ISTE Reflection

ISTE Reflection

Heather Sanderson

Eastern Connecticut State University

June 19^th, 2019

Whenever I complete self assessments I tend to score myself on the lower side. I am hesitant to give myself a perfect score because there is always room for improvement. That being said I feel like I am in a good place with my technology application in the classroom, but have some lofty goals to personalize my students learning in the next few years.

In the first section of the survey which deals with facilitating and inspiring students learning and creativity in both face to face and virtual environments, I gave myself 4’s in all of the categories. Being a science teacher, I assign many engineering tasks where the students need to be creative and innovative. These assignments always involve a real problem to engage students and help them see the real world application of science. These tasks are done in face to face environments. I use simulations especially the PhET site to teach science content in a virtual environment. I can do a better job at promoting student reflection. I do administer surveys and closure formatives but not as often as I would like.

The next section of the ISTE survey covered developing and designing learning experiences and assessments that use technology to maximize content knowledge and increase student skill. I use technology simulations often in the classroom. These simulations let the students explore different scenarios and change variables to discover how science works. I also have begun to personalize learning for many of my students through Google Classroom. I will place resources containing the content taught on the Google Classroom site of any student who was absent along with the work they missed. I will provide additional resources to students who have been struggling to learn the science content. I also place many practice games on Google Classroom so my students can play them to review. The students can play them as many times as they would like until content is mastered. I also use closure games at the end of class as formatives because online games produce spreadsheets of student scores including which problems they got wrong so I can spend more time re-teaching where my students are confused. In the future I plan to personalize my students learning experience even more by placing a variety of assignments online. Each of the assignments will be worth a different amount points depending on level of difficultly and time needed for completion.

The third section of the ISTE survey was one where I need some improvement. This section dealt with teachers being able to exhibit skills and knowledge as a professional in a global and digital society. I do well with learning how to use new technology and modeling effective use of technology to support research and learning. I also communicate with parents and students through a variety of digital formats such as Google Classroom, PowerSchool, and Gmail. The area that I scored the lowest on was collaborating with peers and community members using digital tools. Our school does not allow much time for collaboration with other teachers and there really is no community involvement what so ever. In the future I would like to connect with engineers in the field to further my students understanding of the engineering process.

The next section deals with promoting and modeling digital citizenship and responsibility. I scored myself with mostly 3’s in this area. I feel like our library media teacher takes on the role of teaching our students about the safe, legal, and ethical use of technology. He spends 2 class periods with my students teaching these types of skills. The part of this section I scored myself the highest on was addressing the diverse needs of learners. I have been trying to personalize the resources I provide to students on Google classroom to address the different needs of my students. I also talk to my students about digital etiquette and responsibility because I am always concerned about my middle school students posting something they are going to regret in the future.

The final section of the ISTE survey is about engaging in professional growth and leadership to improve my use of digital tools. I scored the lowest on participating in local and global learning communities. I do not have any online communication with teachers in other districts or countries. I really only communicate with my students, my students parents, and occasionally with other science teachers in town. I am always looking for new ways to incorporate the latest technology into my classroom but this is an ongoing process that will always be evolving and changing so it is an area where I can grow further.