Standard+9

= = =Standard 9=
 * Standard 1 *Standard 2 *Standard 3 *Standard 4 *Standard 5 *Standard 6 *Standard 7 *Standard 8 *Standard 9 *Standard 10

==The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on pupils, parents, professionals in the learning community and others and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.==

=Evidence=

=Rationale=

Throughout the creation of my Edmodo course I faced a lot of trials and tribulations. Although I was very happy with how my unit turned out in the end, I was not always so sure it was going to end up a roaring success. These issues and concerns are brought up throughout my journaling that I did on a weekly basis throughout the EDT672 course. I created this course for 5th grade science and this unit was taught in my classroom. This evidence is important to my development as a teacher because I have reached a new level of self-reflection due to the required reflections through EDT672. This weekly reflection made me question everything I’d put together for that week, and I began to realize how much stronger this reflection process was making my Edmodo unit. After having students go through the course for the first time I continued the reflection process and found numerous things that I still wanted to change in order to continue making it a stronger, more meaningful learning experience for all my learners. At this point I realized that the idea of self-reflection had really overtaken my thinking, and this reflection is a key component within my classroom now. If you are not constantly striving to make things better and stronger then you are failing your learners as a cutting-edge leader. I learned many different things through this thoughtful reflection process. First of all, I understand that reflecting on teaching practices is more beneficial when you conduct educational research and seek out scientifically-based best practice philosophies. Things as simple as classroom observation and discussions can become valuable tools for evaluating learning outcomes, and this feedback can alter the course of study in order to fit the needs of all my learners. A great example is that I now utilize various pre-assessments to gauge student understanding and shape all lesson materials according to their needs. These tools can provide a basis for reflecting on and revising my practices. I walk away from this experience as a much more reflective practitioner, which leaves me tweeting with my PLC (professional learning community) in order to find more successful and intriguing lesson ideas or suggestions for existing lessons.

=KSDs=
 * 9.K.1 The teacher understands methods of inquiry that provide him/her with a variety of self-assessment and problem-solving strategies for reflecting on his/her practice, its influences on students’ growth and learning, and the complex interactions between them. **

This artifact aligns with this standard because I have acquired a much stronger understanding of the methods of inquiry and how I can use these to self-assess and improve instruction. This directly impacts my students’ learning because if I am constantly striving to improve instruction then my lessons will continuously become more engaging and meaningful for them due to the utilization of scientifically-proven approaches and tools.


 * 9.S.3 The teacher seeks out professional literature, and other resources to support his/her own development as a learner and a teacher. **

This artifact proves that I am now willing to seek out other resources as I asked my professor for support as I continued to develop as a reflective practitioner as well as a strong lesson planner. This reflective process also helped me become less uncomfortable seeking help from those other outstanding teachers around the world in my professional learning community on Twitter #edtech.


 * 9.D.2 The teacher is committed to reflection, assessment, and learning as an ongoing process. **

Honestly, by being required to reflect upon the creation of my Edmodo unit I as a teacher have made a habit of assessing my lessons, reflecting upon them, and continuing to alter them to provide outstanding learning opportunities that will allow my students to maximize their retention in 5th grade. This piece of evidence, coupled with undergraduate experiences, has helped create an outstanding habit constant self-reflection and lesson reflection.