2 Corinthians 9:10 states, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for
food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of
your righteousness” (English Standard Version).
This is a great scripture that can apply to continuing professional
development. The education sector is
continuously changing—there is always new research, data, strategies, and
resources that we can utilize in our classroom and school community. Always striving to better ourselves, and grow
in knowledge will not only benefit us in terms of professionalism, and
teaching, but it will also help our students as they cognitively, and
social-emotionally grow in our classroom.
My personal growth plan involves
taking education courses or classes that are offered within my school
district. One goal that I have made is
to continue in my professional development of technology. I am not a technological-savvy individual. Indeed, I have learned a tremendous amount in
this course, and in another technology course that I took; nonetheless, there
is always room to grow. Even more,
technology is constantly changing, so keeping up-to-date with the latest
educational technology is imperative to being a mindful educator and stakeholder. Sheninger, 2014, explains, “ As leaders adopt
and embrace the pillars of digital leadership, numerous opportunities will
arise in an array of areas that positively impact school culture and
professional practice” (pg. 185).
The more I am implementing
technology in my classroom, the more I realize how important it is for a school
to also have quality wireless broadband internet. Students are able to do so much more digital
interaction when they are not limited by a cord, or a small number of computer
labs. The more I work on the
collaborative technology plan with my group, the more I want to advocate that
each student have a iPad that they are assigned to for school. I am grateful that in this class I am being
pushed to research, discover, and be a proactive educator who advocates for the
necessary resources so our students can be 21st century
learners.
Resource
Sheninger, E. C., & Zhao, Y.
(2014). Digital leadership: changing paradigms for changing times.
Thousand Oaks (CA): Corwin.
I enjoyed your blog. It is a pleasure to have you in my group. I am glad to know that there are technology savvy people on this team. You seem to have a clear understanding that learning never ceases. Technology has had a wide impact on education already. There is no telling what classrooms will look like in the next twenty years. As an educator for over 35 years, I can tell you that technology has been a scary transition for me. I am more comfortable with a piece of chalk and a blackboard than I am with a promethean board. However, I am trying to learn. Professional development never stops. Whether you learn from experience or you learn from others, we continue to grow in how we teach. I am 56 years old and I am just now working on my Masters. There are some reasons that went into my decision, but the benefits of taking these classes far outweigh the original reasons. I am realizing that I still have many good years left to improve on my craft. I also am blessed to be able to use distance learning through a school like Liberty University. The format of these classes have helped strengthen my resolve that a Christian teacher can be the most important influence on our children today. I have three children, two of which are in college. I hope they continue to be influenced by people that God puts in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI hope and pray that you will continue to have a vision for your future as well as a vision for the future of education. Make sure you keep the one constant of the love of Jesus Christ. Let him lead you. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Hi Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat, while not super technologically savvy, these classes have definitely helped grow in both technology for education and technology capabilities overall. Like you discussed with growing the seed, Nehemiah 2:18 (ESV) invests in technology and grow our skills; “And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” This goes back to kids have essential skills in order to have successful futures. You also mentioned professionalism. I think this is a great call out as it relates to teachers ability to display their knowledge in positive formats. Something that resonated with me in our reading was the creating a successful professional learning community (PLC). Part of this is integrating social networking into an educational and professional framework. For example, a strategy would include shared beliefs, values, and vision, shared and supportive leadership, collective learning and its application, supportive conditions and shared personal practice (Whitehead, 2013, p. 73). Including these items into your growth plan may help in bringing you closer to other school leaders through commonality. This also helps improve 21st century competencies such as collaboration and character. Character as in being a life long learner, leadership and people skills. Collaboration by means of “the ability to interact positively and respectfully with others in creating new ideas and developing products” (Whitehead, 2013, p. 84). Overall, I think anything you decided to do, as long as it is done in a positive manner with the “do the right thing” mentality, there will be nothing that can stand in your way. It has been great learning about you this semester and I wish you the best of luck.
Whitehead, B., Jensen, D., & Boschee, F. (2013) Planning for technology: A guide for school administrators,Technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders. (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin. ISBN-10: 1452268266
Hi Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post. Since the first four students to turn in thhis week's post were the four people in our collaborative group, I though I would respond to all three of you. I'm like you in that I'm not super technology savvy. I think it has been good for me to be forced to learn about the benefits of all of these resources that I have previously not explored. I have promoted the acquisition and utilization of many technological improvements at our school but I have not really taken advantage of all of the possible uses of them for myself. This class is helping to change that. Keep up the good work!
Jeff Wilson