Elementary, we regularly meet with our PLC (Professional Learning Community) to discuss how to go about delving into the new Common Core standards. I think in the future we need to discuss the need for students using more technology in the classroom. Students need to know how to navigate on the Smarter Balance test, how to type, how to research on the Internet, and how to save documents on a computer or flash drive. Teachers need to take ownership that they need to advance students technologically. Educators do not want students going into a digital society with no basic computer skills.

B.     At my school, we may need to have a technology committee that would discuss how we could come up with ways to infuse technology into each grade level or computer class. They may be able to raise money to buy a typing program that we desperately need.

C.     Teachers need to stay current on the different technology applications and tools that are there for them to use. Teachers should also evaluate how well and how frequently they are incorporating technology into the classroom. Technology usage needs to be meaningful not a time waster when students go onto a website like poptropica to just play mindless games.

D.    Teachers must take ownership of their professional growth with technology. Recently, I took a technology course that helped me advance what I already know and apply it to my classroom. I learned many new programs and applications that will help my students get the technology that they need.

It is so important for teachers to grow professionally with their knowledge of technology usage and tools, because technology can help students become motivated so quickly to learn and do better in school.