Week 8 Reflection

My GAME Plan has been a life document throughout this fast paced and demanding course. It has changed and progressed to meet the needs of my students. My plan focused on ITSE NETS-T Standards -1 Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity; Standard 2 Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments; and Standard 5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. This experience has taught me to look beyond South Carolina Standards and focus on the learning styles and engaging means of delivery for my lessons.

The GAME Plan has taught me to evaluate the positive and negative results of each lesson. It also shifts the focus from just evaluating the students’ outcomes, but to evaluate my role as the instructor. It also reminded me that evaluations and assessments should not be reserved for the final grade, but be an ongoing hands-on involvement. The plan encouraged me to engage and seek out technology enrichment professional development opportunities for myself. I need to surround myself with other professionals who are using technology, social networking and other collaborative projects in their classrooms. Their encouragement and advice will help me to stay focused and not lose heart when the district, parents or technology does not cooperate. I need to seek out classes and opportunities that will enhance my learning experiences for my students and productivity.

My game plan encouraged me to fight for collaborative projects and problem based learning experiences for my class. Our district policy states that elementary school students cannot have email addresses. I presented  Think Quest and  ePals to my principal. I shared how these types of projects will add creativity, engage students and develop higher thinking and problem solving skills. He was so impressed that he proposed a plan for the district to allow our third grade to serve as a pilot program for elementary students to collaborate globally. Peggy Etmer defines problem-based learning as student learning that aligns with content and correlates problem- solving skills (Laureate, 2009). The teacher serves as a facilitator or guide by providing an atmosphere of inquiry and the tools to create and develop new ideas or discovery. The students can use technology throughout the learning process to research, organize, communicate, analyze, collaborate and present the problem-based learning product (Laureate, 2009). Learning comes alive and authentic when we give the students permission to use and share the technology tools that they know and use everyday.

A change that I have incorporated is bringing the students into the goal setting process of our units. “Learning goals should allow students to understand outcomes, be achievable through diverse media and communicate the importance or why of the goals” (Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P., 2009). One change is that students have input in the rubric and guidelines created for problem based learning and project products. This gives them ownership and clarifies their understanding of the final results. Our journals also reflect student feelings, difficulties, successes and checklist. The students’ reflections help to develop new assignment, follow- ups or future projects.

One of the most important themes throughout the videos and text is that the technology should be a tool to enhance the learning, not the purpose of the lesson. Technology should be used to enhance diverse learning styles, experiences and background knowledge. As a technology school, we are constant pressure to use podcast, SmartBoard and diverse technology tools. This year we do not have a computer teacher or support staff to teach how to use the technology tools and programs. This has placed pressure to teach the technology as well as the standards. It can be overwhelming. I have learned to review the lesson plans and curriculum to look for obvious ways to incorporate technology. This has made me become more flexible and creative with my time and plans. I have started a volunteer computer club after school. This allows me time to teach and focus on technology skills, software and programs. These students served as “computer experts” in class. They help provide the training and assistance in their assigned groups. We have been able to add more technology and thus exciting lessons for our class.

Finally, I have learned to integrate several content areas in my plans. Our writing is focusing on science, social studies and math. Math and science are easily integrated. In my unit plan, I was able to integrate math, science and language arts. The writing incorporated storyboard, investigation inquiries, and communication with experts. The math included measurement skills in height, weight and time. The science content included motion, gravity, friction, experimentation and scientific notation. It was also fun. As we reviewed our process, we realized that we had immediate areas that needed improvement or that would improve the process the next time. This reflection merged into our next and final project. The students created a digital story to show how to measure, practice safety and improve research inquiry using PhotoStory 3 for Windows.

Let the race of inquiry and technology begins with my third grade class.

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. (pp.121)

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (DVD).  Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1 and 2. Baltimore, MD: Author

Week 7 Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

My GAME plan throughout this course has focused on the ITSE-NET-T Standards. Initially my plan was to focus on standard one Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity and standard two Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. My goal was to expose my students to creative, engaging and collaborative lessons in order to improve and develop their problem solving and critical thinking skills. I quickly discovered that in order to achieve these standards efficiently that I needed to add standard NETS-T 5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership.
I have implemented many of the resources that I have read about or discussed with my Walden colleagues. My classroom blog has been activated, after a long nagging pursuit of the administration, so that my students could begin their first collaborative project with another classroom. They are excited and engaged to write and share their thoughts and suggestions to one another on subjects throughout the content areas. They have submitted several ideas of how they can improve our blog and class web site to be more “real” and interesting to other classes. This correlates with the NETS-S standard one Creativity and Innovation- apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. The students are developing skills in standard three, Research and Information Fluency by applying digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. This standard was evident in a recent science problem based learning assignment. Students were to research musical instruments and recreate one using recyclable items that would produce a sound. The process was documented in writing and digital photography. NETS-S standard 4 Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making was also evident in this project. Students were able to plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a product -instrument (NETS-S 4b). We were able to integrate science units-sound, recycle, and inquiry, as well as writing, reading and researching skills. Although final product was completed on an individual basis, like instrument groups met to discuss and support what was working and not working in order to achieve their goal.

My principal has approved our class application to work with ThinkQuest. My students will be able to expand their collaboration skills to work with students around the world. As stated in standard NETS-S 2a I plan to expand my students cultural awareness and critical thinking skills by providing opportunities to “interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media” with programs such as ThinkQuest.and ePals. Although our district does not allow elementary students to use email outside their class, I have received a trial period to use ePals with my class.

