What standards do you think you are most comfortable with?
To start, I am most comfortable with the 2.5 Designer standard. As a middle school English teacher who teaches 5 sections of inclusive classes, I accommodate to learner differences. These classes include students with IEPs, 504s and/or are English language learners. For example, some ways I use technology to differentiate and accommodate to different learning needs is through different grade level readings and genres on SORAapp.com, different Lexile levels on StudySync readings, modified writing assignments on Canvas googleLTI assignments, and Google slides that provide an opportunity to give different sets of directions for a variety of project choices.
Also, I am most comfortable with the 2.6 Facilitator, because I facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students. For example, my students learn how to use a variety of technology resources, such as SoraAPP, GoogleLTI on canvas, Studysync, Britannica, Kahoot, Nearpod, Blooket, online articles, tedtalks, youtube videos, and NPR audios.
Share examples of what you are already doing or have done through your graduate studies that show your proficiency or expertise regarding standards. Give examples of two or more standards. What standards do you find more challenging for you? Explain.
Connecting to the designer standard, last semester, I took a GACE602 class where I learned about a variety of different resources and activities I can use to help cater to my gifted and talented students, which also provided modifications that can cater to other groups of students’ needs. For example, I learned to provide more work to gifted and talented students or students who finish early but to provide options in their assessments and time for exploration.
Connecting to the facilitator standard, I learned how to foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings in my classes, such as ISTC 700 last semester. I learned about chatbots and how they can help students manage their work and create goals.
The 2.1 Learner goal seems simple, but I find it to be a bit more challenging because I start to mix up the experiences I have had in teaching versus the experiences I have had in this program. For example, I take professional development courses for MCPS that sometimes have similar learning goals to the program, such as providing differentiated learning or making rubrics specific for students to understand to help them complete an assessment. Also, 2.3 Citizen is a bit challenging because I understand data privacy, such as passwords and not sharing passwords, but I am sure that there is more to learn for this standard or things I have learned that I am not considering as fitting in this standard, yet. I hope as we read and discuss, I can learn more about these challenging standards and how I have and will cover them in this program, and more specifically, this class.
Where do you lack experiences and knowledge that could benefit you in your current or future position? This course asks you to focus on strengthening your knowledge and skills with one or two standards. Note the standards you intend to work on throughout the course.
I hope to work more closely with 2.5 Designer standard, 2.6 Facilitator, and 2.1 Learner, to reflect more on what I have already done in my classes and make goals for my current and future classes. Also, I want to learn more about how I can strengthen the 2.7 Analyst standard. I want to learn about more ways I can collect data to help my students reflect on their past assignments and make goals for the future assignments. I give timely feedback and students have an assignment to check their feedback after every writing, but I hope to learn about more ways students can progress.