Standard+5

__** Enhancing Core Teaching Skills with Technology ** __

#5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
=== Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. Teachers: ===


 * participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
 * 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
 * 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
 * contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community

Critical Thinking Activity-Module 3, NETS 5b,c Learning Community Discussion-Module 5, NETS a,b,d
 * Table of Contents:**

===My artifacts demonstrating this standard (What?)=== //Enter your list of artifacts here that demonstrate how you have met this standard and create a hyperlink to each item.// I agree with the author of "Redefining Rigor" on being, at first, taken aback by what he learned about what skills business leaders are looking for when hiring young people. I very quickly understood the seven basic skills needed by students today are foremost of importance because they can be taught the technology and "get the content" only after they have mastered those skills. The students in the AP Chem classroom seemed to be merely following a set of directions written on the chalkboard, neither understanding what they were doing or why they were doing it. When one groups results were different from the others, they lacked the skills to figure out why and didn't really seem curious enough to care why theirs was different. In the AP Government class, when the teacher got no response to his first question, he did break it down asking for a definition of one of the terms in that question. When a student responded correctly, the rest of the class didn't hear the response. The teacher did not discuss or reinforce that answer, but simply went on to the next question. There was no collaboration or referral back to the original question. Although the students in the AP English classroom are seated in a semicircle around the teachers desk, a good arrangement for collaboration, there is no collaboration going on in this classroom. Students, first of all, are slouched in their desks, obviously not engaged in their learning. Secondly, they are giving answers directly from their notes, no real critical thinking apparent. The teacher, instead of asking more probing questions to promote thinking or collaborative discussion, just goes back to putting more notes on the board. In "A Rare Class" we see a real, true example of addressing the seven basic skills Tony Wagner described in "Rigor Redefined". First, the students are arranged in small groups encouraging the use of collaboration to solve the problem they are given. The teacher explains their task and makes reference to earlier skills learned that will be necessary to solve the problem. When asked for help, the teacher does not simply give an answer, but poses a question to further the students critical thinking and collaboration to answer their inguiry. By telling the students that he will randomly choose a group member to present their answer and an explanation of how they arrived at that answer, the teacher actively engages all members of each group to the task assigned. This is truly an example of an effective lesson using a multi-step problem, critical thinking, problem solving skills, previously acquired skills, initiative, imagination and effective communication. Technology tools could greatly enhance these lessons by taking the emphasis away from the teacher and giving the students different resources to explore and research through the use of videos, bolgs, online discussions, distance learning, and educational wikis. These tools would lend to a greater sense of ownership of their learning by the students.

Module 7: Learning Community

I am a member of a diigo and an educational wiki. Exploring the global learning communities was enlightening. I am aware of Face Book and Twitter because of my children and programs like "Fox News". Ning is completely new to me. It sounds fantastic, enabling students to introduce themselves, exchange information, and explore. Ning can be used to find out about people worldwide. Unfortunately, Twitter and Ning are both forbidden in our school district's social network. ===My Reflection on meeting this standard (So What?)=== In each Module I have tried to pick out my favorite tools that I want to continue to explore and use in my teaching. I feel that taking this course has greatly broadened my technology horizons. ===My Future Learning Goals related to this standard (Now What?)=== I want to continue to take classes related to technology integration.