Goal+1+Level+III

Level III

 * Goal 1 - Facilitate and inspire learning and creativity using existing and emerging technologies**

Example 1: Online environments are becoming more prevalent for learning at many different levels. Using this emerging trend, I created a professional development opportunity, entitled Culturally Responsive Education NOW. This course was created using the online website generator, Weebly. A website format for disseminating information about culturally responsive education was chosen because it supports all of the characteristics that research shows is best for this particular topic. The website is meant to be collaborative in nature, and has many different types of media and activities for engagement. This artifact meets Goal 1 because it shows that can I effectively facilitate learning, through the engagement of others in my profession, in an online environment. [|www.culturallyresponsiveeducationnow.weebly.com]

Example 2: These screenshots are from a course that I created, called 8th Grade Inquiry. This course is designed around the Big 6, which is a six-stage model that guides students to solve problems or make decisions. This model promotes the mastery of information literacy and technology skills by helping students to work through a few important tasks. First, they define the problem and identify the information needed. Then, they determine possible sources and select the best to use. Next, they locate the sources and information, and then use the information to extract relevant details. After, they organize details from those multiple sources and present it. Finally, they judge the product and process to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the model. This artifact meets Goal 1 because I was able to create an inquiry-based course, which is meant to inspire student learning and creativity, and do so in an online environment. Also, since this course was a model for other courses at the middle and high school to be developed, it shows how I can change the way my school district facilitates learning in the regular education classroom with existing and emerging technologies.



Example 3: This artifact is a reflection paper that I wrote about sharing knowledge regarding existing and emerging technologies with a colleague. For this assignment, I had to choose a colleague who could benefit from by knowledge about a digital tool that I had learned about, called the American Memory Collection. I chose to help the 8th grade social studies teacher at WMIS and friend of mine, named Deme. Before I spoke with him, I was already aware of some of the skills he emphasizes while trying to teach kids to think like historians. For example, he works on such skills as inferencing and summarizing, and I knew that he could do this more effectively if he used primary sources from the American Memory Collection instead of the textbook. I modeled examples of various sources found on the American Memory Collection website, and demonstrated a few methods of how they could be used during his lessons. In the end, he was very appreciative of the knowledge that I shared with him. He later told our curriculum principal about what I taught him, which led to an opportunity for me to lead an inservice about using technology to engage learners. This artifact meets Goal 1 because it shows that I can use what I know about inspiring learning, especially with the use of primary resources that can be digitally accessed, to influence others in my profession to use them as well.