NETS-T+Pre-Competency+Verification

=Pre-Competency Verification Assessment Reflecting the ISTE NETS-T and Performance Indicators =

__ **Artifacts:** __
 * 1. __Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity__ ** ** Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. **
 * Teachers: **
 * a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinkings and inventiveness **
 * b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources **
 * c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes **
 * d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments **

[|RAZ-Kids]


 * __Reflection:__ I use the program "Raz-Kids" a lot in my classroom. It is an interactive website where students can listen to, read along, taking quizzes, and work on reading fluency. I place my students at a Raz-Kids level based on their DRA level. They are then given a pre-designed course catalog of books on that level. Students have to read/follow along with the book and take the quiz to earn coins. Once they have read through and passed the quizzes of the books on their level, they are moved on to the next reading level. I love the individualization of this program, and the excitement to read that it brings to my students. I also love the fluency piece where students can read a book aloud into a microphone, and it records it to their page. I can go back and use this as a fluency piece to monitor progress. **


 * __Strengths/Weaknesses:__ I feel that RAZ-kids has a lot of strengths to offer teachers and students alike. It is individualized to meet each students needs and help them work on their own level, it has interesting books that the students WANT to read, it has a great fluency and comprehension piece, and a student motivation/reward program. It is also wonderful because students are not embarrassed by the level they are on because other students cannot see the differences in books they are reading compared to theirs. One of the biggest strengths is that students earn coins for passing quizzes so they can build their own RAZ planet. My students LOVE this and it encourages many of them to log on at home to work on their reading level. The biggest weakness in my eyes is that it only goes up to a 50 DRA level (5th grade.) I have many students in 4th grade who are reading beyond this by the mid to end of year, and I'd like to see more challenging books for these kiddos. **

__ **Artifacts:** __ [|My Famous American Unit for my students]
 * 2. __Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments__ **
 * Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S. **
 * Teachers: **
 * a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity **
 * b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress **
 * c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources **
 * d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching **


 * __Reflection:__The link above is from my personal TPT store that I run. It is for a project that I spent a lot of time designing for my students to do this past school year. I created it to make history come alive, be common core aligned, and bring technology into the classroom. In this project students are taught how to use search engines properly to research on the internet and take notes. Students then use those notes to construct a research paper with a bibliography page. Next, students use that paper to create a brochure on their Famous American, and then to write a 30 second speech in first person. We end the unit with a Living Wax Museum where students dress up as their Famous American and give their speeches. Students, teachers, and parents from our school come to "visit" our museum and hear the speeches and see their work. My intentions with this project were to take it a step further and have students video tape their projects and post them on a blog or a wiki so they could all view their classmates projects. I was running around so much during the Living Wax Museum to keep things organized, i lost sight of this objective. **
 * __Strengths/Weaknesses:__ I think this project's greatest strength is that it truly engages the students and gets them excited to learn. They love the research note cards, learning to use Publisher, and especially dressing up as their Famous American for the Living Wax Museum. Obviously I need to improve in the final objective next year, and plan out how I will record and post each students speech. I think this would be a great addition to the project. I think the best way to do this would be to actually have the students work in groups to record each others speeches and teach them how to upload them to the Wiki sight or blog. **

__ **Artifacts:** __ [|My Teaching Blog] ProgressBook School Email SmartBoard
 * 3. __Model Digital-Age Work and Learning__ **
 * Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. **
 * Teachers: **
 * a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations **
 * b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources **
 * c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats **
 * d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning **


 * __Reflection:__ At the beginning of this school year I entered the Blogging world. I absolutely LOVE it! I used my limited knowledge of HTML code to design my blog, and began posting. Since then I have grown to almost 300 followers, and I have added a TPT store where I sell lessons and ideas that I share. I truly have become a better teacher because of this blog. It allows me to reflect on my lessons, collaborate with other teachers, and share and get so many great ideas. I am constantly learning from the blogging world. I also use Progressbook as a form of grading technology in my classroom on a regular basis and I think it is a great tool to log grades and keep track of student progress. My school email is constantly up on my computer and a huge part of my parent communication. I use my Smartboard in so many ways in my classroom. I use it to share interactive lessons on different concepts where students come to the board and drag, write, move, ideas, vocabulary, and other things on the Smartboard. I use the notebook to embed videos and share lessons with my students. **


