Click on the comments link below and answer this question: How do you meet the student and teacher standards in your classroom? Be sure to click the Post Comment button when done.
In looking over the ISTE standards it was easy to discern some strengths and weaknesses regarding my own teaching style.
First, I believe I encourage authentic and relevant learning experiences through incorporation of digital tools when completing research-based assignments for English and speech classes. Hyperlinks provide means of diversifying and then focusing a student's interests. Secondly, developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills go hand-in-hand with research, writing, and editing processes.
Concerning weaknesses, I don't often model the use of technology because the students know so much more than I do. In fact, I often ask them questions, and as collaborative learners they are anxious to provide answers. Much of their preliminary digital information comes by virtue of businesses classes, so they come to me with predetermined knowledge.
In the area of leadership by virtue of my committee work and promotion of lifelong learning through implementation of masters-enhanced knowledge, I feel fairly comfortable; however, I haven't done any presentations for colleagues that demonstrate pronounced engagement in digital technology. Possibly this class will remedy that.
FYI: My Google name is G-Ma Mary, which I couldn't seem to switch for this blog. Whenever I tried I would lose the information already entered. I can work on it.
The ISTE Indicators really helps me get idea of how I am doing with my applications of technology. I do feel like I promote and model creative thinking. I have spent half of this year learning more about my interwrite board and my students have been helpful during this process. We have found a lot of great ways to use it in the classroom. As a team of Junior high teachers we work together and share ideas of what is working and what is not working to reach our goals for student sucess with technology. I need to plan to promote student reflections using these tools also.
I develop ideas to enhance our learning experences, but I have never used digital tools and resources exclusively. I have provided students with a variety of options to assess their learning. I would like to have a digital component with each chapter I teach or more.
All of the indicators provide a great way to get a feel for where we are in each area and where we can improve. I feel I use technology, but I want to be sure I am applying it to truely enhance and engage them for a more effective and creative learning process.
When reviewing the ISTE website and the technology standards for students and teachers, I am proud to say that my students and I are on the right track. However, there is definitely areas that could use improvement. I attribute this to being an active participant in the Vocational Education Program (VEII). My curriculum has had to go through a somewhat extensive evaluation and modification process to ensure that it is aligned with the state's requirements. Upon completion of my funded courses,all students are required to fill out competencies that determine the effectiveness and whether requirements were met. If 80% of the requirements are met, we receive approximately $300 per student enrolled in the funded courses. I personally feel as if I could always learn more and do a better job of modeling my digital knowledge for my students. I have been fortunate to attend several conferences which have assisted this need, however technology is constantly changing and there's always more to learn.
After viewing the ISTE standards for students and teachers I discovered that I am right on with some and others I have a ways to go.
I feel that I am open to using and modeling new types of technology in my classroom. However, exploring the new types of technology can be a problem with a limited amount of computers that our students have access to. Our Language Arts group meets on a monthly basis and we encourage the use of technology as we discover new ways to meet the state assessed indicators. I also belong to a science consortium through our service center that meets monthly. There, we network with 3 different regions in Kansas and share different ideas that we could use to meet the state science standards. The use of differentiated instruction encourages the use of technology to help facilitate the learning styles of our students.
This past year, our school had a class called the "Geek Squad" that my 8th grade son had the privilege of being chosen for. They were exposed to current types of technology through attending contests and workshops. At the end of the year, they were asked by the local Chamber of Commerce to develop a video project that would promote Clay Center. With the supervision of their instructor, they completed a fantastic video and learned how to use and incorporate the latest tools in technology as well as market their product. This was a very excellent hands on project.
Now that I am aware of the ISTE standards, I will reference them to make a more concerted effort to focus on how technology will be used to better enhance the quality of instruction in my classroom.
The ISTE standards cover many areas of technology for both teachers and students.
As a teacher, I coninually try to incorporate more technology. One area in which I need to grow is to allow the students more time to problem solve and make decisions by investigation of different sources. It would be good to try different assessments using the technology we have. However, limited numbers of computers makes it difficult to know whether technology will be available for a class. This class should help me develop more professionally by exploring new applications.
