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.