NETS-T1 Reflection & Investigation

T1a: Evaluate yourself according to the standards of NETS-T 1 - Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity [a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness] 
Self-rated as: Developing

I rated myself as developing because while I have knowledge and understanding of technology tools that I can use in the classroom, I have not put these to use for this purpose yet. In fact, for all of the performance indicators in T1, I rated myself as 'developing' for this same reason. I don't have the skills in applying my knowledge in the classroom yet or how to best apply these skills for student benefit. 

In Your Experience: A crystallizing experience that assured me I was making the right decision in pursuing teaching was just a couple of years ago. I was fairly certain I wanted to be a teacher but had never really experienced being in the classroom, other than as a student. I completed an internship for my undergrad degree at Hough Elementary. I only worked with the students one day a week, however, seeing how they progressed and learned to work through personal problems sealed my fate. Watching one student improve made the difference to me. I knew that I was right in choosing teaching. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my working years watching students develop academically.

My visual tool (from www.teach-nology.com):

Through reading this chapter and exploring the different ways that technology can be used to stimulate student learning and growth, I've found that there are a lot of options available. I also noticed that a lot of the options seem very basic, especially the use of graphic organizers. The recognition of multiple intelligences is also stressed and that it is vital to recognize and promote their strengths and encouraging them to work with their strengths. Understanding how students learn is going to be such an important part of teaching and differentiating as much as possible so that students do not get left out is a huge part of that. As technology is continually evolving, including technology in the classroom and using it to promote learning is a key part to teaching in the 21st century.