The standards for the students emphasize generating new ideas using existing knowledge. They should also use media to communicate. Our students need to improve at exploring to find the answers. They seem to expect the answer they are looking for to start flashing at them. They will be asked to use critical thinking skills and problem solving to create projects. It will be more important for students to know how to find an answer than be expected to know all the answers.
Both teachers and students need to model digital citizenship responsibility. At any given time, we have at least one student who is banned from the computers for violating the agreement they signed. The school should not have to block sites that contain good material because there is also the chance that inappropriate content can be searched.
The standards are a good base for reviewing use of technology in the school system.
I have copied the standards and look forward to having these to guide me in my lessons. The standards were helpful in assessing where I am at. When I look through these different standards, I find that I do in fact utilize more technolgy than I thought I did! I also see where there are areas that I need to learn more about.
I think I do attempt to facilitate student learning and creativity. I have especially made an attempt to utilize various technogy in lessons. In some of our novel studies, I have found that there are some Cyberguides with excellent content that I use for research. At times, I have found sites for students to look at to develop some backround knowledge before reading. I also love using video clips or other previewed clips for students to respond to as part of our writing program.
I also try to engage in professional growth. It just always seems overwhelming to me and a short session doesn't seem to be enough for me to practice or teach it. I also try my best to model effort in technology, and show them that I'll ask questions or go get help to make it work. Honestly, the students have so much more experience and motivation that I usually ask them questions. Obviously, there is a great learning curve for me with most of the standards. I look forward to learning!
Perhaps I am just a pessimist but when I look at the National Education and Technology Standards I think of the huge gap between where we are are where we should be. Our district has what I feel is a better than average student to computer ratio. The problem I see is that our computers seem to serve mainly as “test taking machines.” If computers are available, they are used for word processing or perhaps to go to a website as directed by the teacher. I have not seen or heard of true web based collaboration within our building. Many adults from the teachers, principals, IT people to district administrators are afraid to give too much control to the students. This lack of trust, or lack of understanding of how to give freedom with reasonable boundaries, is hand-cuffing the system and slowing progress. Many of our students have the knowledge, experience and integrity to use web based learning opportunities in a mature fashion. I try to use technology daily in my classroom. Most days it is a presentation tool. Whenever possible I get a computer cart for student access, however this can be a hit and miss proposition. I have just begun to explore the use of collaboration tools such as etherpad. I have looked at the National Education and Technology Standards in the past but it has been a few years. I am now looking at them with new eyes and a renewed energy. I am looking forward to this class and hope to apply as much as I can to my own classroom starting today.
The ISTE website covers many ways to incorporate technology in our classrooms. The standards and performance indicators from the ISTE website would be helpful for aligning a curriculum that uses technology.
With the lack of technology in physical education, it is hard to say I follow these standards. I do believe we facilitate and inspire learning and creativity everyday. Especially in the health classroom we engage students in exploring the real-world issues ands solving authentic problems. When we discuss the medical field along with all of the systems in a hospital (MRI, CAT scans), students are understanding of the importance of these systems. I believe our middle school is always striving to advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology. Each year, several students get “busted” for misuse of a computer.
Currently we use very little technology in the PE and Health departments at our school. We are not against technology, but we feel the need to use our time being active with the students. One of the newest trends in fitness is pedometers. Many schools are applying and receiving grants to purchase these for the students. After the students program their pedometer, they will record and save information such as heart rate throughout the work out and how long the students are in their target heart rate zone. Many teachers are using this information as an assessment tool.
The ISTE web site is informative on what should be done in the classroom with technology. I found that I do more than I thought, but I have a long way to go on how I can incorporate it more.
I always try to inspire learning and creativity. I need to find more ways in which I can do this using the computers. Time and scheduling are always a factor. I work with a great team and one member is always challenging me to do more. I know that I can do much more and need to bring it into my classroom besides testing practice.
We do have a computer class in which students are to meet many of these standards. I often leave the teaching of the programs to this instructor. The problem with this is that we have not had a strong instructor for several years and I feel the students have not developed in the skills that they could have. Students often know more than I do but are always excited to show me something new.
Our district does have inservices that help in learning new programs. I do not always take the time to incorporate these right away.
