Week 4-Monitoring My GAME Plan

Finding Information:
As I have began working towards my goals I have found that staff members that I work with on a daily basis have a number of great ideas on implementing technology into teaching. One thing I have found is that most staff members I work with seem to use technology to help them stay organized and deliver content. In a PLC meeting last week, I asked two of my colleagues how they use technology in interactive ways with their students. This sparked an excellent conversation and we began brainstorming ways for the students to use items such as the SmartBoard as an interactive tool. One thing that came out in our conversations was the fact that technology is a great way to get all students involved and engaged in learning (Laureate Education Inc., 2009).

In terms of my second goal, I have found that many of my students are using the models I have created and using them as templates for their own work. I was worried at first about students copying my models exactly, but have found that students want to add more to their final artifacts.

Modifications:
At this point and time, I do not see the need for any modifications to my GAME plan. I am sure as time progresses, I will need to revisit different items.

What I have Learned:
I have learned that sharing new technology ideas during PLC time is very effective. I have learned a great deal just in the past two weeks through visiting with my colleagues and seeing what and how they use technology. I have taken some of their ideas and added to them making them very useful tools. One such idea I have picked up on is how my teaching partner is using Microsoft Excel to chart her students growth by having students keep a notebook on their math facts. This is an excellent idea because this digital notebook will follow them into next year providing next years teacher with excellent information about where the student is at in terms of their knowledge of math facts.

New Questions:
I have found that I need to spend some quality time learning about new technologies (Laureate Educational Inc., 2009). For instance, this week in our discussion postings Michael posted something on flip-cams. Flip-Cams are a tool that I have never seen used, but through discussion believe they would be a tool that would be beneficial to me.

The other question I have discovered are what are ways I can better share ideas to my entire staff as well as gain ideas from them?

Reference:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Week 3-Carrying Out My GAME Plan

First I would like to apologize for the late posting of this blog posting. I didn't realize that I had a posting due this week.

Resources Needed to Carry Out My Plan;
The first resource I will need in carrying out my first goal (engage in professional growth and leadership) is time to meet with my PLC (professional learning community) team. This team is made up of myself, my fellow 5th grade teaching partner, and the two sixth grade teachers. We have generally met once a month in the past for 40-40 minutes. I would like to propose the group meeting an additional time to discuss the use of technology in both grades.

The second resource I will need in order to help me achieve my second goal (facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity) is my own personal computer as well as my school computer. by using these two computers I will be able to create models of technology projects for my students to see. Creating sample brochures, review games using power point slides, and using excel to create inter-active graphs that students could use to track academic progress.

Additional Information Needed:
Spending time viewing new technology tools on the Internet and finding magazines that inform me of new technologies is a must. How can I implement new ideas if I am not up to date on what is out there (Laureate Educational Inc., 2009)? Another piece of information needed is schedules of teachers I am working with in my PLC groups. Viewing schedules would allow me to set up additional PLC times that don't interfer with other people's schedules.

Steps Taken So Far:
My PLC team was able to meet last Friday (May 21st) and discussed how we are using collected data to support our instruction. This allowed me to share some of the different charts and graphs I have used from Excel to keep track of my students' progress. Templates for these charts and graphs have been placed on the teacher share drive for my colleagues to use. In addition to sharing this information I have also placed a sample brochure that I created on the student share drive for students to reference during their state project. Many of my students have accessed this model and are using it as a guide with their own brochures.

References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Week 2 -Developing Your Personal GAME Plan

This week Dr. Katherine Cennamo discusses with us the importance of having a GAME plan when promoting self-directed learning and creative thinking (Laureate Educational Inc., 2009). The first step in creating a GAME plan is to set a goal. After viewing the different technology standards (http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm)
I have decided on applying two of the standards to my goal:
1. Engage in professional growth and leadership
2. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
Actions to take:
The first step I will take is to set goals for these two standards. To engage in professional growth and leadership my goals is to continue taking classes that are focused on the use of technology. I will also take time each week to visit with fellow teachers about technology tools they are using in their classrooms. For the leadership piece, my goal is to share different ideas about technology I have found and used during staff meetings and PLC (Professional Learning Communities) meetings.

The second step will be setting a goal for facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity. In order to begin working on this goal, it is necessary to model strategies for being an independent learner and creative thinker with my students. Creating technology projects as artifacts to share with students will be the first step of this goal.

