Standard+10

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The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support pupil learning and well-being and acts with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.
 * __Standard 10__: Teachers are connected with other teachers and the community. **


 * __Evidence 10 __: Twitter Professional Development Project – “PLN Resources” **





** __Rationale 10__: ** This professional development project was designed to expand my learning network to include other professionals and agencies committed to working with individuals with visual impairments. I found colleagues to follow as well as several agencies and businesses that deal with providing services to the visually impaired to follow on Twitter. I have these tweets set up to go directly to my cell phone, so that I am always receiving the most up-to-date information in regards to news, products, services, and legislation dealing with the visually impaired. I use this information as a means of keeping myself current in the environment where I teach. I also share this information on my Weebly website in the form of a searchable blog of articles (where it can be accessed by parents, students, and colleagues) and on the Wisconsin Vision Teachers’ listserv.

My students require support from several organizations, including, but not limited to the school environment. Several outside sources, such as Bookshare, American Foundation for the Blind, and Learning Ally (to name a few) are often active participants in providing services for my students with visual impairments. This Twitter professional development project was extremely useful to help me keep up-to-date with the constantly-evolving community outside the districts I serve.
 * __Knowledge__: **
 * 10.K.1 The teacher understands schools as organizations within the larger community context and understands the operations of the relevant aspects of the system(s) within which s/he works. **

Through this professional development activity, I have found colleagues that are based in other CESAs, colleagues that are based in school districts, and several agencies that all provide helpful discussion and updates on Twitter. Since I share this information via my website and over the Vision Teachers’ listserv, I am constantly demonstrating my ability to gather information that will benefit my students, whether it be from outside resources such as businesses and agencies providing services or products for the visually impaired, or discussion among my colleagues.
 * __ Skills or Performance __**** : **
 * 10.S.2 The teacher makes links with the learners’ other environments on behalf of students, by consulting with parents, counselors, teachers of other classes and activities within the schools, and professionals in other community agencies. **

It is a teacher’s job to always be informed of updates in his/her own profession. By following colleagues and agencies via Twitter, I am always involved in the most up-to-date sharing of information that will benefit my students.
 * __Dispositions__: **
 * 10.D.5 The teacher is willing to work with other professionals to improve the overall learning environment for students. **