My goal is to bring the computers more into my classroom. I am hoping this class will motivate and show me new ways to do this.
When I looked at the ISTE standards, I first started out by thinking, "Oh, I already do those things," and ended with, "Oh man, I better step it up."
I feel like I do encourage and facilitate creativity in learning by allowing students several choices during units and projects. I try to do research-based assignments and projects as well. These standards aren't really an issue for me, it is more of the implementation and modeling of new technology that worries me.
This past year, the Smart Pad was something new to me and I spent a lot of time learning it. The kids are used to the Pad already so they actually taught me more about technology than I taught them. I tend not to model the technology we use in the classroom as much because most of the kids already know how to use it, and because I never liked going through things step-by-step, which isn't really a good thing either. (What did we call that? Fixed?) I didn't bring in any new technology to my classroom this year, and really haven't in the past couple years. I never really know what would be beneficial to implement, and sadly, I don't have enough time to mess around with it.
Something I would really like to work on this next year is making sure there is some kind of technological assignment or project in every unit. This is kind of a stretch for me, but I would like to see it happen. I really feel like the kids will be able to help me with this as well.
I have strengths and weaknesses in this area just like everyone else, but these indicators will be a good reference for me as I develop new lessons.
I did not know about these standards until I took a look at them just now. I don't know that I ever consciously tried to meet any of the standards. Computers are used for word processing and presentation mostly in the school. Sometimes they are used for research. We had been working on ways to encourage creativity with online sites for presentations in the form of word pictures and comic strip formats. Being aware of the standards is a first step to meeting them. We have had discussions in class about ethics and the trust-worthiness of the internet.
The ISTE standards are nice to have and to the point. I am pleased to have a guide that is easy to understand to help me.
I am pleased to know that I'm already on track with many of the standards. But, I definitely have areas that I can improve upon. Having a SMARTboard and a projector this year pushed me to learn new things about technology and to present technology to my class. I was able to create an activity for my magnet unit that was interactive for the kids.
I have to say that my students are great encouragers for me. They taught me things about the SMARTboard. They asked me to try different things with it just to see what would happen.
Even with the SMARTboard in my room and the things that I have learned this year, I know that I have only scratched the surface. I hope to improve and learn more through this class.
As a first grade teacher, we get the chance to not only use the new technology such as computers and TVs, but also we use and appreciate the first "technologies" that many have put aside such as microscopes, magnifying glasses, scales, etc. In the primary grades, we utilize these tools as a precursor to the technology we use today such as Smartboards, TVs, Projectors, mobile labs, etc.
The students have met standards by learning how to use the technology with care and for the right purposes. They understand how and why technology affects our world and society. We constantly model the use of technology and the students get hands on experience with typing and media projects.
I have learned so much just in one year while teaching technology and modeling it to my students. While teaching, you come across new ways to do things on the internet and on media projects.
I am confident that my first graders are ready to continue learning with technology as it changes. The fact that they can go home, get on a website and interact says so much for today's youth and how technologically advanced they already are.
I feel fairly confident with the level of technology performance both in terms of student use and teacher use. I continue to try to find ways to get my students involved in using technology, but as several others have mentioned, one major area of concern is the access to the technology on a regular basis. The desire to use and interact with technology in the classroom is continuing to grow. I have made it a point to use my smart phone to perform several tasks in the classroom, such as taking attendance, e-mailing parents, taking photos of student activities to post to facebook, or the school website,etc... Most of my students have a tremendous knowledge base when it comes to technology. It is my hope to continue to improve my use of technology and find new ways to challenge my students to continue to learn.
After reading the the standards for students and teachers, I am happy to say that I am working on trying to meet most of these standards. I know that I still need to work on some of them. I feel that I need to continue to work on technology myself.
This year my third grade class did biography reports on a famous person in history. I added two technology parts to the report and the class loved it. They had two web sites to visit and do research on their person. then when the reports were finished they did a pod cast and put it on the district web site, with a picture they had drew. The class loved getting to view their project on the internet at home with their parents.
As I continue to work on the computer and get better skills, I hope to do more with my class. I know that I will have to, to keep up with the kids.
