Mission, Vision, and Standards

     It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to create a mission and vision.  The hard part for me was the narrowing it down to keep it simple, short, and precise.  I have a lot I want to portray in my few words and those words need to speak for me as an introduction to what I plan to do with my knowledge and work.  This is a lot to accomplish in a few words and sentences.  I did notice when reading others in this cohort that many of us teachers have the same mission and visions with merely different words.  What was nice to see was that students were at the center.
   The standards I have chosen to work with are the NETS ISTE standards and they make it very easy to show knowledge and understanding.  These standards are very detailed as they have bullet points that describe what needs to be understood and displayed for each.  This makes it much easier for educators to display their learning and knowledge of these standards.
    Finally, our readings this week talked about Blogs as online portfolios.  This seems like an easy route for students to use to show what they have learned and are learning.  The main point I thought was so interesting was the discussion about how there are portfolios that are For learning and those of learning.  For learning means the portfolio is developed to strengthen ones understanding and enhance learning.  Of learning means that you are simply displaying ones works to prove that learning has occurred.  There is a huge difference here and the intent of the portfolio is in the balance if you choose the wrong route.