Overview
One of the most important aspects of being an educator is treating the work professionally — staying current with ideas and research, reflecting honestly on practice, being willing to learn from mistakes, and asking whether what we believe about teaching is based on evidence or assumption. Doing all of this well requires more than looking inward at your own classroom; it requires participating in a professional community with other educators.
This week you will take stock of where you stand as a CS professional. Your activities are:
- Explore CSTA, the primary professional organization for K–12 CS teachers
- Read about the CSTA Standards for CS Teachers
- Complete a graded self-assessment Competency Demo
Explore CSTA
Most teaching disciplines have professional organizations, and in K–12 CS the arguable leader is CSTA — the Computer Science Teachers Association.
Many of you are already familiar with CSTA, and some are members of both the national organization and the Iowa Chapter. Even so, when was the last time you actually explored the website? Take some time to poke around and find at least one resource that looks useful or interesting to you. And if you are not yet a member, it is worth considering — at $50 a year, the benefits are a bargain.
Readings
Most people know there are CS standards for students. Fewer know that CSTA has also published standards for CS teachers. Please read through the following:
- CSTA Standards for CS Teachers — main website
- Standards document — two-page local copy
- Glossary of terms used in the standards
- Additional resources from the standards site
Deliverable — Self-Assessment
[Credit: This activity was developed by Michelle Meier and Corey Rogers and expanded by the State of Iowa CS Working Group, which added the consistency metrics used for evaluation.]
Your task is to complete a self-assessment of how well you feel you are currently meeting the CSTA Teacher Standards, along with some goal-setting for areas where you want to grow. If you attended last week's CoP, you may have already done most of this work — the only remaining step may be submitting your results.
Open and save your own copy of the CSTA Teacher Standards Self-Reflection Checklist, then work through the five standards tabs:
- For each standard, rate your current level of proficiency: Not Yet, Proficient, or Advanced.
- Note your evidence of proficiency. Examples include:
- Lesson plans
- Courses completed
- Professional learning certificates
- Book study participation
- Professional organization participation
- Videos
- Student survey results
- Record your reflections and next steps — specific professional learning you plan to pursue. Examples include:
- Collaboration with peers, mentor teachers, or teachers in other subject areas
- Online chats or discussion communities
- Book studies
- Community engagement
- Externship
Your responses also serve as program evaluation data that helps us continue to improve the CSEd program. Please share your completed self-assessment via this form.
Evaluation
- Submit your self-assessment results using the form linked above.
- Deadline: no later than Sunday, July 26.
- This is evaluated as a competency demo.
- Because this is a self-assessment, there are no right or wrong answers. Evaluation is much closer to an "all or nothing" situation and is based on evidence that you engaged thoughtfully with the process. A response that shows genuine reflection will earn a 4; the only way to earn a 0 is to submit something that shows no real effort.