In looking over the ISTE standards it was easy to discern some strengths and weaknesses regarding my own teaching style.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I believe I encourage authentic and relevant learning experiences through incorporation of digital tools when completing research-based assignments for English and speech classes. Hyperlinks provide means of diversifying and then focusing a student's interests. Secondly, developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills go hand-in-hand with research, writing, and editing processes.
Concerning weaknesses, I don't often model the use of technology because the students know so much more than I do. In fact, I often ask them questions, and as collaborative learners they are anxious to provide answers. Much of their preliminary digital information comes by virtue of businesses classes, so they come to me with predetermined knowledge.
In the area of leadership by virtue of my committee work and promotion of lifelong learning through implementation of masters-enhanced knowledge, I feel fairly comfortable; however, I haven't done any presentations for colleagues that demonstrate pronounced engagement in digital technology. Possibly this class will remedy that.
FYI: My Google name is G-Ma Mary, which I couldn't seem to switch for this blog. Whenever I tried I would lose the information already entered. I can work on it.
The ISTE Indicators really helps me get idea of how I am doing with my applications of technology. I do feel like I promote and model creative thinking. I have spent half of this year learning more about my interwrite board and my students have been helpful during this process. We have found a lot of great ways to use it in the classroom. As a team of Junior high teachers we work together and share ideas of what is working and what is not working to reach our goals for student sucess with technology. I need to plan to promote student reflections using these tools also.
ReplyDeleteI develop ideas to enhance our learning experences, but I have never used digital tools and resources exclusively. I have provided students with a variety of options to assess their learning. I would like to have a digital component with each chapter I teach or more.
All of the indicators provide a great way to get a feel for where we are in each area and where we can improve. I feel I use technology, but I want to be sure I am applying it to truely enhance and engage them for a more effective and creative learning process.
When reviewing the ISTE website and the technology standards for students and teachers, I am proud to say that my students and I are on the right track. However, there is definitely areas that could use improvement.
ReplyDeleteI attribute this to being an active participant in the Vocational Education Program (VEII). My curriculum has had to go through a somewhat extensive evaluation and modification process to ensure that it is aligned with the state's requirements. Upon completion of my funded courses,all students are required to fill out competencies that determine the effectiveness and whether requirements were met. If 80% of the requirements are met, we receive approximately $300 per student enrolled in the funded courses.
I personally feel as if I could always learn more and do a better job of modeling my digital knowledge for my students. I have been fortunate to attend several conferences which have assisted this need, however technology is constantly changing and there's always more to learn.
After viewing the ISTE standards for students and teachers I discovered that I am right on with some and others I have a ways to go.
ReplyDeleteI feel that I am open to using and modeling new types of technology in my classroom. However, exploring the new types of technology can be a problem with a limited amount of computers that our students have access to. Our Language Arts group meets on a monthly basis and we encourage the use of technology as we discover new ways to meet the state assessed indicators. I also belong to a science consortium through our service center that meets monthly. There, we network with 3 different regions in Kansas and share different ideas that we could use to meet the state science standards. The use of differentiated instruction encourages the use of technology to help facilitate the learning styles of our students.
This past year, our school had a class called the "Geek Squad" that my 8th grade son had the privilege of being chosen for. They were exposed to current types of technology through attending contests and workshops. At the end of the year, they were asked by the local Chamber of Commerce to develop a video project that would promote Clay Center. With the supervision of their instructor, they completed a fantastic video and learned how to use and incorporate the latest tools in technology as well as market their product. This was a very excellent hands on project.
Now that I am aware of the ISTE standards, I will reference them to make a more concerted effort to focus on how technology will be used to better enhance the quality of instruction in my classroom.
The ISTE standards cover many areas of technology for both teachers and students.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I coninually try to incorporate more technology. One area in which I need to grow is to allow the students more time to problem solve and make decisions by investigation of different sources. It would be good to try different assessments using the technology we have. However, limited numbers of computers makes it difficult to know whether technology will be available for a class. This class should help me develop more professionally by exploring new applications.
The standards for the students emphasize generating new ideas using existing knowledge. They should also use media to communicate. Our students need to improve at exploring to find the answers. They seem to expect the answer they are looking for to start flashing at them. They will be asked to use critical thinking skills and problem solving to create projects. It will be more important for students to know how to find an answer than be expected to know all the answers.
