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

Week 4 Monitoring the GAME PLAN

As I pursue my action plan, I have learned that I must be more assertive and seek out the materials and resources that will benefit my students. I have volunteered to serve on the new district curriculum team. Our district is developing a new curriculum across the board to align with the national core standards. I want to have an active role in developing a curriculum that addresses the multiple intelligences and learning styles of all our students. We need to address how to reach out to community to provide speakers and specialist to speak to our classes and provide input for the curriculum. I want our curriculum to have variety of assessments that incorporate technology assistance whenever it is beneficial to the students. Diverse assessments will allow us to identify learning needs and adjust our plans and curriculum accordingly. Dr. Ross states that effective assessment indentifies learning objectives, determine teaching method, and choose supportive technology (Laureate, 2009).

This week, I pursued a donor on donorchoose.org to assist in building my classroom library. The request included a variety of reading materials from magazines, literature circles to audio books. I am currently working on a grant through E I have also requested the assistance of our technology facilitator to set up my podcasting listening and production center. This will provide my students with the tools for performance based and project based assessments. This week, we read in chapter 6 that students could record oral presentations, fluency and reading records to demonstrate improvements and areas of development (Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P., 2009). This will enhance the digital portfolios that I am pursuing in my GAME PLAN.

I found a great resource for differentiating learning strategies and implementing podcasting in my classroom at Education World . 
These trainings are completed at my leisure and can be resourced for further study. My plan states that I will reach out to colleagues in the field that are actually implementing new technologies with research based strategies. These type training, along with my Walden courses, will allow me to continue my pursuit of my plan. The readings this week and online resources remind me that as a professional learner¸ I need to pursue what I need, in order to be a better educator to my students. I must be willing to go beyond my comfort zone to create a global thriving learning environment.

One concern I have is that many of my students perform better on alternative assessments than on the standardized once a year test. This year, I had to justify how student grades were “inflated with B’s or C’s” for students that did not pass the state assessment. I was told that it comes down to results of this final assessment. Sometimes I feel that teaching the test is more important that teaching the child.

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. 143-146).

Donor Choose Org  http://www.donorschoose.org/

Education World http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/virtualwkshp.shtml

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas(DVD). Assessing Student Learning through Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Game Plan Resources, Information and Steps to Success

Change is difficult and requires much patience. In order to break the cycle of failure and I can’t , I need to implement change on a daily basis. This change requires me to search out resources, information and apply steps of action. I have to research creative and research based strategies and tools to develop creative and effective lesson plans for my students.

The greatest resource for success is the effective and knowledgeable people or experts that we encounter each day. I have requested the assistance of our grade team technology guru to demonstrate how to use the webcam with our class SmartBoard for Skype. She has a retired English teacher that reads to her class each Friday through Skype. She has also suggested that I implement and teach Skype etiquette prior to our collaborative project beginning. Our cooperative learning class is still awaiting approval from their school to join us in this endeavor.

I have also applied for a grant to pay for a classroom subscription for VoiceThreads. This tool would provide multiple means of expression and presentation of materials and understanding of my diverse students. My students would have the ability to work individually or as a collaborative learning group or team. This would also scaffold the media format so that all my students could create projects or presentations in their best learning modality. This would allow my students to be as creative as they can be. The auditory option will assist my low readers in their various content area classes such as science and social studies.

I am currently researching reading strategies and high interest low- level text for my struggling readers. I currently have 11 out of 17 students reading below our third grade level. Six of those readers are reading at kindergarten level. Unfortunately, many of my students are unable to read content text or class level materials. I am in the process of downloading our class basal reading text CD’s and podcast, so that students can listen to grade level reading and concepts. These instructional tools are examples of assistive technology that will enhance the learning experiences of all my students(Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P., 2009). 
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, 129.

GAME plan for Building NETS-T Indicators

Teachers of the 21st Century must be willing and eager to be students of the technology world. It is vital that educators are searching and perfecting the needed skills to complete this endeavor. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) list 5 standards known as the National Education Standards for Teacher (NETS-T) that provide direction and guidance in preparing lessons for the 21st century class through: creative and inspiring lessons, providing and developing digital learning experiences and assessments, modeling digital tools, learning, and digital citizenship and continuing professional development. In order to be an effective teacher, I would like to focus on creating and implementing creative digital lessons that inspire, engage, and incorporate collaborative learning environments outside my physical classroom (NETS-T 1 and 2). These changes will be accomplished by creating a plan of action known as GAME (goals, actions, monitoring, and evaluation) and by applying the advice and assistance of my Walden colleagues (Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P., 2009).



The first step in my GAME plan is to set goals for me as an educator. As a third grade teacher, I have to plan lesson plans each day for all content areas. Our district has created their own curriculum to assure that the state standards are being addressed and taught each day in every lesson. This practice does not allow for much diversity or creativity. However, as a technology magnet school, we are given a little leave way in this matter. With the pressure to improve our state scores and fill the student-learning gap, I have fallen short in diversifying from the district plan. Teaching only what is on the state test has left creative exploration and self-discovery out my plans. I have justified this omission on our fast-paced curriculum. My goal is to allow 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. This opportunity will offer authentic and real world experiences for my students.


The action step of my plan includes reaching out to my Walden colleagues to create collaborative lessons and/or projects. I have applied and been approved by my principal to use Skype to communicate with other classrooms and experts throughout our digital global community. My students will use several digital tools and forms of media to communicate and create student directed projects. Students will provide input and direction for each project by developing assessments and guidelines for each endeavor.

Monitoring the plan will be the responsibility of the class and educator. The students will reflect on progress through journaling and class discussion. The educators will also engage through discussions and goal reflections. A checklist of outcomes will be comprised and reflected on throughout the process. Revisions will be made or adjusted as needed.


Evaluation of the projects and lesson will be given informally and formally throughout. One area that I need to work on is the development of various assessments. Due to our constant test preparation, we use many formal data testing tools. I need to improve my skills on how to use the data to build stronger strategies or improvements in deficit areas. I would really like to learn more about building or implementing digital portfolios to promote self-discovery, engagement and for their own learning. Evaluation will also direct how or if this project was effective. The project’s effectiveness will be based on the ability to adapt or change in order for the students to learn or achieve the goals agreed upon.

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. 26, 42).

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