Samantha K Niehaus 1

Reflecting on the ISTE Standards for Educators 

I teach 4th Grade (Elementary Science)  
 
Standard: ​1. Learner: Educators continually improve their practice by learning 
from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage 
technology to improve student learning.  

Performance Indicator(s): ​1a:Set professional learning goals to explore and 

apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their 
effectiveness. 
1b: Pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local 
and global learning networks. 

My Example: 
I am a current METS group member who actively participates in the #MichEd 
Twitter Chats on Wednesday evenings at 8:00 PM, with my Twitter account, 
@MsNiehaus. The METS groups is the Michigan Educational Technology 
Specialists group. I joined METS because I felt it was empowering as an 
educator with goals of becoming an Ed Tech specialist some day.  
I have professional goals for myself as well. Goal 1: Receive my Masters in 
Educational Technology from Eastern Michigan University, so I can learn the 
most possible about the field of Ed. Tech from colleagues, professors, and 
classmates. Goal 2: Become an Educational Technology Coach at an Elementary 
School where I can work both with students and staff about how to best 
implement technology to increase engagement, interest and learning. I am also 
currently my buildingś educational technology representative. This means that I 
communicate with staff regularly about technology in the classroom, volunteer to 
show them how to use technologies, and bring my students into their classrooms 
to help guide technology in lessons. I also present once a month at staff meetings 
about a new technology tool or tip for teachers to use either in their classrooms 
or their professional practice. I keep them posted by keeping an EJE Makerspace 
website: ​www.ejemakerspace.weebly.com  

Technology Skills: ​Ability to access Twitter, Email, Google Calendar Invites, 

Google Hangout and SMORE Newsletters, as well as creating newsletters, using 
TweetDeck to participate actively in the #MichEd chat, and use Google Docs to 
communicate with current staff members about current technology practices. 
The Ability to use Youtube, and Weebly to create a website to present to other 
teachers.  
 
 
 
 
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Standard:1. ​Learner: Educators continually improve their practice by learning 

from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage 
technology to improve student learning.  

Performance Indicator(s): ​1c: Stay current with research that supports 

improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning 
sciences. 

My Example:​​ I am a current member of MSTA, MRA, ISTE, and MACUL. In 

2017, I was selected to present at the METS Group Idea Slam at MACUL. I won 
the crowd voted award of $1,500 to begin a Makerspace learning lab at my 
school. I follow all 4 organizations on Twitter, have attended all annual 
conferences, but have plans to attend ISTE in Summer 2017. I also receive Email 
newsletter updates from all 4 organizations with tips and tools, information 
about whatś new, and resources to use in the classroom.  

Technology Skills:​​Ability to access and respond to tweets, as well as use Email.  

 
 

Future Plans: ​I plan to attend ISTE 2018 in Chicago, and MRA 2018 in Detroit. I 
have future plans to be able to present at MACUL next year, and bring students 
to the MACUL student Showcase at the Capital as well.  
 
 
Standard: ​2 Leader: Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support 
student empowerment and success and to improve teaching and learning. 

Performance Indicator(s):  
2a: Shape, advance and accelerate a shared vision for empowered learning with 
technology by engaging with education stakeholders. 
2b: Advocate for equitable access to educational technology, digital content and 
learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students. 
2c: Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation and 
adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning. 

My Example:​​ I am our schoolś educational technology representative at East 

Jackson Elementary. I advocate for technology help and resources with our Local 
ISD for our teachers in our building. I work with students and teachers to solve 
issues with logins, passwords and access. I communicate with teachers, students, 
administrators and the ISD staff to make sure we have access to all of the tools 
that we need to be successful. I also am frequently communicating with our ISD 
Ed Tech team, which goes by the name of #TeamJXN and consists of Alaina 
Sharp and Kellie DeLosSantos. I rent out my Makerspace equipment, and 
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students in my classroom visit lower elementary classrooms regularly to help with 

technology issues, or to expand learning with the help of technology. We just 
recently got the special education team on board with using Padlet in their 
classroom as a virtual cork board. I also take students every year to a school 
board meeting where they can meet the board members and show them how they 
are using the technology as a digital citizen. They showcase their learning, and 
show their leadership by showing the board members how it works and why it is 
important. I speak at staff meetings monthly to share technology tips or tools 
and encourage staff to visit our classroom to see it in action or to rent the 
equipment needed from us so that they can empower their own students. 
Recently, we visited all 4 kindergarten classrooms to perform a Christmas 
Breakout EDU session. My 4th grade students ran the entire breakout, and led in 
amazing ways. The students love the collaboration and the teachers were able to 
see how easy it is, even in kindergarten! I help the PTCO with distributing 
information and materials, sharing space, and communicating on Facebook. This is 
all part of my plan to include all members of the East Jackson Community in our 
learning experience!  