Both teachers and students need to model digital citizenship responsibility. At any given time, we have at least one student who is banned from the computers for violating the agreement they signed. The school should not have to block sites that contain good material because there is also the chance that inappropriate content can be searched.
The standards are a good base for reviewing use of technology in the school system.
I have copied the standards and look forward to having these to guide me in my lessons. The standards were helpful in assessing where I am at. When I look through these different standards, I find that I do in fact utilize more technolgy than I thought I did! I also see where there are areas that I need to learn more about.
ReplyDeleteI think I do attempt to facilitate student learning and creativity. I have especially made an attempt to utilize various technogy in lessons. In some of our novel studies, I have found that there are some Cyberguides with excellent content that I use for research. At times, I have found sites for students to look at to develop some backround knowledge before reading. I also love using video clips or other previewed clips for students to respond to as part of our writing program.
I also try to engage in professional growth. It just always seems overwhelming to me and a short session doesn't seem to be enough for me to practice or teach it. I also try my best to model effort in technology, and show them that I'll ask questions or go get help to make it work. Honestly, the students have so much more experience and motivation that I usually ask them questions. Obviously, there is a great learning curve for me with most of the standards. I look forward to learning!
Perhaps I am just a pessimist but when I look at the National Education and Technology Standards I think of the huge gap between where we are are where we should be. Our district has what I feel is a better than average student to computer ratio. The problem I see is that our computers seem to serve mainly as “test taking machines.” If computers are available, they are used for word processing or perhaps to go to a website as directed by the teacher. I have not seen or heard of true web based collaboration within our building. Many adults from the teachers, principals, IT people to district administrators are afraid to give too much control to the students. This lack of trust, or lack of understanding of how to give freedom with reasonable boundaries, is hand-cuffing the system and slowing progress. Many of our students have the knowledge, experience and integrity to use web based learning opportunities in a mature fashion.
ReplyDeleteI try to use technology daily in my classroom. Most days it is a presentation tool. Whenever possible I get a computer cart for student access, however this can be a hit and miss proposition. I have just begun to explore the use of collaboration tools such as etherpad. I have looked at the National Education and Technology Standards in the past but it has been a few years. I am now looking at them with new eyes and a renewed energy. I am looking forward to this class and hope to apply as much as I can to my own classroom starting today.
The ISTE website covers many ways to incorporate technology in our classrooms. The standards and performance indicators from the ISTE website would be helpful for aligning a curriculum that uses technology.
ReplyDeleteWith the lack of technology in physical education, it is hard to say I follow these standards. I do believe we facilitate and inspire learning and creativity everyday. Especially in the health classroom we engage students in exploring the real-world issues ands solving authentic problems. When we discuss the medical field along with all of the systems in a hospital (MRI, CAT scans), students are understanding of the importance of these systems. I believe our middle school is always striving to advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology. Each year, several students get “busted” for misuse of a computer.
Currently we use very little technology in the PE and Health departments at our school. We are not against technology, but we feel the need to use our time being active with the students. One of the newest trends in fitness is pedometers. Many schools are applying and receiving grants to purchase these for the students. After the students program their pedometer, they will record and save information such as heart rate throughout the work out and how long the students are in their target heart rate zone. Many teachers are using this information as an assessment tool.
The ISTE web site is informative on what should be done in the classroom with technology. I found that I do more than I thought, but I have a long way to go on how I can incorporate it more.
ReplyDeleteI always try to inspire learning and creativity. I need to find more ways in which I can do this using the computers. Time and scheduling are always a factor. I work with a great team and one member is always challenging me to do more. I know that I can do much more and need to bring it into my classroom besides testing practice.
We do have a computer class in which students are to meet many of these standards. I often leave the teaching of the programs to this instructor. The problem with this is that we have not had a strong instructor for several years and I feel the students have not developed in the skills that they could have. Students often know more than I do but are always excited to show me something new.
Our district does have inservices that help in learning new programs. I do not always take the time to incorporate these right away.
