Standard 1.4 Integration of Twenty-First Century Skills and Learning Standards
Candidates advocate for twenty-first century literacy skills to support the learning needs of the school community. Candidates demonstrate how to collaborate with other teachers to plan and implement instruction of the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and state student curriculum standards. Candidates employ strategies to integrate multiple literacies with content curriculum. Candidates integrate the use of emerging technologies as a means for effective and creative teaching and to support P-12 students' conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and creative processes.
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Reflection
I collaborated with the fourth grade science teachers at Fallsmead Elementary to plan a unit that addressed AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and their content standards during SLM509 Instructional Collaboration. The unit focused on identifying local environmental impacts on the Chesapeake Bay and designing solutions to address these negative impacts. This lesson occurred on the eighth day of the quarter-long inquiry project. During this lesson, students created a digital map to trace the flow of water from our schoolyard, through the watershed, to the Chesapeake Bay. This concept was essential to the greater unit because it proved that our local actions impact the Chesapeake Bay.
During our unit planning, the science teachers shared their challenge that students often struggle to understand the concept of a watershed. I offered to support this aspect of the project because I knew that integrating emerging technologies could help students develop their conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills. I decided to present the content in multiple formats to differentiate for the various learning styles in the class. I began with a video from the UDSA describing watersheds. The remainder of the lesson focused on using Google Maps and Screencastify to record a narrated map of our school’s watershed, ultimately proving that our run-off does in fact end up in the Chesapeake Bay.
I decided to have students work in collaborative groups so that each group member could contribute based on his/her strengths. For example, one student narrated the video while another navigated Google Maps on the screen. I know that this creative creation process strengthened students’ conceptual understanding. Their maps were accurate, detailed, and engaging, and students were able to articulate how our watershed works at the end of the lesson. For the first time, our fourth graders could actually see the path the run-off takes because of the technology I integrated into the lesson. As a result, they developed a much deeper conceptual understanding of the science content.
This lesson reinforced the power of integrating AASL Standards for the 21st -Century Learner with content standards. SLM509 taught me that the AASL Standards are meant to be integrated with content standards, and therefore, are most effective when used in that way. This lesson taught me that content standards are also more effective when integrated. Emerging technologies offer countless opportunities for effective and creative teaching because they open doors to learning that could only be taught in the abstract in the past.
Looking ahead to my future as a media specialist, I know that I will need to advocate for integrating media and content standards. I plan to begin this integration process by modeling emerging technologies during media lessons and providing professional development to teachers. Eventually, I hope to give teachers the confidence and tools to use emerging technologies in their instruction as well, so that AASL Standards and content standards are integrated throughout the school.
This lesson reinforced the power of integrating AASL Standards for the 21st -Century Learner with content standards. SLM509 taught me that the AASL Standards are meant to be integrated with content standards, and therefore, are most effective when used in that way. This lesson taught me that content standards are also more effective when integrated. Emerging technologies offer countless opportunities for effective and creative teaching because they open doors to learning that could only be taught in the abstract in the past.
Looking ahead to my future as a media specialist, I know that I will need to advocate for integrating media and content standards. I plan to begin this integration process by modeling emerging technologies during media lessons and providing professional development to teachers. Eventually, I hope to give teachers the confidence and tools to use emerging technologies in their instruction as well, so that AASL Standards and content standards are integrated throughout the school.