Standard V
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.
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Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
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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
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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
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Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community
Reflections & Artifacts
The last standard underlines the significance of teachers' professional development. Since technology may not cease its development, teachers have no reason to stop their exploration. Attending local or international conferences will keep teachers up with the trend and maintain their connection with the community. The standard also emphasizes the teacher's role of leadership. To me, the leadership is developed with a strong technology background, which means only after the educator forms his or her good understanding of the current trend and local educational issues, he or she can be regarded as possessing steady leadership. Besides, teachers should make efforts to augment their professional development. Viewing related research studies in the field is necessary for us to stay up-to-date in the area.
The first artifact is a presentation on the topic of using Screencast-O-Matic to facilitate teaching and learning which was presented during MECA (Mississippi Educational Computing Association) 2016 conferences. I also attended AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) International conference and got inspired by the newest technologies and methodologies in our field. The meetings helped me to comprehend hot topics, involve myself in the community, and share information with peers. The second artifact is a short literature review in which I reflect the influence of video using in teacher education and the effectiveness of social networking in education. During the process of exploring research studies concerning the topic, I was able to learn from others' research skills meanwhile introspecting my learning and teaching practices. Viewing research studies enables us as teachers to better integrate technologies and related teaching methods into daily curricula. The last artifact is the blog journals from my internship during last spring semester. As an international student, having no knowledge of real U.S. styles of teaching and learning, it was difficult for me to understand some topics. However, thanks to the opportunity of the internship, I was able to experience the U.S. education in real context. The standard also encourages teachers to maintain their leadership in technology integration. In my opinion, leadership can be fostered with strong technology background and understanding of the local issues. Thus I'm sure that the internship experience helps me with scaffolding the leadership.
To view the artifacts in detail, please click the following thumbnails.
future learning goals
As mentioned above, based on my previous experiences of attending state and international conferences, I can imagine myself regularly joining meetings in the future. I'll better utilize the opportunity to explore the newest educational technologies and get inspired by the educational practices of other professionals. At the same time, I'll share my experiences with the local community to collect advice and recommendations. Also, I won't stop myself from exploring research studies in our area and probably apply those research results to optimize real teaching practices. Although sometimes the conditions in real life are different from those in the research studies, as a qualified teacher, one should be able to take the advantageous methodologies of the studies and adapt them to fit the reality based on their knowledge of the local issues.
