G.A.M.E. PLAN AND COURSE REFLECTION

As I have been working to accomplish my G.A.M.E. plan, I have realized that it has helped me to grow as an educator. By creating my game plan I have streamlined my growth and given myself a path to becoming an educator that continues to grow in a well thought manner and is not professionally developed in a piece-mail fashion. It has helped me to focus my own learning so that I am selecting things to learn based in a plan that can be reflected upon to maximize my growth.  This growth can be seen in the practices activities I design and use to help students grow.

Initially, it is important to highlight what I learned from following my plan. The first standard I planned on trying to improve on is NETS-1c.  This standard calls for me to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity by promoting reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning and creative processes. ("NETS for Teachers," n.d.) As I have been working toward meeting this standard, I have learned about multiple tools such as wikis, collaboration sites like Wiggio, Edmodo and discussion board online software to have the students. On researching this I have found multiple websites that list a buffet of great tools that I can use. I have also learned to use a few tools in this course to help me meet this standard. Digital storytelling is a great way to have the students reflect on their work and behavior.  I definitely plan to have my students use multiple digital tools to reflect on their learning. The second standard I panned on trying to improve on is NETS-5b. This standard calls for me to engage in professional growth and leadership by sharing and demonstrating my vision for technology integration, to participate in shared decision making and community building and to develop the leadership and technology skills of others. ("NETS for Teachers," n.d.) This is something I have focused on this summer in preparation for my upcoming school year.  As I looked to improve on this standard I have joined the Freshmen Kick Off committee and volunteered to teach a breakout session on using the collaboration site wiggio.com in the classroom. Because of this course and the previous Walden course, I have a department head that is seething for me to share my knowledge of technology integration as well as the QUEST online inquiry model. I will continue to volunteer to share my know how with my colleagues and will keep searching for places where I can involve myself in building a strong community within our building and district.   

The G.A.M.E plan not only can be used to improve my teaching, the students can use it to help them to focus their learning. If our goal is to create self directed learners, the G.A.M.E. plan is a great way to help them do so. Self-directed learners go through three key processes: planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning activities.  (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009) When the G.A.M.E. plan is followed, students are doing just what self-directed learners do. The way I would use it would be as a way to plan out what they will do to accomplish their problem based learning unit. They will create one as a group and for themselves, based on what their role and tasks are. This will be a great way for them to develop a plan; it will help to keep them on track and will help them to reflect on their process.

When it comes to my teaching practices, this course has given me the confidence and the tools to incorporate technology into my curriculum. I have already planned to use a few of the tools and concepts that I have used. First I am having each of my students create individual blogs to reflect on their learning process. They will use these multiple times throughout each week.  Another thing that I plan on using with my students is problem-based learning. We are going to start with a local problem that the students can get passionate about. I have set out fourteen class periods in the first trimester for the first PBL unit. They will be using the G.A.M.E. plan to plan and reflect on the process. A final thing I plan on using is digital storytelling. I have a web-quest planned for mid October. The students will be creating digital stories to share their learning and to tell a narrative about the Revolutionary war. These are just a few things I plan on using in just the first trimester. I am sure that I will use most of the tools I have worked with in this course at some point during the coming year. I am excited to implement and share my success with my colleagues. I hope that through my successes my colleagues will be inspired to try to incorporate these methods into their own pedagogy.    

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Intergration for Meaningful Classroom  Use:A Standards Based Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

NETS for Teachers. (n.d.). NETS for Teachers. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

Monitoring the G.A.M.E.

As I monitor my G.A.M.E. plan I, realize that there is so much out there to experience and learn. I only am working on improving a few things, and the amount of information that is out there to support me in this is vast. The standard that I am working on developing is from the NETS-T.

 

NETS-T 1) Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

C) Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.

 

Researching this standard has proven to be very informative. There is a treasure trove of free online websites that promote collaboration. One website is Web2.0: Cool Tools For School. This website has a lists, links and descriptions of numerous tech tools that are broken down by type. On the list there are about fifty collaboration tools as well as non collaborative tools.  Finding this site was not hard and I was able to use the information on it immediately. After looking for resources and trying out some of these websites, I have found that my plan of action is pot on. I am trying to learn as many different technologies and programs that facilitate collaboration. One website I have gotten to like is called todaysmeet.com. It is a basic chat room site that anyone with a link can join. I practiced using it during a staff meeting to communicate with some colleagues about the absurdity of the meeting and realized that it would be a great site to use during a film as a back channel for discussion in real time. I am excited to try it with my students. By researching this standard, I have learned about a ton of different programs that are out there to use to promote collaboration among my student. I have learned that there are more web based programs than I have time to try out. The best I can do is to find out what I need and then to look for a program that will fit the need. Collaboration is a must for students to be good at. I need to find a program that will become the platform for our online community. I have looked at different wiki sites, edmodo.com and Wiggio.com. I have found that wiggio.com will give me the most bang for my buck. It has multiple ways to collaborate. Chat rooms, virtual workspace with video conferencing, conference calling, and the ability to hold a discussion board send mass emails and shared calendars and to do lists are just a few things it offers. Other sites like edmodo.com have many of these features, but not all of them in one place.  All of this trying of web tools have taken up a rather large amount of time that I just will not always have. I wonder how I will find time to really learn the material so that I can model it in a way that it gives them the boost to engage them in the new technology. Modeling how to use the website will give the students a way to compare their approach to the technology. (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009) I need to provide this comparison and if I do not have a full grasp of the technology they students will struggle to buy into it.