Technology Skills: ​Ability to access email, Google Documents, Calendar, and 

Facebook for communication.  
 
 

Future Lessons: ​I am hosting our very first EJE Makerspace Family night for all 
students and family members to visit our Makerspace learning lab and see all of 
the materials that we have available and why they are important today! This will 
happen on February 1, 2018, and all board members have been invited!  
 
 
Standard: ​3 Citizen: Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and 
responsibly participate in the digital world.  

Performance Indicator(s): ​3a: Create experiences for learners to make positive, 

socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that 
build relationships and community. 

My Lesson Example: ​My students created a video using the green screen and an 
iPad to send as a commercial advertisement for their pennies for pets fundraiser. 
They were raising money in a school wide fundraiser for pets at the local Humane 
Society, and were able to donate almost $1,000 from their fundraiser. The Video 
for their commercial can be found here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sRieqX050Y 

Technology Skills: ​Ability to use the iPad, DoInk App, Green Screen, and 
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youtube to share the video with other classrooms.  

Future Lessons:​​ 3c: Mentor students in safe, legal and ethical practices with 
digital tools and the protection of intellectual rights and property. 
3d: Model and promote management of personal data and digital identity and 
protect student data privacy. 

Future Lesson Example: ​Students learn how to use Creative Commons, cite their 
sources in their video creations, and what is appropriate and not appropriate for 
sharing on the internet. At East Jackson Elementary, we do not share our last 
names or where our exact location is; only that we are from Michigan. We also 
learn to not share photos of other classmates on any social media without their 
permission and permission from the teachers. 
 
 
Standard: ​3 Citizen: Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and 
responsibly participate in the digital world.  

Performance Indicator(s):​​3b:Establish a learning culture that promotes 

curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy 
and media fluency. 
3c: Mentor students in safe, legal and ethical practices with digital tools and the 
protection of intellectual rights and property. 

My Lesson Example: ​Students participate in a digital citizenship lesson during 

the first week of school, where they learn the importance of using someone elseś 
work legally, and how to find good sources of information that can be used. They 
then create a digital presentation that gives credit to its sources for images and 
information. In this example Buncee, you will notice that a student included 
images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and there is a red link in the corner of the 
image that will take you directly to the image source. 
https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/8f32521e5f8247c2a57543142d01ec1c  

Technology Skills: ​Ability to use the internet, search engines, Buncee, and other 
presentation software, and the ability to copy and paste links, look for dates and 
authors, and pay attention to the information they are finding.  

Future Lessons: ​3d: Model and Promote management of personal data and digital 
identity and protect student data privacy.  

Future Lesson Example: ​Students learn to collaborate with others on the 

internet by sharing their presentations. They learn that they must keep their 
identity safe, so they only put their first name, (and sometimes their last initial 
attached) on anything that is being shared on the internet. They learn through 
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creative commons the importance of never sharing passwords and not talking to 
strangers they may meet on the internet.  
 
 
Standard: ​3 Citizen: Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and 
responsibly participate in the digital world.  

Performance Indicator(s): ​3d: Model and Promote management of personal data 

and digital identity and protect student data privacy.  

My Lesson Example: ​Students love to play the game, Animal Jam. The game 
requires a parent email address to be connected to the account. In the rare case 
that we have student choice time, I will allow students to play their Animal Jam 
Accounts. We have an entire day directed to modeling the correct way for 
students to communicate with others on the internet. In Animal Jam, students 
may or may not have the ability to chat with their friends. This is a setting 
controlled by the parent at sign up. We learn the difference between being able 
to communicate with your own words and being able to communicate with words 
from a list (in a security setting). We practice safe communication and learn the 
importance of not telling someone your full name, where you are from or any 
other personal information. Students learn that if someone ever asks them for 
personal information, they should immediately tell an adult.  

