In the following section, I examined the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) and provided narrative of how I met the specific performance indicators for some of them.
 

I.TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Teachers demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts.  Teachers:
A.  Demonstrate introductory knowledge, skill, and understanding of concepts related to technology (as described in the ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Students.)
 

I believe that I have demonstrated a little more than an introductory level of knowledge, skill, and understanding of concepts related to technology.  I was able to introduce and guide my students to learn how to  use the different programs throughout the course of teaching Children's Literature Unit.  The students mastered to learn and use the following programs:
Appleworks
Kidspiration
KidPix
PowerPoint
See Exhibits for Students' work.

B.  Demonstrate continual growth in technology, knowledge, and skills to stay abreast of current and emerging technologies.
 

As an educator, I am an advocate of integrating technology into all subject areas in the classroom.  In order to help my students become technologically literate, I will contiue to attend technology workshops that are often offered by my school district.  I will also continue to grow and expand my knowledge to integrate technology into my every day lessons and be involved with programs  such as the MITTEN porject.  Being invloved in the MITTEN project for the second time is an evidence of my embitions.This experience has given me enough confidence to think about designing my classroom website for the my students and their parents.  This will enable them to view and find out about what learning is taking place in each subject area, special projects, assignment, and any special events that take place in our classroom. 

II.  PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND     EXPERIENCES.  Teachers:

Teachers plan and design learning and experiences supported by technology.  Teachers:
A.  Design developmentally appropriate opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.

All of our lessons incorporated technology (visit the Exhibitspage) to enhance our language arts unit.  Our lessons were designed to support the diverse needs of our students and included a variety of activities to enhance the curriculum.
 

• The first lesson required students to use Appleworks to create sample interview questions and a friendly letter to Mr. Louis Sachar.  These activities were constructed by my student teacher and myself.  In addition, both activities were designed to reinforce the writing process.
• The second lesson requied students to use Kidspiration to create character maps and story maps.  Using the book, There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom students were responsible for creating a creative description of one of the main characters and an imaginative description of the book.
• The third lesson required students to use Kidspiration and KidPix to create a story-sequencing link.  These links were designed to assist students with their re-telling skills.
• The fourth lesson required students to use PowerPoint to create a presentation of Dr. Kettel's visit to our classroom.  Students were expected to use the digital camera to capture Dr. Kettel's visit and use the pictures to write captures using the LCD projector. Then to create a slide show.
• The fifth lesson requied students to use a digital movie camera to film Louis Sachar plays that were performed for an audience at the school.  Students were responsible for choosing a chapter from one of the Wayside School books and asked ato work in groups.

B.  Apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experience.
 

As a teacher, searching websites for  additional information that supplement and support concepts that my students could benefit from is part of my planning for my daily lessons. 

My student teacher and I evaluated our technological capabilities in our school using the .STaR Chart questionnaire befor planning for this unit was done. 

My student teacher and I made sure everything works properly and efficiently.  Therefore, an alternate plan was something to think about. 
 

E.  Plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.
 

Students knew the rules and regulations before working in the computer lab.  On a daily basis, they were responsible for following classroom rules and regulations inside an outside of the lab.  Students had assigned seats in the computer lab.  Lessons were demonstrated to them using teacher's station that is connected a big screen t.v. before they were able to experiment on their own.

III. TEACHING, LEARNING, AND THE CURRICULUM.

Teachers implement curriculum plans that includes methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize students learning.  Teachers:
A.  Facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and study technology standards.
 

All the lessons taught in the Children's Literature Unit were aligned to meet the Michigan Content Standards and Draft Benchmarks.  They were also aligned with the ISTE Student Technology Standards along with the Michigan Technology Standards.  For comprehensive list of all the standards and Benchmaks addressed in the unit, visit the five lessons on the Exhibits page.

All of our lessons supported the learner-centered strategy approach.  Students had the responsibility of choosing a author for the unit and brainstorming about possible ideas for each lesson.  In addition, we challenged our students to come up with a final project to demonstrate their creativity.  Please see students' work in lesson # 5 in the Exhibits.

All the lessons in the Children's Literature Unit were designed to develop higher order thinking skills and creativity.
 
• Students used Appleworks to create interview questions and a friendly letter to Louis Sachar.
• Students used Kidspiration to create character and story maps based on the book, There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom.
• Students used Kidspiration and KidPix to write and draw story-sequenceing links.
• Students used a digital camera and PowerPoint to create a slide show of Dr. Kettel's visit to Iris Becker Elementary.  Students also used and LCD-Projector, Internet, and E-mail to construct a thank you letter to Dr. Kettel.
• Students used a digital video camera to tape chapter plays based on the Wayside School series by Louis Sachar. 

D.  Manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.
 

All the work was completed in the classroom and in the computer lab. Thus, students were expected to follow appropriate rules and guidelines.  This made learning possible in a technology-enhanced environment.

IV.ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

Teachers apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies.  Teachers:
A.  Apply technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a vareity of assessment techniques.
 

Assessment of students were basically made based on observations.  Students were expected to stay on task, follow directions, maintain classroom behavior, and make good choices. Students' work was constantly collected and checked. Please see IV.C below.

C. Apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students' appropriate use of technology resources for learning, communicating, and productivity.
 

Using kidspiration to story map There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom was used as an assessment of how much the students were able to recall or retrieve from the story.   Story sepuencing was also used as a form of assessment of retreiving and recalling events that happened in the stroy.  My students were able to use the Appleworks word processor to prepare questions to be used during the author's interview.  They were also able to contruct an e-mail message and view how this message was sent.

V.PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Teachers use technology to enhance their productivity and professional practice.  Teachers:
A.  Use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.
 

I am planning to continue attending technology workshops to enhance my skills.  I will also continue to integrate technology in my daily lessons.

As a professional, I  always look back and try to improve myself through my mistakes. 

D.  Use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning. 

 
As a teacher, technology makes possible for me communicate with my students' parents and people I work with.  Therefore, a variety of tools are used to make communication possible.  Calling parents on the telephone and writing to them using microsoft processor is using technology.  Using the E-mail system enables me to communicate with my colleagues.

VI. SOCIAL, ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND HUMAN ISSUES.

Teachers understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and apply those principles in practice.
A.  Model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technology use.
 

A signed permission slip is obtained from the parents to enable teachers post the students'  work and photographs to the internet. Also, the topic of plagiarism was discussed with the students.

B.  Apply technology resources to enable and empower learners with diverse   backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
 

Students used a variety of software programs to complete tasks were assigned to them.  The students were given the choices of choosing pictures of their characters when they used the KidPix. 

C.  Identify and use technology resources that affirm diversity.
 

Some of our software programs a Iris Becher affirmed diversity.  Students were able to choose a variety of diverse backgrounds and pictures for their projects.

D.  Promote safe and healthy use of technology resources.

As an educator, I think it is crucial that I educate my students about the Internet safety.  The students at Iris Becker Elementary are not allowed to search the Internet without the teachers' supervision.  Most of the time, websites to be viewed or searched by the students are provided by their teachers. Therefore, students are limited to websites.  The use of internet is under control.

  Despite the level of ability in using technology among the students,  they are all  involved.