NO TEACHER LEFT BEHIND
We as a nation have to make sure no teacher is left behind
We as a nation need to support our teachers, as well as our students. If we want our children to succeed in education, we need to begin by providing many learning opportunities to our teachers. If our teachers are left behind in the age of technology and 21st century skills, we cannot expect them to teach our children. I believe that teachers need support and training every year to ensure that they are up to date on the newest types of technology and support systems. They need to be consistently provided with new learning opportunities and strategies to be able to support the learning of each individual child. Teachers need to maintain high educational standards and be held accountable. They need to be provided with learning opportunities and training, so that they can maintain these high standards. I truly believe that teachers all across the nation should hold the same practices. According to Mason (2005), “Uniform national standards can provide a powerful mechanism for achieving our goal of having a competent teacher in every classroom” (p 3). Teachers need to be able to show that they have proper teaching strategies, expertise in content knowledge, have the ability to teach, use current technologies and systems, and that they are able to assess students. Teachers must be able to meet the needs of each individual student and be able to provide strategies to teach 21st century skills. Teachers must be required to high standard right alongside their students. “The nation’s Department of Education in its quest to reform schools and ensure that high quality teachers teach all students needs to take a leadership role and provide a solid foundation on which reciprocal policies can be based. By creating common knowledge and skills standards across the nation, states can align their standards to conform to the national standards, and also require teacher programs to become members of this national accreditation body” (Mason, 2005, p.5). It is important that all teachers have the necessary skills to be effective in their teaching, learning, instructing, and assessing. I truly believe there is a huge gap in the way teachers are teaching in their classrooms. We have seen how teachers get comfortable in the way that they teach and it can be difficult for them to change. I have personally seen a few teachers who utilize the ISTE standards for teaching. They are supportive of different learning styles and they allow their students to be creative. The use of technology for the curriculum has been tremendous and I see how well the children can relate to the lessons. However, there are still some teachers who teach using the “old school” approach and this is hindering our students. “Effective teachers model and apply the ISTE Standards for Students (Standards•S) as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community. All teachers should meet the following standards and performance indicators” (p.1). We need to start educating these teachers so that they understand the necessity of these standards. The future of our children depend on this.
References
International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE Standards Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf
Mason, E. (2005). Uniform National Standard: No Teacher Left Behind. National Forum of Teacher Educational Journal, 15(3), p. 1-10. Retrieved from www.nationalforum.com/.../Mason,%20Edward%20Uniform%20Nation.