Week 8: Reflection

During this course I developed a GAME plan that helped me focus on accomplishing goals towards expanding my technological abilities. While I still don’t feel I’ve completely accomplished my goals, I do feel I have made some progress towards them. These goals are very time consuming, and in the world of education, time is always the enemy. Therefore, I do need more time to reach my goals. However, in my work towards reaching my goals, I have learned a lot about myself and my coworkers.

One thing I learned is that we do not have a lot of technology available at our school. The technology we do have available is also difficult to get your hands on because of the high demand. I have also learned that my co-workers are very diverse in their technological abilities. I have also learned that sometimes I underestimate my students and their abilities. When I tried new technology activities they surprised me. I was prepared for the worst, however they picked up on the instructions and assignment better than I expected. There were still problems and glitches; however, for the most part I was pleasantly surprised.

The biggest immediate adjustment I will make is implementing more technology into my classroom. As I stated, I was pleasantly surprised by how well my students did with the technology I have implemented so far and therefore, I will continue to use more technology. I will also continue to challenge my students by increasing the independence of the work and the degree of difficultly of the assignment.

Week 7: Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

I will have students proceed similar to how we developed our GAME plan. I will have students visit the NETS-S site and read the standards (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx). However, I will provide them with a little more direction and guidance. I will instruct them to set a goal for strengthening their confidence and proficiency in only one indicator rather than two. After they have chosen the one indicator they want to strengthen, I will have them develop their personal GAME plan. When developing their plan, I will encourage them to keep in mind projects they will have to complete in school and how they can use these projects to reach their goal. If they are unaware of what project or assignments they will have to complete in a given school year, I will direct them to their teachers to find out what types of assignments they will be completing. With these assignments in mind, students can develop a plan that will help them to reach their goal. They will need to explain the actions they will take to achieve their goals, how they will monitor their progress and how they will evaluate, modify or extend their learning. They will be encouraged to choose a goal that is attainable and that can be reached within that given school year. If possible, collaboration throughout the grade levels may make it possible for students to begin a GAME plan in their freshmen year of high school. Each year they could reach their goal and then the next year they could create a new GAME plan with a new goal. This would allow them to reach at least four of the six indicators. To further the process and if possible, students could potentially begin their GAME plan in their 7th grade year, and essentially reach their goal to become confident and proficient in all six areas.

Week 6: Revising My GAME Plan

So far, I have learning that I need to give my students a little more benefit of the doubt. I think I am nervous to try new things and as I am implementing new ideas, they are surprising me in their ability. For instance, I am begun (slowly) working towards meeting my GAME plan by testing out their tech-abilities. I have sent them assignments through email & the districts message center. I have required them to go to our online textbook to complete assignments and activities and then asked that they submit their assignment through email. As I stated, I was very nervous at first and was prepared for many questions and frustration… however most of the frustration came with the math content rather than the technology aspect.

I am still not satisfied that I have fulfilled my GAME plan, therefore, I will continue working on my current goals. As I’ve stated before, my GAME plan will most likely be a continuous process throughout my educational career. Once one goal is met, by that time another one will have come up.

To extend what I have learned so far and improve learning, I will continue to branch out of the norm, even if it is slowly but surely. For instance, instead of asking that students submit a written document, next time maybe I will give them a choice of submitting a written document, presentation, video or audio file. Sometimes I get discouraged when I watch the video resources for this course, because these classrooms that are being highlighted are at such a high level that I feel very defeated. However, I have to remind myself that that is my ultimate goal and it will not necessarily happen over night.

Week 5: Evaluating My GAME Plan Progress

So far, my actions have been pretty effective. Because I work two jobs and I am working on my masters, things are moving a little slow. However, striking up conversations and asking around helps you to learn a lot. For example, sampling starting a conversation about technology at a department meeting is an easy and effective way to see who is knowledgeable and who is not; which of my co-workers would be willing to learn with me and which ones are a little more stuck in their ways. This is one step toward meeting my goals… finding out who I can turn to for help and support.

So far, I have learned that we have a resource called Moodle (anyone ever heard of it?) that will allow me to create a class webpage of sorts and share information with my students and parents. However, that is about the extent of my knowledge so far. I have not had a chance to play around with it yet. Does anyone use Moodle? If so, do you have any advice or suggestions? Also, one of my concerns is that most of my students do not have internet or even computer access at home; therefore, I don’t know how effective of a way this would be for communicating and sharing information.

