The GAME Plan strategy to which we were introduced in the first week of this course (EDUC 6713, Walden University) has been very beneficial to me. By nature, I am an organizer and planner; I function better with structure and I believe my students do as well. What I appreciate about the GAME Plan strategy is its simplicity and effectiveness. The strategy is not complicated, but it has built into it the important steps of monitoring and evaluating goals which are often ignored in goal setting.
Having to write a GAME Plan for this course encouraged me to follow through with what could have been great yet unexecuted ideas. As a result, I have: 1) researched free online graphing tools to use with my algebra students; 2) completed a two-day training session on how to use the Promethean whiteboard; 3) started developing Promethean flipcharts to use with my lessons next year; and 4) communicated with teachers in our district about developing a district-wide standard for student citation of resources. I am so impressed with the GAME Plan strategy that I plan to make posters illustrating the strategy. I will hang them in my math classroom and in my computer lab next year so that students may refer to them as they work through projects following their own GAME Plans for selected projects.
I have already begun to make adjustments to my instructional practices using technology. In the past, the concept of problem-based learning (PBL) has been a difficult one for me to implement in the math classroom. This course has challenged me to think creatively and as a result, I now have one unit fully planned for my algebra students which incorporates PBL, online collaboration with local professionals, and digital storytelling. The unit addresses a real-world problem specific to my 9th grade students who are becoming licensed drivers and will discover a lack of parking space on our campus as they drive their own vehicles to school next year. Using technology, they will learn and apply content-based math lessons while they attempt to find a solution to our inadequate campus parking. Their final projects, in digital story format, will be presented to our school administration and board members. A full description of the unit and its lessons can be viewed here.
I have thought several times during this course about how much I am learning and about how excited I am to implement these instructional technology tools in my classroom in the fall. I also look forward to sharing what I have learned with my colleagues, as many of them are not familiar with the power of the technology available to them for use in their classrooms. This course has been exceptional and worth every minute of the time I have dedicated to completing its assignments.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress
In previous posts, I outlined my GAME plan for improving teaching performance in two of the areas advocated by the ISTE or International Society for Technology in Education (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx):
2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
4a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
This week’s assignment was to monitor my progress with my GAME plan. Unfortunately, the past week at school has been very non-academic. Our focus has been on packing, moving, and unpacking…in order to prepare for next year in our brand new school building. Our high school burned down nearly three years ago, and we are finally moving into a new facility. We also just had graduation, and…we are in the middle of dealing with community-wide flooding from excessive rainfall. It has been hectic.
In an honest assessment, my GAME plan has nearly been at a standstill. Next week when school is out for the summer, I will have time to explore the GeoGebra software I downloaded to test for use in my algebra classes. I will also have time to explore other free software and Web 2.0 tools that I hope to use on our new computers. Additionally, I will be working through an online ActivInspire tutorial. ActivInspire is the software used with the Promethean board which I will have in my new classroom.
Last week I noted that I needed to speak with my colleagues at school to find out what formatting styles they require students to use when citing resources. I did accomplish that task! What I learned is that there is no consistency in what we are teaching or requiring of our students. It was agreed that we should choose one style and use it consistently. My homework for next week is to review formatting styles and choose one for recommendation to our staff next year. If anyone has suggestions for citation formatting styles to use with middle school students, I would love to hear them.
2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
4a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
This week’s assignment was to monitor my progress with my GAME plan. Unfortunately, the past week at school has been very non-academic. Our focus has been on packing, moving, and unpacking…in order to prepare for next year in our brand new school building. Our high school burned down nearly three years ago, and we are finally moving into a new facility. We also just had graduation, and…we are in the middle of dealing with community-wide flooding from excessive rainfall. It has been hectic.
In an honest assessment, my GAME plan has nearly been at a standstill. Next week when school is out for the summer, I will have time to explore the GeoGebra software I downloaded to test for use in my algebra classes. I will also have time to explore other free software and Web 2.0 tools that I hope to use on our new computers. Additionally, I will be working through an online ActivInspire tutorial. ActivInspire is the software used with the Promethean board which I will have in my new classroom.
Last week I noted that I needed to speak with my colleagues at school to find out what formatting styles they require students to use when citing resources. I did accomplish that task! What I learned is that there is no consistency in what we are teaching or requiring of our students. It was agreed that we should choose one style and use it consistently. My homework for next week is to review formatting styles and choose one for recommendation to our staff next year. If anyone has suggestions for citation formatting styles to use with middle school students, I would love to hear them.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Carrying Out My GAME Plan
In my last post, I outlined my GAME plan for improving teaching performance in two of the areas advocated by the ISTE or International Society for Technology in Education (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx):
2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
4a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
To carry out my plan for indicator 2a, I need access to information about free software and Web 2.0 tools that will enhance student learning in my algebra classes next year. So far I have researched and downloaded a copy of GeoGebra (http://www.geogebra.org/), a free program written for geometry, algebra, and calculus that allows students to create and manipulate constructions and functions. I still need to make time to use and explore the software to determine how it can best be used in my algebra classes. I have also signed up for a two-day summer training workshop to learn how to use the Promethean board that I will have in my classroom next year.