Technology Skills: ​Being able to use the internet, type letters to form words, 
and sentences and read what others are sending.  
 
Standard: ​4 Collaborator: Educators dedicate time to collaborate with both 
colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and 
ideas, and solve problems. 

Performance Indicator(s): ​4a Dedicate planning time to collaborate with 

colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology. 
4b Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital 
resources and diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues. 
4c Use collaborative tools to expand students' authentic, real-world learning 
experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and 
globally. 
4d Demonstrate cultural competency when communicating with students, parents 
and colleagues and interact with them as co-collaborators in student learning. 

My Lesson Example: ​I recently collaborated with a 6th grade teacher at my 

school, East Jackson Elementary to host our first ever school wide, hour of code 
event. On Friday, December 8th, every single student in grades 1-6 was coding in 
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some way throughout the building. We collaborated with each other and the ISD 
staff to make sure that we had enough bandwidth to be spread out across the 
school, and that we had coding apps downloaded to all of the lower elementary 
student iPads. We then collaborated with our 4th grade and 6th grade students 
to find the best coding apps and websites that we should share and explore. We 
put this job in the hands of the students who collaborated together to formulate 
a list for beginners, and experts, first graders and sixth graders. We then 
collaborated together to form a plan. We organized where each classroom would 
participate, and sent student leaders to guide, instruct and help students 
through the process. We had a variety of levels of learning. After the event, we 
had students reflect on why coding is important. We then shared those videos 
with parents via the schoolś Facebook page, and our personal websites and 
Twitter. The following video links will take you to Hour of Code Videos: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHyYRP_Kji8&t=31s  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uedcIOlAP2g&t=3s  

Technology Skills: 
Ability to use Chromebooks and iPads. The ability to use the internet, and click 
links from a webpage. The ability to practice basic coding skills and techniques, 
follow tutorials and complete levels of programming and coding.  

Future Lessons: ​5a Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning 
experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner 
differences and needs. 
5b Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and 
use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning. 
5c Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital 
learning environments that engage and support learning.  

Future Lesson Example: ​Students then have the opportunity to visit the Hour of 
Code website throughout the year from school or home to continue their coding 
experiences as they progress through levels of programming and coding. 
http://niehaus4th.weebly.com/hour-of-code.html  
 
 
Standard: ​5 Designer: Educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and 
environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability.  

Performance Indicator(s): 
5a. Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that 
foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs. 

My Lesson Example: ​Students read independently during CAFE time, and then 
add a summary of their reading to the class book review FlipGrid. This allows 
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them to share what they are reading, but also to see what other students are 
reading and offer book suggestions. Students are able to complete this at their 
own pace and can personalize the experience to fit their learning needs. They 
record the video and can choose to show their face or hide it if they are shy. 
https://flipgrid.com/9499ea   

Technology Skills: 
Ability to use the chromebook camera and voice recording software, ability to 
access a flipGrid link with code, and record self, add text and submit video.  
 
 
Standard: ​5 Designer: Educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and 
environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability.  

Performance Indicator(s): 
5a. Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that 
foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs. 

My Lesson Example: ​Students use the website ​www.spellingcity.com​ to study 

spelling words each week and take their tests also. Students can all be assigned 
the same lists, can be divided into groups, or can receive individual lists based on 
accommodations and differences in learning. The students have no idea what 
groups they are in, or what lists they are studying compared to the rest of their 
classmates and they can take the test with headphones.   

Technology Skills: ​Ability to access Spelling City and login with credentials. The 
ability to type words as they hear them, and use capital letters for proper nouns 
as needed. 
 
 
Standard: ​5 Designer: Educators design authentic, learner-driven activities and 
environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability.  

Performance Indicator(s): 
5b- Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards 
and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning. 
5c- Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital 
learning environments that engage and support learning. 

My Lesson Example:​​ Students use Google Docs to create a story using their 
spelling words. They underline or highlight the spelling words that are found in 
their stories. They then use the share key to collaborate with another student, 
who adds to the story and if they use any spelling words, they also highlight or 
Samantha K Niehaus 8

underline those words in the text. They then submit the project as a 
collaborative effort into Google Classroom. 

