In all honesty, the progress has been quite slow on my GAME plan. There has been little time to work on it since he week before Thanksgiving was full of programs, parties and interruptions. Now that our school is being audited by the state, my principal's energy is going to be focused elsewhere; therefore, I am afraid that we must find another way to gain access to the technology that we will need for our project. We may have to modify our plan to do this project in our classroom. We may have to work with other teachers to borrow computers or trade computer lab times.
My team has, however, determined the time and focus of our project. We are going to begin our project in February in conjunction with the science fair. We are going to help our students determine real-world questions for research and experiement. So many times a science fair becomes little more than an at-home re-creation of what mom could find on the internet. This year, we would like our students to think about our science curriculum and develop their own questions based on material that peaked their curiousity during science class. After they have a list to choose from, we will help them develop the scientific process for their project.
The new BIG question becomes, how do we manage this project since each student must do a different experiement for their science fair project. We have determined that we will require parts of the experiement to be done at home, but we are still developing the process we will go through to help our students create their science fair board.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monitoring the GAME plan
To truly enact the plan I have to incorporate "real-world" situations into classroom lessons, there are many things I must do. First of all, I must discuss with my teaching partner which "real-world" situations she might be comforatble with integrating. Next we will need to review additional information on the topics and review our curriculum to ensure that the choices we have made fit with our curriculum. After we narrow the field a bit, I believe that there will be several steps I need to take to peak the interest of my students.
My plan is to find video and/or audio clips which give an overview of information about two or three topics that might integrate well with our curriculum. We would then show these clips and explain their significance to our learning goals. Finally, I would like to allow the students to vote for which topic we will finally incorporate into our learning project.
So far, I have not been able to move toward my goal as quickly as I would like. The past few weeks have been full of administrative paperwork and duties that have frustrated me and consumed much of my time. I have, however, begun discussions with my team about the ideas I have and we are discussing the possiblity of beginning a project after the holidays that can be incorporated with social studies and science fair.
My plan is to find video and/or audio clips which give an overview of information about two or three topics that might integrate well with our curriculum. We would then show these clips and explain their significance to our learning goals. Finally, I would like to allow the students to vote for which topic we will finally incorporate into our learning project.
So far, I have not been able to move toward my goal as quickly as I would like. The past few weeks have been full of administrative paperwork and duties that have frustrated me and consumed much of my time. I have, however, begun discussions with my team about the ideas I have and we are discussing the possiblity of beginning a project after the holidays that can be incorporated with social studies and science fair.
GAME plan for Integrating Technlogy
Original Post- November 15, 2009
GAME plan for Integrating Technology
By ahocutt
The GAME plan outlined in the text is a great tool to help anyone increase their effectivness as a self-directed learner (K. Cennamo, J. Ross, & P. Ertmer, 2009, p. 7). Though we are all required to participate in a certain amount of professional development, I believe that the most effective teachers are those who are self-motivated.
As I looked at the NETS performance indicators for teachers, there was a primary area that I feel I needed to focus on improving:
1b: engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
G- My major goal for improving this professional practice is to find out which "real-world issues" would be appropriate for my students. Since I teach only 3rd grade, there are many things that parents would not want students to discuss or research in my class. I may take a class survey to find out what interests them the most (i.e. politics, environment, etc.)
A- There will be a lot of action that must take place to truly get this project moving. First of all, I will have to gain access to enough technological tools for my students to use. Our primary issue now is a shortage of computers in our classroom. Therefore, I will have to get special permission to use some of the computers from our lab. I will also need to research the topic that is chosen by my class survey. This way I will be the expert in the room and able to help them. Finally, I will need to use proper websits and tools such as Skype, Google Earth, and Epals. These sites will enable my students to have access, not only to information on the web, but also use people around the globe as sources.
M- One aspect of this project that will need to monitor very closely is my use of the technology. Often, when I begin using new technology tools, I get frustrated when they don't work exactly as expected. At times, I have even stopped using tools, rather than learn more about them. In order to help my students explore the world digitally, I will need to take the time to learn about each of our resources. I may even need to get the help of our on site technology resource person to help me when I get stuck or frustrated.
E- In order to evaluate my learning, I think I will need to keep a reflection journal. I often jot down little thoughts in the side margins of my lesson plans to remind myself about certain improvments I would like to make next year. I think that I will make this process more formal so that I and my students have the full benefit of my reflections. I may also take student surveys to find out which aspects of the project may need improvement in the students' opinions.
Resources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
GAME plan for Integrating Technology
By ahocutt
The GAME plan outlined in the text is a great tool to help anyone increase their effectivness as a self-directed learner (K. Cennamo, J. Ross, & P. Ertmer, 2009, p. 7). Though we are all required to participate in a certain amount of professional development, I believe that the most effective teachers are those who are self-motivated.
As I looked at the NETS performance indicators for teachers, there was a primary area that I feel I needed to focus on improving:
1b: engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
G- My major goal for improving this professional practice is to find out which "real-world issues" would be appropriate for my students. Since I teach only 3rd grade, there are many things that parents would not want students to discuss or research in my class. I may take a class survey to find out what interests them the most (i.e. politics, environment, etc.)
A- There will be a lot of action that must take place to truly get this project moving. First of all, I will have to gain access to enough technological tools for my students to use. Our primary issue now is a shortage of computers in our classroom. Therefore, I will have to get special permission to use some of the computers from our lab. I will also need to research the topic that is chosen by my class survey. This way I will be the expert in the room and able to help them. Finally, I will need to use proper websits and tools such as Skype, Google Earth, and Epals. These sites will enable my students to have access, not only to information on the web, but also use people around the globe as sources.
M- One aspect of this project that will need to monitor very closely is my use of the technology. Often, when I begin using new technology tools, I get frustrated when they don't work exactly as expected. At times, I have even stopped using tools, rather than learn more about them. In order to help my students explore the world digitally, I will need to take the time to learn about each of our resources. I may even need to get the help of our on site technology resource person to help me when I get stuck or frustrated.
E- In order to evaluate my learning, I think I will need to keep a reflection journal. I often jot down little thoughts in the side margins of my lesson plans to remind myself about certain improvments I would like to make next year. I think that I will make this process more formal so that I and my students have the full benefit of my reflections. I may also take student surveys to find out which aspects of the project may need improvement in the students' opinions.
Resources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
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