standard 5 evidence

NETS Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

ISTE Definiton: 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:

1. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community.

How I apply this standard in my teaching.

Professionalism is key for teachers today. Marketing self is at the forefront of success in the classroom with students of the 21st Century. New and currently practicing teachers must be inspired to promote themselves as 21st century professionals and active participants in the world known to their students and to provide innovative and inspiring content to their classroom and their districts.

I strive to be a role model in the areas of professionalism, leadership, and technology. To do this, I have taken on roles that promote and set an example of leadership.

National and local presentations and the networking associated with these events are major opportunities that I constantly seek for my students outside of the classroom. They have participated by webcam when I was presenting at the Consortium for School Networking Conference, (CoSN based in Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. Other presentations they have contributed to include:

· Educators Rising (Formerly Future Educators Association) Conferences regionally and nationally

· Greenbush Education Center’s Technology Conference

· Baker University’s Practitioner’s Conference

· Four States Regional Technology Conference

For these conferences, I guided the students as they actually created, researched, and developed ideas and content for their presentations.

My leadership roles have included:

· Serving as a proposal reviewer for the FETC (Florida Educational Technology) Conference

· Serving on the CoSN Conference Planning Committee for several years

· Serving on the CoSN Compendium committee

· Presenting at the Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando; the CoSN Conferences in Washington, D.C., New Orleans, San Francisco, San Diego, Atlanta, and the Mid-America Computers in Education conferences on several occasions.

· Serving as a judge for competitions at the National FEA Conference.

Community service is another important element outside of every classroom. My students keep a professional development and community service log. We seek community service opportunities that have included face painting at the Make-A-Wish Walk and helping our district’s elementary schools with lunch, bus, and recess duties. We have also created social media workshops for senior citizens in our district as both a means to broaden technology experiences, but to also serve as community outreach.

On a district level, I have served for several years on our professional development council and on leadership teams for both Blue Valley Northwest High School and for the Center for Advanced Professional Studies. This allows me to be at the ground floor of much decision making in our district centered on teachers and the teaching profession and also allows me to bring the attributes and responsibilities of those roles into my classroom to model networking and collaboration for my students.

I am constantly seeking out educational technology opportunities for my students. As a part of our collaborative environment at CAPS, we work directly with many business partners on projects related to teaching, training, and innovation. We have worked with Sprint, Arcademics, AMC, and others which allows my students to see the education profession in a different light.

As a part of the CAPS community, my leadership roles have continued as I lead the development and implementation of a student professional skills program, worked with students to revise pitches for the innovation celebration, created opportunities for colleagues to continue their collaboration with the Kansas Leadership Council, and have been a constant resource for planned and just-in-time technology integration training because of my background as a former Technology Integration Specialist at one of our district high schools. I created a Staff LINKS page as a tool to assist. As part of these roles, I have encouraged others to join local and global learning communities, worked with colleagues on their professional development plans, organized a staff book club including ordering books and setting up discussion forms via TodaysMeet and Google+, and finding resources for the needs of colleagues such as an automated scheduling site for parent-teacher conferences.

Through these and other leadership roles, I continue my progressive vision of technology and its effective role in education when used purposefully.

Examples of my work for this standard.

1. CAPS Teacher Education Presentation Site (website)

2. CAPS INSTRUCTORS LINKS PAGE (website)

3. Teachertek (website)

4. Professional Skills for Students Resources (website)

5. Senior Citizen Technology Instruction (Tutorial .pdf) (Evaluation .pdf)

6. Staff Book Club (.pdf)

7. Staff Collaboration with Kansas Leadership Council (.pdf)

8. Teacher Education Advisory Committee (.pdf)

9. Staff Resources and Training (.pdf)

My favorite web resources for this standard.