I still have a great deal to learn and in all reality, will always have something to learn. Since technology is constantly changing and evolving, I will never be at the point where I am satisfied. Therefore, I’m not entirely sure my plan will every fully be mastered. Maybe one adjustment I need to make is that there is no end time or fulfillment status… maybe my plan should be a continuous one throughout my career that is just adjusted and evolves with technology and my knowledge.

Week 4: Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

I have begun to ask around and strike up conversations with my colleagues about how they incorporate technology into their classroom. Particularly, I have asked other math teachers how they allow student’s creativity to shine through and yet still display their knowledge of mathematics. However, at this point I have not begun any formal observations of other classrooms. I do not think I need to modify my action plan, I simply need more time to carry it out.

So far, I have learned that most teachers struggle with these issues and have very different ways of dealing with the issue. I have also learned that our district has expanded our usage of the PLATO program. Instead of just being used for credit recovery, now all teachers can use it as a supplemental resource, test resource or extension of learning. This program is designed to help students get ready for the ACT and it is a way to incorporate technology into my class. In addition, I have also learned that our building is supposed to be getting two smart boards for the whole building to share. While this is not ideal, obviously, it is better than no smart board at all. Therefore, I can incorporate the smart board into certain lessons (when it’s available). By using the smart board, students who are not always capable of demonstrating learning in the traditional sense (paper and pencil) will be able to gain confidence and knowledge.

Week 3 Blog Post: Carrying Out My GAME Plan

I tend to learn best from watching/viewing others. I like to get samples of what others are doing and then adapt them based on what will work best and fit into my classroom. Therefore, I will need to gather resources and ideas from other teachers in my building, district and possibly search the internet for ideas out there.

I might also need time to go in and observe a class that is completing a similar task or doing something that I might want to adapt. As I stated, I learn best from seeing and doing. It is usually difficult for me to just hear someone talk about something and then implement it into my classroom.

In addition, I will also need some of my colleagues time. Once I have implemented my GAME plan, I would like some outside input. Therefore, I would like them to come in and observe my class to give me advice and input on how to make the lessons more effective. Working as a team of freshmen teachers, it might also be possible to create a cross-curricular project. This way, for instance, if I am doing a project with the science teacher, they could be in my classroom observing the lesson while also assisting with the science part of the project. Our freshmen team has all true 9th graders and therefore, students could create one product and get a grade for math and science.

What does everyone else think? Has anyone done any cross-curricular projects like this before? If so, what went well and what didn’t? Do you have any advice?

Week 2: Developing Your Personal GAME Plan

Even though I think I could use work in every NETS-T indicator, I chose two that I think would directly help and improve my student’s skills. I would like to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in the following two areas:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
   

The GAME Plan:

Goals:

1. Design lessons that will allow students to display their knowledge of the material in a creative and unique way while exploring real life problems and using problem solving skills.
   
2. Design lessons that will allow students to choose specific topics within a broad focus to study and allow them to use technology to display they have mastered that topic for assessment.

Action:

1. In order to take action on these goals I will consult other members in my department to see if they are doing any similar projects.
2. I will also do research on the internet to see if there are ideas, lessons or activities there that could be helpful.
3. I will also consult my IT lead teacher in order to see what, if any, software applications are available to our district that might be of use to my students.
4. In addition, I will discuss ideas with my co-teacher to see what thoughts he has and accommodations for special needs students need to take place.

Monitor:

1. Once I have developed my goals and followed through on my actions I need to monitor my GAME plan to make sure it stays on track. I will self-evaluate the lessons to make sure they are staying on track with the indicators.
2. I will also ask my co-teacher to evaluate the lessons informally to make sure they are covering all aspects and working efficiently.
3. If necessary, I will make adjustments and adapt the lessons to better fit the indicators.

Evaluate:

1. To evaluate the lessons, I will ask students to fill out a survey to see if they felt it met the criteria I had intended.
2. I will also ask an administrator to observe my classroom on that day (if possible) to see if they feel it meets the intended indicators.
3. In addition, a self-evaluate at the end of the lessons will also be beneficial to see if the student products were at the level I intended.