Domain III Reflection:
It is imperative that teachers and all educational leaders are continually learning and growing and renewing their understanding on best teaching practices and trends in education. As schools, tools and pedagogies continue to transform at an astounding rate, it is vital for teachers to stay current and relevant with updated content and research to drive their teaching and student learning. Life-long learner became somewhat of a buzz world in education recently but the reality is that it is more than a fad. I have hungrily taken any and every opportunity to learn and grow as an educator. In large part due to my early point in my career and the very clear understanding that I have a great deal to learn on the road to developing myself as a master teacher but also in part by internal motivation and inspiration from other educators pursuing their passions and topics that benefit them as educators and their students' learning. As schools work to transform traditional teaching methods to grow innovators and creators in 21st century schools, the curriculum, engagements and learning environments need to reflect current needs and best practices for our students today.
Artifacts:
Continuous Learning: ASB Online AcademyASB offers continuous learning for their teachers through their highly effective Online Academy. While not every teacher chooses to take advantages of the rich learning experiences in these online courses, I dove into as many as possible. Beginning with basic technology skill related courses when I joined the school all the way to an entire year long graduate level certification in digital storytelling, I was enrolled in the Online Academy nearly full time for my entire 3 years at ASB. While I often questioned the time and energy I poured into these extra courses (as did many of my colleagues and at times my family and even my instructor!), I was so driven by the desire to learn more and the excitement I gain from acquiring new knowledge and skills that I pushed through course after course even while completing this graduate program in educational leadership. Completing this certification not only helps my credentials and adds to my resume but it really kindled a deep desire for continuous learning and fed my hunger to constantly be learning more. It has also inspired my goals of completing a few more programs in the near future including Apple Distinguished Educators and Google Certified Teaching programs or even a COETAIL technology degree. One thing is for certain, the end of this master program is only the opportunity for the start of the next adventure in learning for this eager educator!Concordia PDI am thrilled to have joined a school with a vision for supporting life long learning in its' faculty at Concordia. They house an in-house PD for teachers in the form of online classes called Concordia PD. Teacher built and run, these courses cover a variety of relevant and passion-based topics for many of our staff. They have just launched their site in the spring and I spent my first few weeks here going through their technology courses to trouble shoot, edit content and links and provide them feedback before the courses were opened to staff. I am looking forward to developing my own courses to offer teachers in this platform in the coming year.
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Conference PresenterPresenting at many conferences has given me great opportunity to learn more about myself and even my topics. As participants pose questions and share ideas, I learn even more myself through presenting my experiences, research and ideas at educational conferences. I have been blessed with opportunities to present on using technology to build collaborative opportunities for students at an UnPlugged conference in Mumbai as well as offering sessions and workshops on Creativity, Augmented Reality and Technology Integration in PD sessions at ASB, UnPlugged Conference and the NESA Spring Educators Conference in Bangkok last spring.
I still remember sitting in my first ever twitter session rolling my eyes at the overly chipper presenter urging us to create accounts and "get out there and tweet!". While I didn't fully recognize the potential at that time, now three years later I have come to appreciate Twitter as one of my greatest resources as an educator. I instantly have access to experts and other teachers around the world with whom I can reflect, ask questions and gain ideas. I have found some incredible resources, blogs and articles through twitter as well and learn a great deal when I am actively (or passively on my phone) scrolling my feed. Participating in chats such as #pypchat or #edtech help me solve problems and share ideas and add to my collection of resources as an educator. I have come full circle from that first twitter session and have even helped mentor and support ASB teachers new to the technology to getting started and finding their way in this incredible network of resources and experts.
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