Standard 6: Candidate Professional Growth & Development Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to engage in continuous learning, reflect on professional practice, and engage in appropriate field experiences.
Element 6.1 Continuous Learning - Candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice.
Element 6.2 Reflection - Candidates regularly evaluate and reflect on their professional practice and dispositions to improve and strengthen their ability to effectively model and facilitate technology-enhanced learning experiences.
Element 6.3 Field Experiences - Candidates engage in appropriate field experiences to synthesize and apply the content and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in these standards.
FRIT 7739: Field Experience Log Element 6.3
This field experience log aligns with subelement 3 of standard 6. This is a snapshot of the work completed during the practicum experience. During this experience I engaged in appropriate experience to synthesize and apply professional and content knowledge and skills identified by Georgia Professional Standards. I found the field experience to be rewarding and challenging. It is always hard to leave your classroom and students. I was able to utilize skills from this course to develop online modules that helped keep my classroom on pace in my absence. However, while in the field I learned valuable lessons about time management, collaborating with multiple sites and schools and making decisions to impact the most people effectively. It was interesting to see how roles switched slightly between each education level (k-5, Middle, 9-12), but overall the theme was the same. Teachers want to know how to best use their time to teach and engage their students in their particular content area. I was honored to play a part in helping some teachers achieve that goal.
FRIT 7739: Practicum Blog Element 6.1 Element 6.2 Element 6.3
The practicum blog is an example of standard 6 because it shows continuous learning through the semester, reflections on how each experience went and showed the field experience as it was completed. All three sub elements are represented in the practicum blog. I did my best to regularly reflect on each experience and find ways to improve and strengthen my ability to complete similar tasks in the future. I did not have the best start this semester with blogging. My school had several issues beyond my control and the first month of school seemed to be a whirlwind. Many decisions and changes were being made within my district, along with a mandatory hurricane evacuation. I was able to complete some field experience in my building early in the year, but was not able to go out and observe other programs until late September. I finally felt the year begin to settle in October and then I was able to begin weekly blogging and field experience began to flow quickly. I know in the future that if I do not have a daily or weekly routine to complete a task I tend to not accomplish that task. I learned through field experience that a requirement of our district technology specialist is to type a daily detailed report of what they accomplished each day, which could be similar to blogging. Once I got in the habit of blogging it became easier and more routine. I was able to learn a lot through practicum field experiences and enjoyed seeing what it may be like as a future technology coach in my district. I had wonderful opportunities to see awesome things happening in my district and others. I also was able to see some major challenges that instructional technology coaches have when working with colleagues and teachers. I feel that all of the experiences, positive and negative, better prepared me for my future career path.