Technology Skills: 
Being able to type on the keyboard, transfer words to the screen, share a 
document for collaboration, work together with a peer, and then turn in the 
document into a Google Classroom Assignment. Also the ability to use Google Doc 
features to underline or highlight text.  

Future Lessons: 
​5b- Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards 
and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning. 
5c- Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital 
learning environments that engage and support learning. 

Future Lesson Example: ​Students use Google Docs to type the final copy of 
their narrative writing assignment. They receive feedback from the teacher 
before officially submitting into Seesaw for a grade.  
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qu56IwiipxMEn99wYD0sa96XNbp1TqTY
YuqNqN9mK7s/edit?usp=sharing  
 
 
Standard: ​6 Facilitator: Educators facilitate learning with technology to support 
student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students.  

Performance Indicator(s): 
6a- Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and 
outcomes in both independent and group settings. 
6b- Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in digital 
platforms, virtual environments, hands-on makerspaces or in the field. 
6c- Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process 
and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems. 
6d- Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, 
knowledge or connections. 

My Lesson Example: ​Students learn about circuits through the use of a 

makerspace center set up for 3 days. They rotate through the centers applying 
their knowledge and expanding what they have already learned. They Collaborate 
with each other and learn from the curiosity of those around them. They explore 
tools like Makey Makeyś, squishy circuits, Snap circuits, little bits, Bloxels, and 
Ozobots. See the video of our exploration here: ​https://youtu.be/RM_N-x3-HFE  

Technology Skills: 
Ability to use Chromebook and iPads, to find apps and websites, connect usb 
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ports into the chromebook, use the computer and iPad camera and recording 
software, the ability to connect circuits and create with technology.  

Future Lessons: ​6d: model and nurture creativity and creative expression to 
communicate ideas, knowledge or connections.  
3a: Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible 
contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and 
community. 
4c: Use collaborative tools to expand students' authentic, real-world learning 
experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and 
globally. 

Future Lesson Example: ​Students reflect on what they have learned about 
circuits, electricity and the makerspace materials in a Flipgrid post. They then 
comment on 3 peer´s videos to extend their collaboration. 
 
 
Standard: ​7 Analyst: Educators understand and use data to drive their 
instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals.  

Performance Indicator(s): 
7a: Provide alternative ways for students to demonstrate competency and 
reflect on their learning using technology. 

My Lesson Example: ​Students can choose to reflect on their independent 

reading in one of 4 ways - they can add to the reading flipgrid - 
https://flipgrid.com/9499ea​ , they can add to the what are we reading Padlet - 
https://padlet.com/msniehaus/Books​, they can type a review/draw a picture 
from the story, or they can also create a Buncee like this 
https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/be8d8b074da547f6a7047fa48d623f43 

Technology Skills: ​Ability to choose and access what form of technology is most 
appropriate for them and their learning needs, use the internet, find links and 
click on links, type correctly, add punctuation and find images if necessary. 
Ability to use video recording software and chromebookś camera.  
 
 
Standard: ​7 Analyst: Educators understand and use data to drive their 
instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals.  

Performance Indicator(s): 
7b - Use technology to design and implement a variety of formative and 
summative assessments that accommodate learner needs, provide timely 
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feedback to students and inform instruction. 

7c - Use assessment data to guide progress and communicate with students, 
parents and education stakeholders to build student self-direction. 

My Lesson Example: ​Students take a variety of assessments online, including 

the NWEA assessment in the fall, winter and spring to monitor their progress in 
reading, writing and language usage. Students are given goal tracking worksheets 
that they share with their parents at conferences. They set a goal for 
themselves and discuss what is needed to reach that goal. In the winter, after 
the results are in, they check their progress to see what they need to adjust 
about their goal and how they approach reaching their goal for the spring test. 
Students direct their own learning this way and are responsible for what they 
know they need to improve upon and what their strengths are. This helps 
increase their reliability and performance as well as their willingness to 
participate.  

Technology Skills: ​Read questions on a computer screen and answer questions in 
a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer and 
drag/drop. Students also need to be able to click and use tools that are provided 
as resources online, use the keyboard and mouse.