A Connected Teacher

Being able to be a team player, work collaboratively, and communicate with colleagues are crucial characteristics of great teachers. This week I did a little research on being a "connected educator". For those of you that are not familiar with this term, it simply means a teacher who is connected through technology tools with other teachers. For example, not just 'following' other educators on twitter, but tweeting back and forth, creating relationships, and carrying on conversations. Here is a great visual that Dr. Alec Couros created which illustrates this idea.

[Retrieved from http://dmlcentral.net/blog/howard-rheingold/professor-alec-couros-connected-teacher]

Through my research, I found that a lot of people are talking about Connected Educators online. There is a Connected Educators project, a month dedicated to Connected Educators, books for sale on the topic, the information was overwhelming! I found a site with ten tips for becoming a Connected Educator. It is a great starting point, I recommend checking it out!

Benefits of being a Connected Educator:

• You can learn from other teachers' mistakes and successes.
• You can use resources created by other teachers and share your own to save time.
• You can create relationships with teachers all over the world which will last much longer than any tool.

Am I connected? Not nearly as much as I should be. Sure, I blog, tweet, post and buy things on Teachers Pay Teachers, search sites for lessons created by other teachers, follow blogs and educators on twitter. All of those things I'm doing are great, but I have not taken the next step to create a flow of communication back and forth. I plan to challenge myself to do so. This is what I will do to become connected:

• I will comment on other's blogs when I see an idea I like.
• I will participate in EdTech tweet conversations using hashtags.
• I will contact teachers to question them about lessons they've created or done that I find online.
• I will create relationships with teachers I do not know or have not met yet.

"The tools come and go, but the relationships endure." - Dr. Alec Couros.

I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and create deep connections with other educators!

Technology Standards

In my technology class, we took an assessment through the AEA. It tested my knowledge on the technology standards for teachers. The standard I tested highest on was standard #2 and I tested lowest on standard #5. Most of the questions I missed were due to misinterpretation or misunderstanding by myself. I also missed questions that dealt with laws about technology in schools and professional development because those are two things I do not have much experience in.

There are some similarities between the technology standards for teachers and the technology standards for students. They are both focused on making the teacher and student the best at using technology; whether that be in their teaching or in their classroom.

In addition to the similarities, there are many differences. The standards for teachers are more focused on the planning, modeling, and promoting. As teachers, it is our job to create a classroom environment that promotes twenty-first century learning skills and model for our students how to use tools to help them succeed. The student standards are all things we want students to be able to do throughout or after projects and assignments that their teachers assign. These standards are the skills we want students to have in order to be a twenty-first century learner.

I think these are very appropriate expectations for students and teachers when it comes to technology because they are doable, and they are necessary to succeed in our world today. New jobs and new tools are constantly being created and it prepare our students for the real world we must teach them how to be life-long learners and how to use technological tools. I think the standards are appropriate expectations for teachers because it is an expectation already for us to model for our students, so modeling technology is another way we can teach them.

As a future teacher, I can work to ensure that other teachers have a deep understanding of these standards by sharing with them what I have learned. With the background I have with technology, I may be one of the more tech-savvy teachers at my future job and I will gladly teach the skills and tools I have learned. I think it is important to share with others because that is how we grow and become better teachers.

ISTE has created profiles for grade bands. It provides ideas for grade-level appropriate lessons tha meet the student standards. I chose PreK-2nd. Here are three quick lesson snippets that could meet standard #1: Creativity and Innovation:

1. Students will create their own original story using the iPad app Toontastic. Students will create a rough draft on paper and then create their digital story using their own illustrations and voice over their plot.
2. Students will pick an issue that effects their life in some way (recycling, playground safety, littering, etc.) and create a Public Service Announcement using VoiceThread to educate their audience about the problem. They will work with a partner to accomplish this task.
3. Students will create an Acrostic poem using Pic Collage about themselves. They will use adjectives to describe themselves and add pictures or illustrations to tell the class about who they are.