Sunday, September 18, 2011

Following My Game Plan

     My GAME plan to design and incorporate digital tools into my instructional lessons will require that I strategically decide on those that will most effectively motivate and engage my students.  I will use assessment data collected and student surveys to identify learning tools that will most effectively match the interests, learning preferences, and intelligences of my students (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer 2009).  After selecting those tools, I will need to open accounts as well as to verify parent permission for students to use the internet for learning.  I will also survey my students to determine which students have prior experiences using Google Reader, Digital Stories, or Voice Threads.  Those students will serve as support for their peers that have had limited or no exposure.  I have also determined that two of my staff members have just begun to use blogs.  I will employ their expertise to devise a plan to give all students equal access to our available technology.   This past week I downloaded tutorials for three tools I will be using with my students.  I will practice using each of the tools to become familiar with the nuances of each program.  This coming week, I will meet with my co-teacher to decide on when, where, and how we will implement the use of these tools into our instruction.  It will be necessary to consider the availability of computer resources both in the lab and in the classroom, the instructional time to model the use of the technology, and the assignment of collaborative learning teams.  Although we plan to utilize these tools in mathematics as well as language arts, we have chosen to focus on language arts first. 
       In order to contribute to the effectiveness and self renewal of the teaching profession and my school community I will first need to recruit the support of my administrator to deviate from “business as usual” (Laureate, 2010).  As my co-worker and I develop our instructional plan for our students, together we will formulate a plan for methodically helping our staff and community embrace teaching 21st century skills.  We will informally survey our staff to find the teachers that are most comfortable using technology in the classroom and initiate conversations about the advantages of integrating technology into our instructional practice.  It is my intent that we form a collaborative learning community among interested teachers to implement more lessons using 21st century technology tools in order to develop authentic learning experiences.

References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009).  Technology integration for meaningful classroom use:  A standards-based approach:  Mason, Ohio:  Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. 2010 (Producer). Promoting Self-Directed Learning (DVD). Integrating Technology across the Content Areas.  Baltimore, MD: Author.

5 comments:

  1. Your GAME plan seems very well thought out and incredibly obtainable. You covered all aspects from obtaining parental consent, taking student surveys and setting up classroom accounts. Its also great to hear you working so closely with another colleague. This will not only provide you additional support as you progress through your GAME plan but will also help in your goal of getting school wide support. There's definitely safety in numbers and having even just one staff member who supports your plan will facilitate the process of teaching the rest of your staff the effectiveness of teaching 21st century skills. Good luck!

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  2. Hi Vicki,
    Great plan, I can see elements of collaboration, students', and colleagues’ involvement in your plan, as well as using data to inform your decisions, there is also element of dedication on your part in order to accomplish your goals, I wish you good luck in doing this. If I may ask, do you have plan "B" for those students whose parents may say that they do not want their child to use internet? I had similar cases in my class, I am still thinking of how to carry these students along while others are using technology.

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  3. Hi Nicole,
    I have to admit, I am so surprised that with such a seasoned staff, they are so adverse to change in their instructional practice. I am fortunate to have one colleague willing to give it a try. She is at the lease enthusiastic, but nervous about the release of control to the students. I am anxious to see her reaction as she experiences the enthusiastic participation of her students in utilizing 21st century tools to enhance learning.

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  4. Hi Yemi,
    I have to admit, I can't imagine that parents wouldn't want their children to be accessing the curriculum standards using such engaging and motivating tools as those available on the internet. But as surprising as it may be, I am sure there will be some. If permission was denied, I would design learning experiences that engage the students using different modalities to demonstrate their knowledge. This might include using the research found (on the internet) to design posters, write and perform a play, or even create a cartoon depicting new understandings.

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  5. Vicki,
    This is also a shock to me as well! This is actually over-protection of kids that are not as angelic or innocent as their parents like to think. These kids still go behind their parents and sign up for all sort of things on the internet, why not let them take part in organized, structured and supervised activity like this still makes me wonder what some parents think about the roles of school in educating students.

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