"Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" (thanks Brady Bunch!)
What I really want to say is "Standards, Standards, Standards!" Wow are there a lot of standards out there. Common Core State Standards, Social-Emotional Learning Standards, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Standards and Teacher Leader Standards. What's a girl to do? With so many standards how can you keep them straight?
By now, we are all familiar with the Common Core State
Standards and using them to help us make sure our curriculum meets the
requirements imposed by the federal government.
It was a bumpy road, but many of us are there. And how did we jump on this bandwagon - well,
we used the standards almost daily in our planning. When you use something so much it becomes
second nature.
I'm not sure where your school is at with the
Social-Emotional Learning standards or the Technology Standards. The SEL Standards are being addressed at my
school, but not anywhere near where they should be. And after going 1:1 with Chrome books this
year, our technology coach has brought up the ISTE standards in a very casual
way. But by no means are we as well versed in those
standards as we are in Common Core.
But how about Teacher Leader Standards. Did you know they existed? (You do if your in
a graduate program at Elmhurst College
So:
- Foster Collaboration (be a part of and promote it)
- Use Research to Improve Your Practice
- Promote Professional Learning
- Help Others Improve Their Practice
- Use Assessment Data
- Contact Families
- Advocate for Students and Teachers
I realize these are bare bones. But sometimes bare bones are all you need (or
can handle). Hang them up. Look at them often. You will find yourself changing. I know I am!
#bealeaderdaily
Loved the inter-connected focus on standards and your "cheat sheet" for teacher leadership. Standards are goals to be reached - guidebooks for where we are going and all the different ways to get there. Until standards are written as objective benchmarks they really cannot be measured other than by using indicators within them. But we never know how much is enough? And how can measure "advocate for students and teachers"? Your blog illuminates that in education we may be as confused about what are "standards" and how to use them as we are about what is "teacher leadership" and how to best use teacher leaders.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this bog, I am definitely going and making my own teacher leader standards cheat sheet and having it where I can see it throughout my day. That is such a good idea and another way to make sure that I am growing and becoming the teacher leader that I want to be. I really liked how you compared these standards to the common core standards. Eventually, it becomes second nature to use these standards and I am hoping that this will be the same for the teacher leader standards.
ReplyDeleteI go back and forth how I feel about standards. I know they are meant to hold teachers accountable, but I get frustrated when student knowledge of the "standards" are evaluated by standardized tests. I read an article not that long ago about the amount of instruction time that is taken out of the school day because of standardized testing. At what point do we say enough is enough? I was recently at a principal township meeting for technology integration specialists from all New Trier feeder schools. Someone reminded us that in addition to the ITSE Standards, there are actually technology standards embedded in Common Core. Well that was a round-about way of saying that these standards are so detailed many of our teachers are still unpacking them. Just the thought overwhelms me.
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