1. Are you finding the information and resources you need?
I am definitely finding the information and resources I need in order to follow through with my GAME plan. I just got my very own LCD projector installed into my classroom today!!! This will help to display my PowerPoint presentations that associate the hand-held devices my students will be able to use more on a daily basis. This will provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments. I also took my class one step at a time as each of them set up their very own blog to use in my class. I am going to use these to allow students time for reflection and to practice open-ended questions for their state tests. These blogs will promote student reflection by using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
2. Do you need to modify your action plan?
I do not feel as if I need to modify my action plan as it all seems to be coming together quite nicely. I feel as students are becoming more intrinsically motivated while using these technology tools in the classroom. With students being more engaged, I feel this will result in my students being successful math students.
3. What have you learned so far?
So far while implementing my GAME plan I have learned that students are more engaged and eager to learn. They come into the classroom very excited to get started with the day’s lesson. They continually ask, “When are we going to use the clickers?” They love them! I have also found the more creative I can be, the more creative the students are when completing the tasks at hand. I have seen a lot of students go above and beyond their abilities.
4. What new questions have arisen?
No new questions have really come up as I am going through my GAME plan. Other than, I wish I would have started this at the beginning of the year. This could have been my “hook” to get my students involved and interested in my math class!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Carrying Out Your GAME Plan
Reviewing my GAME plan my two goals I have set for myself are as follows: (1) In order to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity I need to promote student reflection by using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes and (2) I also need to provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
Resources I will need in order to carry out my GAME plan: I will need an LCD projector in my room on a daily basis, a set of the SMART “clicker”, and access to the Internet of needed. In order to promote student reflection I would love for each of my students to set up their very own blog and be able to give them time in class throughout the week to post new ideas and reflections. I would use their blogs very similar to how we are using it for our courses here at Walden. Second, in providing students with various forms of assessment, I would love to use the interactive “clickers” with them. This would eliminate the boring paper and pencil style of assessment.
Additional information that I would need in order to carry out my GAME plan: I would need to take a survey with my students to find out how many students have access to the Internet at home. This would make me aware of whether or not I could give assignments using their blogs outside of the school building.
Steps I have taken so far, I have talked to my classes about setting up blogs and they all seem very excited about it. I have also talked to my department leader about getting a permanent LCD projector in my room and I should hopefully have one by the end of our first semester.
Resources I will need in order to carry out my GAME plan: I will need an LCD projector in my room on a daily basis, a set of the SMART “clicker”, and access to the Internet of needed. In order to promote student reflection I would love for each of my students to set up their very own blog and be able to give them time in class throughout the week to post new ideas and reflections. I would use their blogs very similar to how we are using it for our courses here at Walden. Second, in providing students with various forms of assessment, I would love to use the interactive “clickers” with them. This would eliminate the boring paper and pencil style of assessment.
Additional information that I would need in order to carry out my GAME plan: I would need to take a survey with my students to find out how many students have access to the Internet at home. This would make me aware of whether or not I could give assignments using their blogs outside of the school building.
Steps I have taken so far, I have talked to my classes about setting up blogs and they all seem very excited about it. I have also talked to my department leader about getting a permanent LCD projector in my room and I should hopefully have one by the end of our first semester.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
GAME PLAN
Integrating technology in the classroom effectively requires: knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and supportive culture (Laureate, 2009). Teachers need to have knowledge of technology skills in order to use different tools with their students throughout their classroom. Teachers also need to be on board that technology has many tools that can be used to enhance student learning. Most of all teachers need to have the confidence to use the different technology tools with their students in order to practice successful lessons.
Two indicators I feel that I need to strengthen my confidence in are: 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity and 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. To build my confidence in these two areas my GAME plan is as follows:
GOALS: In order to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity I need to promote student reflection by using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes. I also need to do a better job at modeling collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments. Second, to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments; I need to customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources, and I also need to provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
ACTION: The first step in my action plan is to have students reflect on their understanding of concepts taught in each unit. Students will start a journal and will need to submit an entry after each unit that will tell me what they have learned in the past week or so. I could set up a class blog in which each student could post their reflection and other students could give a little feedback. The next step for me is going to look at different strategies that will address all learning styles in my classroom. Along with that I need to come up with multiple assessments rather than traditional paper and pencil.
MONITORING: In order to monitor my progress I will set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in which I will give myself deadline dates as to when I must be ready to implement my different steps. If I can give myself a checkmark beside the goal, it will mean that I have met my goal and I am ready to move onto my next goal. I will continue this process until I have achieved all my goals.
EVALUATE: To evaluate my progress I have decided to keep a journal. In this journal I will reflect on what is working with my students and what I need to modify in order for my students to be more successful. I will journal after each time I feel I have met a goal or I have tried to implement something new in my classroom.