 * __Strengths/Weaknesses__: I truly think my blog is an amazing teaching tool. I feel its biggest strength is the collaboration and reflection it provides me with. I have met and learned from so many phenomenal teachers around the world through it! My biggest weakness with the blog is just finding time to blog more. The more I blog, the more I learn! I definitely want to work on using my Smartboard even more in my classroom. i am very comfortable with making lessons on it, but it is time consuming. As I continue to teach, I'd like to continue to grow my database of interactive Smartboard lessons. **

3rd Grade iPad Grant
 * 4. __Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility__ **
 * Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. **
 * Teachers: **
 * a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources **
 * b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources **
 * c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information **
 * d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and student of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools **
 * __Artifacts__: **


 * __Reflection:__ I had the opportunity this year to help our 3rd grade teacher write a grant to pilot an iPad cart for his classroom. He got the grant and I really enjoyed helping him explore the iPads, find educational apps, and ideas to implement the use of them in the classroom. They turned out to be a huge blessing, and students were immediately engaged in using them. We are not a district that is lucky enough to have 1:1 devices, but I can't imagine how amazing that would be. This grant gave us a glimpse into the power of technology. **


 * __Strengths/Weaknesses__: The biggest strength in this was the student engagement it provided. Students were ECSTATIC to be given the opportunity to use these iPADS in school, and would've spent hours playing educational games on them if given permission. There were definitely some weaknesses also. One weakness was finding the time to explore the iPads and all that they could do. I feel we only slightly tapped into the plethora of amazing educational apps that are out there. I know the 3rd grade teacher also had a hard time adapting to using these iPads on a consistent basis in the classroom because he was not used to having the technology available. Lastly, our district has been working tirelessly with our new technology coordinator to improve our wireless connection and this interfered with the use of the iPads quite a bit. Technology is wonderful, when it works! **


 * 5. __Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership__ **
 * 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: **
 * a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative application of technology to improve student learning **
 * b. 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 **
 * c. 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 **
 * d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community **
 * __Artifacts__: **
 * [|My Teaching Blog] **
 * [|My Teaching Facebook] **
 * [|My Teaching Instagram] **
 * [|My Teachers Pay Teachers Store] **
 * 2013 Etech Conference **


 * __Reflection__: I am still new to this whole blogging world and absolutely loving it! I have grown my blog through other social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. I have absolutely loved taking my lessons and units and providing them for others to purchase on my TPT store. The feedback is so meaningful for me and I truly love the thought that one of my lessons is bringing joy and education to another student and another teacher. My district also blessed me with the opportunity to attend the 2013 Etech Conference in Columbus this year. I spent 2 days listening to presentations and seminars on ways to use Moodle, Schoology, Googledocs, Apple Products, and many other forms of technology in the classroom. I learned SO much! **


 * __Strengths/Weaknesses:__ I thoroughly enjoy sharing products and purchasing products through blogging and TPT and really love the technology creation process of my products. I put a lot of time and thought into what I make and share. The social media outlets have given me another way to interact and share even more ideas! The eTech conference was certainly a huge learning experience. My biggest take away was a program called "Schoology." I had been trying to work Moodle into my classroom, but just felt it was too difficult for my students to navigate through. I found this FREE software and decided to try it. My students LOVED it. It is like Facebook, but for school. I only used it this year to post updates for students and parents about when tests were coming up, other important dates, and a few discussion questions. I'd like to really grow this next year and use it to its' fullest potential. I want to create online quizzes, book study discussion groups, and share homework assignments digitally. I think it will be a great technology tool if I truly implement it. **