Sarah Stere’ BlogSarah Stere is a STAR member of the Discovery Educator Network

Evaluation is an important part of any process.  Whether it is learning as a student, assessing your students as a teacher or setting goals for yourself and carrying out a course of action, evaluation is necessary to carry out the process and accomplish the task at hand.

4a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

My actions have been effective as far as working towards my goal.  This is an ongoing goal so I have not met it yet.  I have been acquiring resources that will continue to aid me in determining what sources need to be cited and which do not.  The more confident I am with correct use of citation, the more effective I will be at passing this information on to my students.

I have learned about many resources that will help me to learn about correctly citing my sources.  This has not only helped me to do a better job, but also enables me to be more effective at modeling for my students and helping them to understand that it is important to give others credit for their work.

Although I have been learning new information, I still have plenty to learn.  I do not have any new questions at this time, but will probably continue to have questions as I learn more.

I do not think my goal needs to be adjusted at this time.  The biggest thing I need in order to reach this goal is more time.  I need time to delve into the resources that have been provided to me and to find more resources.  This goal is continuous because I do not get a chance to create new lessons daily so I do not always have the need to cite my resources.

4d. develop and model cultural understand and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital-age communication and collaboration tools.

Considering the fact that we are in the middle of our first collaborative project of the year, I feel that the steps I have taken towards meeting this goal have been very effective.  Following this project, I will need to continue to be proactive in finding more collaborative projects that will fit into my curriculum and benefit my students.

I am learning about some collaborative projects that are available.  I am also learning how to integrate these projects into my curriculum.

I still need to learn about more collaborative project opportunities.  I also have to continue to work on finding ways to integrate these projects into my curriculum. 

I need to focus on completing our current project (holiday card exchange) right now.  When this project ends, I will need to reflect on its value, for myself and my class.  I can then move onto locating other projects that may fit into our curriculum.  Again, I need time to locate more resources and determine where and how they best fit into my curriculum.

I feel that both of my goals are ongoing, so although I have made progress towards each, I will need to continue to work on meeting them.  As you can see, the biggest thing I need to help me achieve both goals is more time.  I need time to both find resources and then to create and collaborate!