As a long time learner and pursuing NETS-T 5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership, I discovered that my “teachable moments” might come from the most unlikely places or people. While researching social networking and collaborative tools, I discovered Sketchcast.  I worked for over an hour to use the program and save my work. The following day, I introduced the program to my computer club. In fifteen minutes, one of my students quickly executed the mouse, sketched a picture, saved it and posted it to our class web page. I was able to participate in local (computer club) and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning, as well as my own learning (NETS-T 5a). She was excited and stated it was as easy to use as our SmartBoard and next week she wanted to produce one with a recording. She went home, shared it with her mother, and even posted a comment on the page. This is a great example of NETS-S 4 -Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

Our future projects include digital storytelling projects in math and social studies. In math, we will create a story that not only shows mileage from home to school and the landmarks within that journey. In history, we will create a narrative of the life of a slave. I review my lesson plans to look for opportunities to enhance student learning through a variety of technology tools and diverse assessments to better meet the multiple learning styles of my students. My game plan will prepare me to better serve my students and assist them in their own personal journey to become 21st century learners and achievers. 

References:
National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) located at http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Week 6 Revising Your GAME Plan

As I pursue my GAME Plan, I realize that the more we learn and discover in technology the more there is to know. My first goal was to provide my students with creative lessons that inspire learning. My plan included a creative project each nine weeks in my content areas NETS 1b-c Indicator. I have added more manipulatives and authentic real world experiences in my math and science class. I have also been able to integrate both content areas together using technology. The students are creating musical instruments from recycled materials and using the internet to research, write and display their work in PowerPoint with digital photos. In social studies, the students worked in collaborative learning groups to research battles of the revolution and their key leaders using ask.com and other search engines. Our team also decided to make the battles more authentic for them by having battle enactments outside in the playground. Their learning connections were evident in their test scores. We used the digital photos to inspire their journal writing. In the video, this week one of the teachers shared that collaboration inspires and challenges students to perform at a higher level (Laureate, 2009). As our classes worked together to create the battles physically they increased their writing and communication skills that were used in their blogs that followed the lessons. I feel that I have been successful in design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity as stated in NETS•S 2C indicator.

I am still striving to develop an online collaborative project with a class outside my school. I have encountered some difficulties with district denied access and blocked websites. I have applied to Think Quest which will allow me to integrate technology in my curriculum through projects with teachers and students around the world. My principal has agreed to assist me in this endeavor and work as my liaison in the district pursuit.

I am revising my game plan to include ITSE-NETS Indicator 5 by engaging in personal growth and development. I am currently working on our new vision committee for our school. We are researching and developing ways to incorporate researched based technology strategies and tools in our classrooms more effectively. My team is responsible for developing strategies and plans to bring the home and school life together in order to promote learning. Many of our parents do not own or use home computers or the internet. One of my student’s grandmothers inspired this idea. Her granddaughter attends my after school computer club and she asked to be a part of it. She told me that someone offered her granddaughter a computer and she was leery of having such a powerful tool in the house that she (grandma) could not operate. She is learning to type and research on the web. We are considering an adult computer club for our parents to learn how to use the internet and type. Together we can create a powerful learning or educational learning network that will connect personal learning communities, create greater diversity and increase exposure to learning as we read about in this weeks video Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking (Laureate, 2009).

I plan to continue working with my Walden Colleagues and the educators with Think Quest to challenge and inspire me to discover engaging and authentic learning experiences and activities for my students. My grade team also provides resources and expertise in integrating technology; social networking and problem based learning projects. As we plan each nine weeks lesson curriculum, we are challenging ourselves to complete the GAME Plan and implement challenging, engaging lessons that offer authentic lessons. We are seeking ways to expose our students to the world outside our small town. We also hope to inspire our parents to join us in this adventure.

Many of my Walden colleagues have mentioned using electronic portfolios; I would like to learn more about these tools. We currently use writing and reading portfolios, but I would like to have something that could easily follow students each year. I would also like to know what social networking projects have worked with other elementary teachers. I am interested in starting with a small grass root project that could be accomplished this year.

Reference:
ISTE NETS and Performance Indicators for Teachers(NETS•T) http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

(DVD). Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 1 and 2. Baltimore, MD: Author

Week 5 Monitor Personal Goals

This week, I am monitoring my persona goals of my Game Plan. My goal is to incorporate at least one creative project per content area each nine weeks. I also plan to collaborate with another classroom outside our school each nine weeks through virtual tools. We have just completed a biography project in which the students researched a current or historical person of their choice and presented their findings to the class via PowerPoint or word and picture collage. The students shared their projects during our November writing celebration.
Our next class endeavor will be a collaborative math project with other classes: one in Florida and one in a northern state. We plan to share weather reports and graph actual weather conditions and make predictions for the winter forecast. This will allow us to integrate science and math. We want to Skype together and communicate by email or blogs. We are just waiting for Skype approval from the other schools.

Teaching my students to self- reflect has been very difficult. I have had to create a weekly checklist for them to paste in their journals as a template as guide for reflection. Editing, revising and reflection is difficult process for third graders. We are currently working together in peer groups to assist with this process.

Technology can assist in this process of student reflections. However, I am having difficulties receiving logins and passwords for my students to use our class blog application located on our class web page. Technological support is slow due to the recent cut- backs in our district personnel. Peggy Etmer suggests that technology provides a format for formative assessments with progress checklist, and blogs (Laureate, 2009). I have currently posted rubrics and templates on the web page.

I am currently researching ideas for a problem based learning project for my students. This type of project will allow my students to explore their content in an authentic and meaningful way. I would like to make my students to discover new ways to reuse or recycle everyday items into new practical uses. This project would address the need to reduce our waste and trash and provide a personal connection to world conservation (Laureate, 2009).
Reference:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

(DVD). Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1 and 2. Baltimore, MD: Author