Reflections+on+Technology+Facilitator+Standard+VIII

In reading chapter 8, I had a similar feeling and realization as when I was reading chapter 7 of the Technology Facilitator and Leadership Standards. I am very glad to have the information presented in these chapters as a reference, but I definitely feel that I need to spend more time reviewing the performance indicators and advancing my knowledge and experience in this area. As a teacher who has been very involved in technology integration on an individual classroom level, I have gained quite a bit of experience with many of the standards. As my knowledge and understanding of the area of educational technology has progressed, I have worked hard to demonstrate more of the standards. For instance, I have tried to share my knowledge, lessons, and models of technology integration with other teachers across my department and campus. This has been a positive and valuable experience to me, other teachers, and my campus as a whole. However, I have not reached the level of mastery that I would like to achieve in regard to some of the standards; namely, Standard VIII. In order to gain some experience with this standard and meet the field based requirements for the internship course, I participated in a technology-enhanced activity with another teacher, which turned out to be quite successful. At the completion of the project, I reviewed the steps involved in the project and examined the performance indicators associated with Standard VIII. As a result, I realized that our participation in this technology-enhanced activity did comply with TF/TL-VIII.C., which reads, "Apply effective group process skills" (p. 190). The only performance task listed in the book deals with discussing the reasons and benefits of forming partnerships to support technology integration. Considering the fact that our technology-enhanced project involved creating a partnership for the very purpose of me assisting another teacher with limited technology skills to complete a music video with her students, I feel that this standard was demonstrated in this activity. Furthermore, the teacher and I went on to meet at the completion of the project to analyze the successes and effectiveness of the project. After compiling our thoughts and organizing the findings into a presentation / demonstration, we shared these results and findings, along with the actual production, with the members of our department. After analyzing and agreeing on the effectiveness of the project, it was unanimously agreed that we would implement this activity departmentally for the following year. Additionally, we discussed the possiblity of collaboratively presenting this activity and the related findings to other ELA departments in our district. The fact that we met to identify the effective processes of the project and planned to share these findings with others in the district, satifies TF/TL-VIII.D., which states, "Lead in the development and evaluation of district technology planning and implementation" (p.190). Our plans to share this with other campuses will need some further planning, but it is a step in the direction of implementing this activity to demonstrate leadership and vision in the field of technology.
 * Reflections on Standard VIII:**

Williamson, J. & Redish, T. (2009). Technology facilitation and leadership standards: What every K-12 leader should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.