My goal is to bring the computers more into my classroom. I am hoping this class will motivate and show me new ways to do this.
When I looked at the ISTE standards, I first started out by thinking, "Oh, I already do those things," and ended with, "Oh man, I better step it up."
ReplyDeleteI feel like I do encourage and facilitate creativity in learning by allowing students several choices during units and projects. I try to do research-based assignments and projects as well. These standards aren't really an issue for me, it is more of the implementation and modeling of new technology that worries me.
This past year, the Smart Pad was something new to me and I spent a lot of time learning it. The kids are used to the Pad already so they actually taught me more about technology than I taught them. I tend not to model the technology we use in the classroom as much because most of the kids already know how to use it, and because I never liked going through things step-by-step, which isn't really a good thing either. (What did we call that? Fixed?) I didn't bring in any new technology to my classroom this year, and really haven't in the past couple years. I never really know what would be beneficial to implement, and sadly, I don't have enough time to mess around with it.
Something I would really like to work on this next year is making sure there is some kind of technological assignment or project in every unit. This is kind of a stretch for me, but I would like to see it happen. I really feel like the kids will be able to help me with this as well.
I have strengths and weaknesses in this area just like everyone else, but these indicators will be a good reference for me as I develop new lessons.
I did not know about these standards until I took a look at them just now. I don't know that I ever consciously tried to meet any of the standards. Computers are used for word processing and presentation mostly in the school. Sometimes they are used for research. We had been working on ways to encourage creativity with online sites for presentations in the form of word pictures and comic strip formats.
ReplyDeleteBeing aware of the standards is a first step to meeting them.
We have had discussions in class about ethics and the trust-worthiness of the internet.
The ISTE standards are nice to have and to the point. I am pleased to have a guide that is easy to understand to help me.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to know that I'm already on track with many of the standards. But, I definitely have areas that I can improve upon. Having a SMARTboard and a projector this year pushed me to learn new things about technology and to present technology to my class. I was able to create an activity for my magnet unit that was interactive for the kids.
I have to say that my students are great encouragers for me. They taught me things about the SMARTboard. They asked me to try different things with it just to see what would happen.
Even with the SMARTboard in my room and the things that I have learned this year, I know that I have only scratched the surface. I hope to improve and learn more through this class.
As a first grade teacher, we get the chance to not only use the new technology such as computers and TVs, but also we use and appreciate the first "technologies" that many have put aside such as microscopes, magnifying glasses, scales, etc. In the primary grades, we utilize these tools as a precursor to the technology we use today such as Smartboards, TVs, Projectors, mobile labs, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe students have met standards by learning how to use the technology with care and for the right purposes. They understand how and why technology affects our world and society. We constantly model the use of technology and the students get hands on experience with typing and media projects.
I have learned so much just in one year while teaching technology and modeling it to my students. While teaching, you come across new ways to do things on the internet and on media projects.
I am confident that my first graders are ready to continue learning with technology as it changes. The fact that they can go home, get on a website and interact says so much for today's youth and how technologically advanced they already are.
I feel fairly confident with the level of technology performance both in terms of student use and teacher use. I continue to try to find ways to get my students involved in using technology, but as several others have mentioned, one major area of concern is the access to the technology on a regular basis. The desire to use and interact with technology in the classroom is continuing to grow. I have made it a point to use my smart phone to perform several tasks in the classroom, such as taking attendance, e-mailing parents, taking photos of student activities to post to facebook, or the school website,etc... Most of my students have a tremendous knowledge base when it comes to technology.
ReplyDeleteIt is my hope to continue to improve my use of technology and find new ways to challenge my students to continue to learn.
After reading the the standards for students and teachers, I am happy to say that I am working on trying to meet most of these standards. I know that I still need to work on some of them. I feel that I need to continue to work on technology myself.
ReplyDeleteThis year my third grade class did biography reports on a famous person in history. I added two technology parts to the report and the class loved it. They had two web sites to visit and do research on their person. then when the reports were finished they did a pod cast and put it on the district web site, with a picture they had drew. The class loved getting to view their project on the internet at home with their parents.
As I continue to work on the computer and get better skills, I hope to do more with my class. I know that I will have to, to keep up with the kids.