My school site does not seem to have a mission statement specific to technology. However, I do know that technology and 21st Century Skills are part of the set of district goals that teachers are evaluated on, so our school does have a vision for implementing technology. Our vision statement specifically says,
“Inspiring and preparing students today for the possibilities of tomorrow by instilling the 4 "C"s (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration & Creativity) in a respectful, safe, collaborative community by utilizing clear expectations and focusing on strengthening relationships.” I think the most technologically inclined section of the statement is “preparing students today for the possibilities of tomorrow.” In fact, I kind of like this open ended statement because of how much technology changes. The idea of technology and the way it is used today could be vastly different than the future. The last ten years alone have been dramatic in terms of digital citizenship, social media, educational technologies, and how students learn. A technology goal from the early 2000s might be nonsensical today. Similarly, today’s ideas of what a school should do for technology might be vastly inadequate in 2025. So, even though we do not explicitly discuss tech in our mission statement, I believe it is implied. In relation to my capstone, I feel very supported by my site’s mission statement. The heart of my capstone is for student’s to have meaningful choices to take charge of their own learning. Growth mindset is, at its core, about creating lifelong learners. I also feel like a growth mindset works perfectly with and is enhanced by the 4 C’s mentioned in our vision statement. In terms of my personal practice, the answer is the same. My capstone has grown from my personal practice. The idea of agency in a math classroom and student choice for how to engage in learning the content is something I have been striving for the last few years. Any time I have spoken with my administration about putting students in the driver's seat, making sure they know what they are learning, I have gotten nothing but support. In terms of improving how I support this vision statement for the future, I think it is all about integrating all 6 of the C’s. So much research on the workforce talks about how important collaboration are creativity are. As social media slowly grows to be our primary funnel for information and news, critical thinking and citizenship become even more crucial for young people in the digital age. My capstone is largely focused on changing individuals, either by inspiring teachers to change their practice or by instilling agency in individual students. A next step could be to develop ways to establish agency through collaboration. How can we use our peers a sa resource for learning and improvement? That’s a whole new driving question and does not quite fit in with my current aims towards technology and digital resources, but I am still young in my teaching career. There is time to integrate all this pieces.
5 Comments
10/1/2017 08:00:35 pm
Patrick,
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Nai Saelee
10/8/2017 11:13:36 am
Patrick,
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I agree that the openness of the statement leaves room for that which has yet to be discovered. Trying to hammer down the specifics of tech is light trying to control light speed. This type of statement leaves room for things to change and grow while focusing on the essential skills - for example: collaboration. We know right now, in this moment many different types of tech that support collaboration, but we've no idea what the future holds for that. It is wise to leave the window open for whatever is coming next and not limit ourselves to only what we can see and know now.
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10/8/2017 08:07:43 pm
I like the way you state that technology changes constantly so our goal to teach for the 21st century will change too. The ways of learning needs to change for new tomorrow.
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dan
11/9/2017 07:13:47 pm
I know its not easy to gain support, especially as a young professional. So, to here you get nothing but support from your staff means the world. sounds like an amazing workplace.
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