Reflections on the Progress of My GAME Plan...

I am taking a moment to reflect on my GAME plan that I created to assist me in my goal of integrating more technology into my teaching and the teaching of my colleagues in my school district. As a reminder, my Goals were: A. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments 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. For my first Goal, I have been looking for virtual field trips that would correlate with the enrichment units that I teach. I did locate one that I really like about Ellis Island that is through Scholastic and that would extend a Unit that we do on studying a country of the students’ ethnic origin. I found it at http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/ and have started to think of how exactly it would work in the unit. I have also been looking at http://www.internet4classrooms.com/vft.htm , a site that links to many other resources for Virtual Field trips. I am interested in the interactive trip into the Amazon Rainforest that is offered through http:// homeworkspot.com . For my second goal, I have started to put together a Powerpoint of some of the sites and resources that I have gained through my graduate classes and peers so that I can present it to my colleagues when we return to school in the fall. At this point, I do not have to modify my GAME plan. Some of the things could not be accomplished until the school year begins, and I have begun to implement the parts of the plan that I am able to do at home for preparation for the upcoming school year. I have learned that there are more virtual field trips and resources out there than I could have imagined. I have not used any previously, and I am glad that this is something that I have added to my teaching repertoire because I really think the students will gain a lot of knowledge from viewing them. As far as the Powerpoint of resources for my colleagues, I am trying to do some of the legwork and figuring out of sites so that I can present that information as well. I know that when I am told of a site, but then I go on and it is overwhelming and difficult to navigate, often I will tell myself that I will figure it out later, but I never do. I am trying to make it so that the resources are quick and easy to understand for my colleagues so that they are more likely to implement them. The part of my plan that I need to work on more is figuring out how I can effectively connect to teachers in other countries and states that would like to participate in a collaborative project. Do any of my Walden colleagues have any good sites or resources to share?

Here is How My GAME Plan is Coming Along...

Last week I posted a GAME plan that I have constructed that will assist me in integrating technology efficiently and effectively into my daily lessons. As a reminder, I made two Goals for myself for the upcoming school year: Goals: A. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments 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. I am thinking ahead to the resources and tools that I will need to help carry out my plan. For my first goal, I will need to find a reliable effective website that connects teachers that want to collaborate online. I will need to locate one that has an option of connecting with students in the United States, and I would like to find someone from another country that reads, writes, and speaks English. As far as the field trips go, there are plenty of resources out there, I just need to take the time to go through all of them to find one that correlates with my curriculum. For my second goal, I will need to collaborate with my colleagues that are on our Technology team at school so that I am sure that I am not duplicating something that they were already planning to present to us. I will also need to collaborate with my Administration to make sure that they find my ideas educationally acceptable for our district. I will also need to go through all of my resources and notes from my classes at Walden to make sure that I have an accurate compilation of resources. As far as the timeline of my goals, I made a target date for the end of the first nine weeks. I had said that I would have a virtual field trip planned, a teacher contact made, and a professional development session in the works. This is still my goal. I am currently searching the Web for virtual filed trips and for sites that connect teachers with teachers. I am also going through my notes so that I can stay on track with my Powerpoint presentation. If anyone has any resources that would prove helpful, pass it on…

My Personal GAME Plan for Increasing Technology Use and Student Engagement in my Classroom

I am taking my final class through Walden University in order to earn a Certificate in Integrating Technology in the Content Areas. Our text book for this course, Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach, was written by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross, and Peggy Ertmer. They discuss a strategy for teachers that challenges them to develop a GAME plan for integrating technology into their standards-based lessons. They challenge teachers to: 1. Set personal Goals 2. Take Action to meet the goals 3. Monitor progress toward achieving the goals and 4. Evaluate whether the goals were achieved and Extend the learning to new situations I looked at the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) that were developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). You can view these standards at their website: http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx There are numerous indicators of the direction that teachers need to take in order to be preparing our students to be self-directed, critical thinkers in today’s economy and workplace. I have prepared my own GAME plan for improving my confidence and proficiency in two of the indicators. Here is my own personal GAME plan: 1. Goals: A. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments 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. 2. Action Plan: A. I try to encourage my students to locate primary sources whenever possible when they are conducting research, but I want to take this a step further by assisting my students in becoming aware of how they are able to locate a live person in another country or state that can give a first-hand account. I also want to encourage the use of virtual field trips. They are cost-effective, timely ways to give students a concrete first-hand account of a place or event. B. After taking these courses, I want to be the person in my district that encourages the use of technology, shares resources and ideas through trainings, and promotes the importance of integrating technology to increase student engagement. I will make a Powerpoint presentation on the resources and ideas that I have gained through taking these courses at Walden. I will ask my Administration if I can conduct a Professional Development training for our staff. 3. Monitoring my progress: A. At this point, I do not have any outside personal connections or sources that I have my students use as a reference. At the end of the first quarter of the 2012-2013 school year, I will have a minimum of 2 outside sources that have been used by my students to collaborate on a project. I am hoping to be able to locate an outside source that will we will be able to keep an ongoing relationship with. I will also incorporate a minimum of 1 virtual field trip to be used in the first quarter. B. By the end of the first quarter of the 2012-2013 school year, I will have conducted a Professional Development session for the staff at my school where I share some of the resources andideas that I have learned by getting this Technology Certificate from Walden. 4. Evaluating my progress and Extending my learning to new situations: A. If I have made 2 connections to outside sources that have assisted my students in collaborating on a project or obtaining information and I have incorporated a minimum of one virtual field trip by the end of the first quarter of next school year, I will consider this goal met. I can take it a step further by sharing the connections with other teachers, or by at least sharing the process that I followed that made my connection successful. B. If I have conducted a Professional Development session and a teacher has used the information that I shared to implement in his/her classroom, I will consider this goal met. I can take it a step further by sharing the Powerpoint that I created with teachers that I know in other districts. Wish me luck on my journey to implement my personal GAME plan and increase student engagement and technology use in my classroom! 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. International Society for Technology in Education. National Education Teaching Standards for Teachers (NETS). Retrieved 3 July 2012 from: http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx.