Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries Christina L. Greer UMUC

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

This has been a long but worthwhile journey. I began this program 6 years ago. In our district you are required to start your Masters within 5 years and finish within 10. We are lucky enough that some of the tuition is reimbursed throughout the year, however it only covers one full class and half of another class. Financially, this means taking one class at a time. Many important life events occurred during my time in this program. It is very rewarding to know that all of the hard work will soon pay off. I started this program because it was online and that fit with my schedule as a single mom. I also had an interest in technology, but didnt utilize it in my classroom very often. My motive for obtaining this degree has changed over the course of the 6 years. Before, it was a requirement and now its a passion. I would like to use this degree to become a technology teacher. Unfortunately, those positions were cut in our county. I am fine with looking outside the county. I am also interested in teaching within a virtual school, which is something I never would have considered without this program. The program as a whole has helped me grow as a teacher and taught me multiple ways to be more effective in the classroom. The vision of teaching and leading beyond boundaries is an important one in any educational setting. There are many limits that need to be overcome in the teaching world. Some of the boundaries are financial, administrative support, curriculum restraints, economic and home life of students, varying ability levels of students and teachers in terms of technology, and materials. There are, of course, many other boundaries that teachers face on a daily basis. The goal is to determine the best way to overcome the boundaries in order to be a successful educator. There will always be obstacles in the way. Figuring out creative ways to surpass the boundaries is whats important.

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

The UMUC Conceptual Framework names six objectives as the basis for the vision of teaching and leading beyond the boundaries. The six objectives are as follows: The candidate acts upon academic content, professional and pedagogical knowledge, and understanding of students to maximize student achievement. The candidate engages in an ongoing process of reflection, re-planning, testing, and refining for continuous improvement. The candidate demonstrates selection and integration of technology to maximize student learning. The candidate integrates creativity, innovativeness, and adaptability into the curriculum, promoting opportunities for discovery, deep learning, and originality. The candidate integrates into instruction the political, economic, cultural, and ecological concepts of global citizenship. The candidate initiates change and mobilizes the learning community toward the goal of curriculum and organizational improvement, influencing the practice, character, and culture for learning.

Over the course of this program, each of these objectives were integrated in the different course requirements. Objective one states that the candidate acts upon academic content, professional and pedagogical knowledge, and understanding of students to maximize student achievement. (UMUC, 2012) The assignment that comes to mind is the technology interview that was completed. I interviewed Floria Mathis, who was and still is our Computers Teacher. Through this interview I learned that she is responsible for aligning the curriculum to

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

her classes throughout the day. She is not responsible for any of the technical issue with the computers or network. There is a computer analyst in the school for that issue. She is an asset to the classroom teachers because she has many technology resources and has been trained on all the equipment we have at school. Learning more about this position that interests me allowed me to successfully work with another professional in the building to continue to add technology to my classroom. The second objective states that the candidate engages in an ongoing process of reflection, re-planning, testing, and refining for continuous improvement. The capstone project for EDTC 670 comes to mind for this objective. During the implementation phase, there was a need to reflect on how the project was going and if it was successful so far in meeting the objectives. There were things I had to revise along the way from the original plan. Revision happens a lot in teaching because of all the different elements involved. A student was having a difficult day and was unable to complete the assignment. I had to reflect on how to get him motivated and re-engaged in the lesson. I also reflected on the lesson as a whole at the end to see what I would do differently when I implemented this project again. Striving for continuous improvement is a must in education. The third objective states that the candidate demonstrates selection and integration of technology to maximize student learning. Early in the program we were asked to complete a software review. Most of the technology I use now is not software; however the software I reviewed is still in use and an excellent resource. Reading for Meaning and Science Court are classrooms videos that the students work with to complete a lesson as the video plays. There are

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

stopping points for questions and interactive activities. This is an excellent tool to review a skill because the students are highly engaged by the videos. The fourth objective states that the candidate integrates creativity, innovativeness, and adaptability into the curriculum, promoting opportunities for discovery, deep learning, and originality. Finding creative and interesting ways to teach despite curriculum constraints is a necessity in education. Earlier in the program, we were asked to create an Information Literacy Unit Plan. The lesson I created was for 5th grade enrichment math. The lesson involved cross curriculum learning. The students were required to research a famous mathematician of their choice. They used multiple sources to locate information and create a project that they would share with their classmates. This allowed the students to see a different side to math other than just solving problems and included literacy skills necessary for the writing curriculum. The fifth objective states that the candidate integrates into instruction the political, economic, cultural, and ecological concepts of global citizenship. The Global Module assignment in EDTC 645 was one of my favorite assignments. I never really thought about the global aspect as much until that class. The Global Module allowed me to create a unit about digital storytelling that looked into the cultures around the world. I utilized the ePals website to complete this assignment. Teaching students about global citizenship was of high importance in this lesson. The final objective states that the candidate initiates change and mobilizes the learning community toward the goal of curriculum and organizational improvement, influencing the practice, character, and culture for learning. When I completed my Classroom Technology Plan, I discussed the importance of having training for the SmartBoards we have in our classrooms. At that time, no one had been trained on how to use them and we had them in every room. After

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

completing the plan, I shared it with my principal at the time and brought up my concerns. Training was organized for beginners and intermediate users during out staff meeting time multiple times that year. This training allowed teachers to better utilize the technology they had in their classrooms. The ISTE coach standards look at the skills and knowledge necessary for those that coach or help to integrate technology for others. Teaching and leading beyond the boundaries is not just about effective teaching, it also looks into how well the person is integrating themselves into leadership roles. The first standard looks at visionary leadership which goes into participating in a shared vision of integrating technology. The capstone project for EDTC 670 addresses the elements found under this standard. I am in the process of sharing the concept of blogging to help improve BCR scores with our Reading Resource teacher as well as the other teachers on my team. Integrating this technology is a meaningful way to choose technology to enhance the curriculum. Standard two addresses teaching, learning and assessment. I still feel as though Im working towards this standard. I have presented in the past on ways that I use technology within my classroom, but I would like more opportunities to share the knowledge Ive obtained through this program. I would especially like to incorporate a global lesson for our school. Our county hosts Japanese exchange students. I feel that it would be a great opportunity if we could form a program with the Japanese students in collaboration with the student teachers. The case study that I did on Japan gave me great insight into this. Standard three discusses creating digital age learning environments. This program has taught me a lot about the different resources that are available and how they can be integrated. I complete a review of a scan pen that could be used as an assistive technology to help children read a story. The virtual school study helped me to

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

understand the concept of online learning versus blended learning. It was interesting to learn about the different dimensions of online learning. Studying how virtual schools work motivated me to look into teaching in a virtual school. The fourth standard addresses professional

development. Assessing needs within the school falls under this category. In my District Technology Plan, I looked at training for SmartBoards. Our school has so many of them and they werent behind used. The concept came from my Classroom Technology Plan. I knew I needed the training in the classrooms and realized that others were feeling the same way. As discusses above, a training was organized shortly after. Standard five talks about promoting digital citizenship. EDTC 645 was one of my favorite classes. I used ePals to help find an interview for the country case study. We were focusing on Japan and I was having trouble securing an interview. I sent out emails on ePals to different teachers in Japan and was able to secure my interviews that way. The Global Classroom Model works with digital storytelling across different cultures. Im looking forward to implementing this project. We study myths and fables, so looking at stories from different cultures would be an excellent tie in. The final standard relates to professional growth. I have grown a lot as a professional during this program. Ive been able to utilize technology successfully with the curriculum and assist others in doing so as well. One thing that has come from this program is realizing that technology never stops growing and changing, so educators need to be the same way. There will always be tried and true lessons that you enjoy using, but finding new ways to integrate technology for success keeps things interesting and helps prepare students for a world full of technology.

Teaching and Leading Beyond Boundaries

International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) and National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Educators (NCATE). (2012). Program for the preparation of technology coaches. University of Maryland University College. (2012). Conceptual framework: Teaching and leading beyond boundaries.