Although my game plan seems at times a very daunting process, it is coming together and I am learning a ton about how to use collaboration tools to foster thinking, planning and reflection. I will continue to carry out my G.A.M.E. Plan in hope to develop myself into a metacognitive guru that helps my students become self- directed learners.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Intergration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards Based Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Cooltoolsforschools - Collaborative Tools. (n.d.). Cooltoolsforschools - Collaborative Tools. Retrieved July 22, 2013, from http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Collaborative Tools

Doing What is Necessary to Accomplish the G.A.M.E. Plan

     Having a plan is necessary when trying to improve on standard that one holds them self to. The NETS-T standard 1c is one standard that must carefully planned a course of action to meet. It requires that things must be thought out first, before and action can be taken to master the standard. The goals I have set are realistic and can be met through actions and strategies that must be monitored evaluated and then extended to make the plan more efficient.  

NETS-T 1) Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

C) Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.

     To meet this standard, it is necessary for me to understand the resources that I will provide for students. This means that modeling and experimenting with new technologies is a must. One thing that can strengthen, this would be to seek out expert advice and knowledge about cutting edge new technologies that are developed for collaboration. Another thing that will be done is to study and watch tutorials for various common programs on AtomicLearing.com. Dr John Ross stated in his lecture that it is necessary that we know the technology before the students.(2009) The students need to be shown what they are, how to use them and how to incorporate them to fit their needs. If the programs cannot be modeled by the instructor correctly, how can the students be expected to engage in the technology? The instructor has to be engaged for the students to buy into the new technology or software. Finding books about the topic of collaborating software can be helpful. Meeting with and expert though can be very rewarding and informative. At this point I am researching who is this expert in my area, what types of professional development are offered and how much it will cost me to meet with them or to go to a conference that is based on this idea of fostering collaboration. Using technology to learn more about technology can be a very effective way to make the plan a reality. (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009) I plan on looking for more information on collaborating software and its use in the classroom. It needs to be understood just how and why these programs help the students to develop.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

NETS-T Development

As an educator many standards exist that can bog down the process of learning. The NETS-T is a set of standards that are designed to help educators to streamline their classrooms and promote the skills employers and universities are looking for in their future applicants. Although I have much to do to become fluent in these standards, I believe that if I concentrate on one or two indicators at as time, I will be able to help my students achieve at a much higher level in a way that they can get excited about. Below are two indicators I plan on concentrating on first.   

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

C) Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes

Goals:

1. Learn more about collaborative software that is free and online
2. Help students to be more comfortable with collaborative websites.

Action:

1. (A) Try out multiple different types of online sites for various personal tasks. (B) Research suggested sites and ask colleagues what they prefer to use by sending out a survey.
2. (A) Model the use of multiple online sites and show the students the similarities and differences of each. (B) Model its use and regularly use language that is found on the site commands and options.

Monitor:

1. (A) Reflect and keep track of the programs that are used in a journal and comment on what you liked and how you might use it for class. (B) Have students reflect on their experience with the new software. Make sure to prompt them to not only discuss their use of the program. They should reflect on how comfortable they are with it and what helped them to feel more comfortable.
2. (A) Have students create a table in their notes that compares the multiple programs that are used. Next have them compare and evaluate which is the best for their purposes. (B) Have students make vocabulary work wall. Every time you use a term that would be found on the site have a student make a tally mark next to it. 

Evaluate and Extend:

1. Make note of all programs you like and decide if they can be transferred to the classroom in a way that is efficient and valuable.
2. Decide which programs are going to be the norms for the class based on the comments from students and your experience with the program.

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

B) Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others

Goals:

1. Participate in providing more professional development.
2. Join more committees and get involved in the decision making.

Action:

1.  Volunteer to share and teach to my colleagues what I have been studying and learning in my courses at Walden University during the all district professional development days.
2. (A) Set aside more time to join committees. (B) Join committees and actively participate.

Monitor:

1. Listen to the feedback that my colleagues provide about their experience and reflect on how I felt it went. Go into their rooms and help them on an individual basis.
2. Look for feedback on yearly teacher evaluation report. Jot down any time someone asks you to join another committee.

Evaluate:

1. Check and see if my colleagues are using the software and techniques I teach them in their lessons.
2. Is my effort being noticed? If it is, I am progressing in the manner that is intended. If not, I need to step up my involvement and be more vocal when the committees meet.