Meeting The Standards
Standard 5
a. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
During the course of the 2012-2013 school year, in which my classroom was a pilot class for 1:1 iPads, my students got used to my colleagues visiting on a regular basis. In total, there were thirty-eight teachers, administrators and other educational professionals who spent time observing lessons and instructional strategies with technology integration throughout the course of that school year. This included teachers from other schools and positions in the district, plus an international entourage!
Most impressive to my students, was when we heard that eight Japanese educators would be coming in to join two of the morning classes. Looking back, the students still remark that they felt like celebrities. While no pictures were allowed, the visitors each had a camera to be used for recording video. Eight cameras recording from every angle!…except straight on…as faces were to be kept out of the film. The idea was that they would still be able to review the audio that was picked up and all of the content they filmed from the students working through their lesson and math stations on the iPads and surrounding manipulatives in the room.
Prior to the morning classes, the Japanese educators sat in on part of our math team meeting. It was then that they were also able to ask questions about teaching strategies and technology integration methods that they would later be observing. It was a privilege to be a part of this experience and make my classroom available. Participating in this certainly met aspects of the standard listed above about impacting global learning communities with a desire to improve student learning.