Teaching and Learning 21st Century
No Teacher Left Behind
Learning Opportunities for teachers
How would you suggest we, as a nation, provide consistent learning opportunities for teachers and ensure that they are not left behind in learning about new techniques and strategies?
One of the most obvious to me would be to offer our teachers continued education through online self-paced courses which would be selected by the Department of Education and labeled as a required standard for all teachers. The other would be through providing website resources that are readily available to all teachers. The website resources would be a collaboration of topics, material and resources that a teacher regardless of where they are would have unlimited access to further their knowledge and classroom potential. Our teachers have limited time in the classroom and outside the classroom they need to be afforded the opportunity to gain greater knowledge to remain at the forefront of teaching in the 21st century. “Many institutions of higher learner now offer technology courses to faculty to bridge this gap, helping them master the intricacies of PowerPoint or learn to post materials in a course management system. These courses help to an extent, but classes in using technology do not prepare faculty to effectively incorporate technology into their teaching, (www.educase.com).” Beyond this, in classroom training for teachers to understand how to use their technology will also increasingly improve their 21st technology confidence in the classroom, considering that in today’s world most of our students are far more technologically advanced than the teacher.
Should all teachers across the country use certain practices
The chances that there are two or even three teachers using the same practices across the country are very slim; however I do believe that all teachers across the country should be ensuring that they are using the best practices for the advancement of their students. Our text tells us that differentiation is, “the way in which practices in the classroom focus on meeting the needs of individual students rather than using a one-size-fits-all strategy, Newman, R. (2013).” Through this method I believe it will tend to pull the practices used by teachers to a more common ground and we will eventually be able to see more and more teachers using the same practices in the classroom across the country.
If so, what would those be?
Classroom, instructional and behavioral practices should be global and used across the country. The ways in which they are implemented will vary.
Should there be a consistent standard for all teachers to meet, just as students must pass high stakes tests
I believe a standard exists for all teachers to meet. I truly believe there are two, the first being that in order to become a teacher one must hold a bachelor’s degree. The second being that a person holding a bachelor’s degree and wanting to teach must pass a teacher certification exam in the field they wish to teach in. Just as our students pass high stakes tests, our teachers pass high stakes test in order to teach our students. If a teacher fails their certification exam they are not granted a teachers license.
Lastly, share your thoughts on how well teachers are being prepared to master the ISTE Standards for Teachers in their classrooms
During my time as a substitute teacher, I found that many of the teachers were closely in line with many of the ISTE Standards. I believe that mastering all of the ISTE standards were a ways away, but the teachers were definitely working to meet the standards on every level. Each teacher I worked with always had implementations in place and was working to reach mastery of every standard. The ISTE Standards consist of five standards which each consist of four requirements under each of the five standards. Most of the teachers including myself found ourselves attempting to focus in on just one ISTE at a time. As time went on I figured out that mastering one from each ISTE at a time worked best. With access to 21st technology it has become easier to master all the areas that the ISTE Standards require of teachers.
References:
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/no-teacher-left-behind-how-teach-technology
International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE Standards Teachers. Retrieved
from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf
Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. SanDiego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.