4.2a

Coaches model the ISTE Standards for Students and the ISTE Standard for Educators, and identify ways to improve their coaching practice. Coaches:

A. Pursue professional learning that deepens expertise in the ISTE Standards in order to serve as a model for educators and leaders.

The Connected Learner standard really focuses on the coach’s entire ability to represent the Student and Educator ISTE standards and how that will help them to excel in their coaching practice. Indicator A zooms in on the importance of seeking out professional learning opportunities that deepen coaches understanding of all of the ISTE standards. The DEL program was such a huge opportunity for me to continue developing a deeper understanding of the ISTE standards and was framed to focus on chunks of these standards so that the learner could fully digest each piece before moving on to another. Many of my projects throughout the program would fit wonderfully under this standard, but here are the ones that I would like to point out as my most influential pieces that helped me to demonstrate indicator 4.2a.
 

1. Designing Learning Experiences Through Surveys. The basis for this assignment was designing learning experiences specifically for educators that allowed them to identify ways to improve their coaching practice. I chose to look into how we can have teachers recognize their own interests in PD and how they wanted to gear their PD experiences through surveys. Feel free to read more about how surveys were used to help pursue intentional professional learning opportunities!
   
   
2. Personalized Support Through Professional Growth Plans. This post was a passion project that grew from one of my grade-level teammates and I looking for professional learning experiences for ourselves to gain clock hours! While it began with using the Collaborator standard, I feel that it really focuses more on the Connected Learner standard in the way that it asks educators to participate in a professional learning experience that specifically addresses their self-assessed areas of growth. Read how I planned to work through a Professional Growth Plan to help guide my fellow educators and leaders through the same process!
   
   
3. The last and perhaps most effective experience I had of pursuing professional learning that would help deepen my ISTE Standard knowledge was in my opportunity to work through the ISTE Educator and ISTE Student standards while completing my final course, ​​“Digital Education Leadership Certificate Portfolio Assessment”. Researching and creating work around these standards all was very helpful to begin understanding the different aspects of the ISTE standards, but participating in a course specifically to synthesize my learning and reflect upon my journey helped deepen my understanding and create a resource to model to others. Read more about these experiences in my ISTE Educator Standards and ISTE Student Standards pages.