To carry out my plan for indicator 4a, I will need to start citing all of the classroom resources I use as I develop lesson plans for the junior high Tech Essentials classes I will be teaching next year. I still need to research formatting styles for citations to determine which one(s) are currently taught by the librarian, English teachers, or other staff in our junior high. I will need to have that done before school is out on May 27, so that I can plan appropriately during the summer.
2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
4a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
To carry out my plan for indicator 2a, I need access to information about free software and Web 2.0 tools that will enhance student learning in my algebra classes next year. So far I have researched and downloaded a copy of GeoGebra (http://www.geogebra.org/), a free program written for geometry, algebra, and calculus that allows students to create and manipulate constructions and functions. I still need to make time to use and explore the software to determine how it can best be used in my algebra classes. I have also signed up for a two-day summer training workshop to learn how to use the Promethean board that I will have in my classroom next year.
To carry out my plan for indicator 4a, I will need to start citing all of the classroom resources I use as I develop lesson plans for the junior high Tech Essentials classes I will be teaching next year. I still need to research formatting styles for citations to determine which one(s) are currently taught by the librarian, English teachers, or other staff in our junior high. I will need to have that done before school is out on May 27, so that I can plan appropriately during the summer.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Developing My Personal GAME Plan
Following the GAME plan strategy for self-directed learning outlined by Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009), I have set goals for the following performance indicators for teachers. These indicators are part of the NETS-T standards advocated by the International Society for Technology in Education (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx).
Performance Indicators:
2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
4a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
My GAME plan for indicator 2a is written for my math classes. For three years I haven’t had access to computers for classroom use, but that will change when we move into a new building in the fall. I will have access to a computer lab and will have a Promethean whiteboard in my classroom. My goal is to search for and learn how to best utilize free software and Web 2.0 tools for my Algebra A and B classes. In addition, I will capitalize on the potential of the Promethean board as a valuable instructional tool. My actions will include spending time during the summer at my computer, researching and testing free software and tools, and attending a two-day training session on using the Promethean board. To monitor my progress, I will create a schedule, allowing myself one to two hours per week for research and testing of software and tools and for writing lesson plans to integrate digital tools into my existing lessons. To evaluate and extend my learning, I will assess my teaching after using the new resources with my students in the fall.
My GAME plan for indicator 4a is written for my junior high Keyboarding and Tech Essentials classes. In a previous Walden course, we were reminded of the importance of citing resources each time we use them in our classrooms. That was the first time it had occurred to me that I rarely do that as a teacher, yet I expect my students to do it each time they perform research. So, my goal is to begin citing and documenting all resources I use in my instruction. The action I will take is to provide citations in the proper form each time they are used, and to verbally note this action to my students. I will monitor my progress by asking my students to hold me accountable to this standard, and I will evaluate and extend my learning by asking my students to score my performance with a simple weekly “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to note whether I am modeling digital responsibility by appropriately crediting authors and organizations for their work.
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.
Performance Indicators:
2a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
4a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
My GAME plan for indicator 2a is written for my math classes. For three years I haven’t had access to computers for classroom use, but that will change when we move into a new building in the fall. I will have access to a computer lab and will have a Promethean whiteboard in my classroom. My goal is to search for and learn how to best utilize free software and Web 2.0 tools for my Algebra A and B classes. In addition, I will capitalize on the potential of the Promethean board as a valuable instructional tool. My actions will include spending time during the summer at my computer, researching and testing free software and tools, and attending a two-day training session on using the Promethean board. To monitor my progress, I will create a schedule, allowing myself one to two hours per week for research and testing of software and tools and for writing lesson plans to integrate digital tools into my existing lessons. To evaluate and extend my learning, I will assess my teaching after using the new resources with my students in the fall.
My GAME plan for indicator 4a is written for my junior high Keyboarding and Tech Essentials classes. In a previous Walden course, we were reminded of the importance of citing resources each time we use them in our classrooms. That was the first time it had occurred to me that I rarely do that as a teacher, yet I expect my students to do it each time they perform research. So, my goal is to begin citing and documenting all resources I use in my instruction. The action I will take is to provide citations in the proper form each time they are used, and to verbally note this action to my students. I will monitor my progress by asking my students to hold me accountable to this standard, and I will evaluate and extend my learning by asking my students to score my performance with a simple weekly “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to note whether I am modeling digital responsibility by appropriately crediting authors and organizations for their work.
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.
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