Laureate Education Inc. (2009). “Enriching Learning Experiences with Technology.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
Two indicators I feel that I need to strengthen my confidence in are: 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity and 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. To build my confidence in these two areas my GAME plan is as follows:
GOALS: In order to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity I need to promote student reflection by using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes. I also need to do a better job at modeling collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments. Second, to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments; I need to customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources, and I also need to provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
ACTION: The first step in my action plan is to have students reflect on their understanding of concepts taught in each unit. Students will start a journal and will need to submit an entry after each unit that will tell me what they have learned in the past week or so. I could set up a class blog in which each student could post their reflection and other students could give a little feedback. The next step for me is going to look at different strategies that will address all learning styles in my classroom. Along with that I need to come up with multiple assessments rather than traditional paper and pencil.
MONITORING: In order to monitor my progress I will set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in which I will give myself deadline dates as to when I must be ready to implement my different steps. If I can give myself a checkmark beside the goal, it will mean that I have met my goal and I am ready to move onto my next goal. I will continue this process until I have achieved all my goals.
EVALUATE: To evaluate my progress I have decided to keep a journal. In this journal I will reflect on what is working with my students and what I need to modify in order for my students to be more successful. I will journal after each time I feel I have met a goal or I have tried to implement something new in my classroom.
Laureate Education Inc. (2009). “Enriching Learning Experiences with Technology.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Final Reflection EDUC-6712-3
Teaching in a district with limited technology resources, I thought that this course was going to be quite challenging. However, as I went week by week it seemed to get easier and easier to incorporate the new literacy skills into my lessons. Students did not necessarily need to be in front of the computer; we could do it as an entire class.
A striking revelation I had about teaching the new literacy skills to my students was, how much more students were engaged in my lessons and their ability to rise to my high expectations. This was an entirely new experience for me and the students and they did a fabulous job with it. I would implement a mini lesson and the students would then run with it. I had students talking, discussing, and asking questions that did not say more than two words before. Each day the students would come into class asking what we were doing that day. It’s amazing when stepping outside of your comfort zone the success you are capable of by practicing with confidence. The students buy into it and produce some very impressive projects!
The knowledge and experience gained in this course will influence my teaching practices by giving me the confidence I needed to try new activities and strategies with my students. Even if I have not tried anything like it before, this course has shown me how successful I still can be. It’s all about getting the students ‘hooked’ into the concept and they will produce.
One professional development goal I would like to purse that will build upon my leaning in this course is to complete two projects with my students like the one I created for this course. By following through with this goal it will allow me to continue my own development of the new literacy skills as well as keep them fresh in my head. So often we are taught something and put it aside and when we are ready to go back to it, we forget. The steps it is going to take for me to accomplish this goal is first, I will have to look at my curriculum and pick out four concepts that would work for this type of project. Second, I would have to do some research myself to create an example of what I would expect my students to produce. This step would allow me to determine what considerations would need to take place during each project. Next, I am a big believer in rubrics, so creating them ahead would be a must. The last step is to implement the project. If students are as enthusiastic and engaged as this last project, I foresee no problems in them being successful with the new projects to come.
A striking revelation I had about teaching the new literacy skills to my students was, how much more students were engaged in my lessons and their ability to rise to my high expectations. This was an entirely new experience for me and the students and they did a fabulous job with it. I would implement a mini lesson and the students would then run with it. I had students talking, discussing, and asking questions that did not say more than two words before. Each day the students would come into class asking what we were doing that day. It’s amazing when stepping outside of your comfort zone the success you are capable of by practicing with confidence. The students buy into it and produce some very impressive projects!
The knowledge and experience gained in this course will influence my teaching practices by giving me the confidence I needed to try new activities and strategies with my students. Even if I have not tried anything like it before, this course has shown me how successful I still can be. It’s all about getting the students ‘hooked’ into the concept and they will produce.
One professional development goal I would like to purse that will build upon my leaning in this course is to complete two projects with my students like the one I created for this course. By following through with this goal it will allow me to continue my own development of the new literacy skills as well as keep them fresh in my head. So often we are taught something and put it aside and when we are ready to go back to it, we forget. The steps it is going to take for me to accomplish this goal is first, I will have to look at my curriculum and pick out four concepts that would work for this type of project. Second, I would have to do some research myself to create an example of what I would expect my students to produce. This step would allow me to determine what considerations would need to take place during each project. Next, I am a big believer in rubrics, so creating them ahead would be a must. The last step is to implement the project. If students are as enthusiastic and engaged as this last project, I foresee no problems in them being successful with the new projects to come.
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