Application 2

As our county moves forward to address the ISTE’s Educational Technology
Standards for Students, I plan to make addressing the areas of “Communication
and Collaboration” and “Creativity and Innovation” a part of my “game
plan.” I feel that I have an
awareness of the use of many of the tools that will provide my students with 21st
Century learning opportunities, but I realize that I need to work to better
utilize these tools both to provide instruction as well as to engage my
students in the learning process.

As a relatively young teacher, I am working to grow my skills as a
writing teacher. As I grow my
skills in providing individual instruction, I realize that students need
opportunities to collaborate as well.
This is an area that I continue to work to improve upon. Classroom management is a concern for
me in this area as is assessing student progress. I find it hard to evaluate student growth when students
collaborate on projects. I realize
the need to provide varied organizational plans when engaging students in the
writing process, but find it difficult when one contributing partner of a
collaborative experience appears to be “driving” the project.

Promoting Creativity and Innovation is a challenge that I believe I
already address. I feel that I
engage my students in the creation of variety of products and allow them
multiple opportunities to share their ideas via podcasts, videos, and other
digital products. However, I
realize that my efforts often dead end as the teachers that follow me do not
use these tools. For that reason,
I have sought opportunities to engage the teachers at my school in trainings
that will allow them to learn to use some of the tools I have available and am
willing to share. I am also in
hopes that the administrators at my school will find it appropriate to purchase
some of these tools to support learning, too. Following some of the trainings that I have helped to set
up, I have made myself available to provide support to teachers. I have found that most have an interest
in using the tools that are available, but they are afraid to try as they are
unfamiliar with these tools. I
realize that my interest in using technology carries with it some
responsibilities to stay current on the trends and tools being used in
education. This is a challenge
that I am willing to accept.
Recently, I attended a state technology conference so that I could gain
insight into the educational trends related to technology.