Concept Map

A concept map is a great tool that teachers can use in a classroom.  Teachers can use the concept maps to aid in their own development.  Teachers can use the maps to present a lesson, create a lesson plan, and also teach the students how to use it in their own work.  I used my concept map as a guide to what standards need to be met in mathematics for a fifth grader.  Since I want to teach fifth grade math, this will benefit me later on, providing the standards do not change in the next two years.  Like I mentioned before, the students can also use the concept maps.  Instead of using a pencil and paper to create a bubble map of an essay, the teacher can introduce kidspiration.  It will make the assignment more fun for the students, and the teacher will have something pretty, that reflects each students personality, to grade.  Also, students could create an "All About Me" concept map.  Each student could share their concept map with the class.  It is a fun way to get to know all of the students.  Another way the students can use the maps is to create a map to reflect what they have learned in a unit.  For example, they could put the unit name in the middle and create subtopics of the different categories they learned about.  They could further expand that by creating subtopics of the subtopics.

Concept maps also tie into the NETS*T.  If a teacher uses the concept map to present a lesson to the class, then the teacher is facilitation and inspiring student learning and creativity.  The teacher is modeling how to use the technology; therefore, the teacher is also modeling digital age work and learning.  This one example also ties into designing and developing digital age learning experiences and assessments.  The students become curious about the technology and want to learn how to use it.

NETS*T Standards

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face 
and virtual environments.

a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S.

a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.

a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats
d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.

a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
b. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
c. Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
d. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

a. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
c. Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community

ETS·T © 2008 International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE® is a registered trademark of the International Society for Technology in Education.

Technology in a classroom is very important, especially in today's day and age.  Everything in today's world revolves around technology. This makes learning technology in school just as vital as learning to read and write, compute mathematics, complete science experiments, and learn about the history.  Students should be exposed to technology throughout their education.  The students should build on their technology each year as they do with every other subject.  These standards help teachers know what they should do in the classrooms when it comes to technology.  The standards help the teachers incorporate the technology, as well as, create curiosity within the student.  The curiosity is what makes the student want to know more and get involved in the technology.  The technology standards for teachers are beneficial for both the student and the teacher; therefore, I plan to refer to the standards and incorporate them in my own classroom when I finish my degree.  

Introduction

My name is Whitney Ward.  I am currently engaged and planning my wedding for March 22, 2014.  I am excited to be a step parent to two beautiful babies that I currently help raise.  Children are a joy for me to have around.  They know how to make me smile when I am upset and can turn any mood into a positive one.  I look forward to spending most of my time teaching them.  I am now a junior and have started my Introduction Block in the Elementary Education program.  I will receive my endorsements in both mathematics and social studies when I graduate.  I am hoping to have all of my classes finished by May of 2015.  I love mathematics; I find number to be very interesting.  In addition, I like mathematics because there is always a reason why a certain answer is correct; there are no “that’s just the way it is” answers in mathematics.  On the other hand, social studies is one of my least favorite subjects.  I was previously an accounting major which required me to take sociology and economics.  Both of those classes count towards a social studies endorsement.  If I take one more social studies based class, I will be able to receive a social studies endorsement as well.  Despite my lack of interest in social studies, I still look forward to getting both the social studies and mathematics endorsements.  These endorsements will better qualify me as a teacher.  I am not a very technology savvy person.  I know just the basics I need to complete my class assignments.  However, I do believe that technology is important to use in a classroom.  Our world revolves around technology, and children need to be know how to use the technology themselves.  Although technology is important to a classroom, technology should not be the only way teachers teach.  Children need to be exposed to a variety of ways (hands-on activities, board example, one-on-on, etc.) to learn because not everyone learns the same way.