This week in Social Studies Methods, we have learned a plethora of things. First, we learned about the acronym TPACK. TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. This sounds big and complicated, but what it really is, is what your mindset should be to balance technology in your classroom. TPACK is broken down into different areas, and when the different areas are combined that is what you call the sweet spot, and where the quality of teaching really comes to life. Teachers should be well versed in their technological knowledge, content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. Quality teaching requires an understanding of the complex relationships between these three fields of knowledge and using this understanding to develop the best lessons we can. The other acronym that we have learned this week is, SAMR. SAMR stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. The substitution stage of the SAMR is the lowest level and the redefinition stage is the highest. It is our goal to get our students to the highest level, but that does not always happen in every single lesson.
"Teacher Leadership needs to be so embedded in the profession that it's an expectation...I am supposed to lead," said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. "It's not separate from your routine as teachers."
This week, I read the article on neaToday titled, Embedding Leadership in the Teaching Profession. This article was amazing for many reasons, but my favorite quote was the one listed above. Leadership should be expected of us as teachers. We are to lead our class in whatever we are teaching or doing. Educators and leaders should go hand in hand, because we are the experts in our fields. Being a leader does not mean that you have to go out and be an administrator, you can still be a teacher leader. If a strategy in your classroom is working well for you, then let other teachers come observe what you are doing or blog about the idea so that other teachers can be helped from your experience. Being a teacher leader, is so much more than we think.
This article obviously ties into the North Carolina Teaching Standard number one, which states that teachers leadership. This article is such a great and inspiring read! The link is below!
http://neatoday.org/2016/02/10/teacher-leadership-summit/
Amber, great blog! Thanks for the link about teacher leadership! Teacher leadership is so important and it is something that needs to be mastered before we walk into teaching. That may even be why it is the first standard... ha! I had never heard of TPACK and SAMR until this week and it really changed my view on technology in the classroom and how I as a teacher need to incorporate technology in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteAmber,
ReplyDeleteVery impressed that you are already making connections to the role of a TEACHER leader. You are right - leadership in education does not have to come from administrators. If every teacher realized the power of teacher leadership, I believe we would start to see true change in education!