Standard+9

=Standard 9 - Teachers are able to evaluate themselves.= ==The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on pupils, parents, professionals in the learning community and others and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.==

Evidence: Future Schools Paper



 * Rationale:** This paper was written for a course I took called Innovations in Education. It focuses on my vision of schools in the future, given the expanding role of technology in education and society at large. Although the majority of my time as a teacher is devoted to time spent with my students, it is also important for me to understand the issues relevant to educating students in the 21st century, as well as have a larger vision for what education might look like in the future. Researching and writing a paper like this is important to my development as a teacher because it helps me look at the big picture. By writing this paper, I was able to refine my vision of what being a teacher really is and confirmed my belief that no matter what kind of school I teach in, or what kind of technology I might have at my disposal, what is most important to me is that I help my students develop the habits of mind and dispositions necessary to become life-long learners themselves.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND DISPOSITIONS
====9.K.3 The teacher is aware of major areas of research on teaching and other resources for professional learning (e.g. professional literature, colleagues, professional associations, professional development activities.)====

=
As a life-long learner, I am constantly seeking out new information on areas of interest to my role as a professional educator. I read widely on several different topics, including emergent literacy, early childhood education, and technology in education. This paper demonstrates my ability to find resources related to one of my areas of interest.=====

=
As a professional educator, I have a responsibility to continue my own learning and growth. I devote time on a regular basis to reading a variety of professional resources (e.g. websites, journals, and research studies), reflecting on those resources, and sharing those with colleagues where appropriate. This paper demonstrates my ability to choose a topic and find resources that will help deepen my knowledge of that topic, as well as my ability to reflect on new information and synthesize what I have learned into new thoughts and ideas.=====

=
I consider myself a life-long learner and am committed to the idea that there is always something new to learn. Devoting time on a regular basis to exploring professional resources is a never-ending journey for me. As I read something new, it leads me to other resources that I would not have known about otherwise. Delving deeper into those resources, reflecting on what I have read, and reconciling that with my current thinking help me continually develop new thinking about things and provide me with a larger vision to guide my practice as an educator.=====