Monitoring Progress:
For my first goal, I plan on using a calendar to monitor how many times I have had professional conversations with colleagues about technology. On this calendar I will write down notes on the dates I have these conversations. By using a calendar, I will be able to track how often these conversations are taking place.

For the second goal I will create a folder on the teachers' share drive to place copies of the work I have created to use as models for students. By viewing the folder frequently, I will be able to monitor if I need to add more samples.

Evaluation:
Evaluation of the first goal will come from feedback I receive from staff about the technology information I have shared with them. These conversations may bring up better ideas to implement.

Evaluation of the second goal come from student artifacts. If the quality of student projects and artifacts become better, I will know that the models are helpful.

Reference:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Reflection EDUC-6712I-2

This particular course has added knowledge that I have been searching for for quite some time. The biggest revelation I will take from this course is the knowledge of how to view a web site for authenticity. Knowing if a web site is authentic or not is something I needed to become more familiar with so that I can pass that knowledge on to my students. For the past few years, this is a technology standard I have not been able to meet for lack of knowledge. Now I understand how to look at background colors, toolbar access, and reliability of information (Laureate Educational Inc., 2009).

This newly gained knowledge has already influenced my instruction as I am working with my students on a web based project. Throughout this particular unit I have had direct instruction time with students on how to evaluate a web site and have also given students individual time to search and evaluate web sites on their own. In the two short weeks I have been guiding my students through the unit, several students have found web sites that the information is not valid. Many of these web site are sites students in the past have used to find information. As I continue to have students do web based projects, evaluating web sites for authenticity will continue to be my first step in the teaching process. Teaching this skill will not only be conducted in one lesson, rather will go on throughout the year as students use the internet to find information.

A professional development goal I have set for myself is to do a better job showing students how to cite work taken from the Internet correctly. Many of the Power Point presentations I use during instructions include pictures, quotes, and/or graphs taken from specific Internet sites. By modeling to students the correct way to give others credit for their work, I hope that students begin to see the importance with this issue. As many of the presenters discussed in our resources throughout the course, it is our responsibility as the public to protect all users of the Internet (Laureate Educational Inc., 2009). As a professional, I feel that it is also necessary to share this information with colleagues so the Internet may continue to be a safe place to go for both adults and children.

References:
Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom (2009). Safe and Ethical Practices (Laureate Educational Inc., 2009 Release)

Reflection

Throughout this course I have had the opportunity to learn and use new technologies that increase student engagement. In the beginning of this course, my teaching philosophy followed three steps. Step one, introduce the material or concepts. Step two, practice using the new concept, and the final step is to apply the concepts to real world. My philosophy is still the same, but I have gained new knowledge about how to introduce and teach new concepts using technology such as voicethreads and virtual field trips. Understanding various learning theories has also added to the instructional piece of my philosophy. The final step of application has now been enhanced by the power of creating artifacts (Laureate Education Inc., 2008).

One immediate change I will be making to my teaching style is to use technology to enhance student learning rather than my teaching. For example, using the SmartBoard in my classroom during center time to have students explore various web sites and manipulate shapes during my geometry unit. I have spent time this year teaching students how to use various software, now it is time for students to start using that software to explore for their own learning purposes. Students using the SmartBoard during center time will allow them to collaborate with peers on solving problems and gaining new knowledge about people, places, and things. Using software such as excel will allow students to monitor their progress towards goals they have set for themselves focusing on their academics(Pilter, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).

Two long-term goal changes I would like to make for myself are using virtual field trips during units in all academic areas and having students monitor their level of effort by creating graphs. In terms of an outline for virtual field trips, for the remainder of this year I would like to have my students participate in at least two virtual field trips in the area of social studies. By the end of next school year, my goal is to have the students participate in a virtual field trip in the subjects of social studies, science, math, and reading. In reference to effort, this year I have started laying the groundwork by having discussions about effort and making effort a part of everyday conversations. By next year I would like to have the students creating rubrics that focus on effort and then begin graphing their effort and placing those graphs in the Data Quality Notebooks(Pilter, Hubbell, Kuhn& Malenoski, 2007).

References:

Laureate Education Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author

Pilter, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technolgy with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

How Fast Children Change