I believe it is important for my students to know and understand the GAME plan process and the NETS-S. I have spent several weeks analyzing and studying the NETS-T and I plan to share this experience with my students.
I plan to share my personal GAME plan with my students. I want them to know how I set my goals, planned my actions, monitored, and evaluated my progress towards understanding the NETS-T. I believe that by sharing my personal experience with my students that they will have a better understanding of the GAME plan itself.
Then I plan to show my students the NETS-S. As a class we will go through each standard on the Smart Board and have a discussion about what they mean. Next, my students will set goals for themselves. I teach 5th grade students and I plan for them to go through the GAME plan process. In the beginning we will work as a class to work through the process, but eventually the students will use the process independently.
I also plan to use a buddy system so the students can check up on each other and so the students will be held accountable for taking steps to achieve their goal.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
GAME Plan and Professional Goal
I have learned a lot the past few weeks as I have analyzed the NETS-T. I plan to continue to use the NETS-T when I plan for my instruction. I believe it is important that I use these standards as part of my every day lesson plans in order to help prepare my students for the future.
I do not have any specific learning goals using the NETS-T. However, I do plan to continue to analyze each standard . My goal is to use these standards as I plan for my instruction. I also plan to continue to use a variety of resources as I learn more about every one of the NETS-T.
I want to become comfortable with these standards and I want to share what I have learned with my colleagues. Sharing my knowledge with other colleagues is one of the main reasons I wanted to get my masters in integrating technology into the classroom. I have found that so many of my colleagues at school do not know how to properly use all of the technology that we have available to us. I want to make sure that technology is used for a purpose and helps provide meaningful and engaging instruction.
I do not have any specific learning goals using the NETS-T. However, I do plan to continue to analyze each standard . My goal is to use these standards as I plan for my instruction. I also plan to continue to use a variety of resources as I learn more about every one of the NETS-T.
I want to become comfortable with these standards and I want to share what I have learned with my colleagues. Sharing my knowledge with other colleagues is one of the main reasons I wanted to get my masters in integrating technology into the classroom. I have found that so many of my colleagues at school do not know how to properly use all of the technology that we have available to us. I want to make sure that technology is used for a purpose and helps provide meaningful and engaging instruction.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Evaluating My GAME Plan
I feel like I have been effective in reaching towards accomplishing my goals for my GAME plan. However, I have made a few adjustments this week due to a state wide writing prompt centered around the topic of technology.
Over the past several weeks, I have been taking a closer look at creativity and how to use technology to encourage this in my classroom. Currently my students are working on a state wide writing prompt that is consuming most of my instructional time. However, the prompt actually revolves around how communication technology has changed their lives. They are currently in the researching phase and they have all chosen one type of technology that people use to communicate to focus on for their paper. I plan to expand on this assignment and have the students use one of these technologies to create a final product. In the final product the students will explain how the specific communication technology could be used in the elementary classroom. So far, my students have been very interested in researching and have been able to find a lot of useful information.
I have also researched digital citizenship and discussed this with my students. In the next two weeks I plan to use some of the online resources on YouTube and TeacherTube to help my students understand this concept of being a respectful digital citizen. My hope is that after Christmas break my students will create a VoiceThread about digital citizenship to share with other students. Since my students are researching different types of technology that people use to communicate, I may change this and allow them to choose their own technology tool.
The research my students have been doing has exposed me to new technology tools that they use to communicate with their peers. For example, several of my students use one of the PlayStation game systems to chat with their friends. I had no idea that this could be done. I have also learned that a lot of my 5th grade students are on facebook. The class discussions I have had with my students this week has made me more aware of how much they truly know about technology. I plan to continue to research any new technology tools that they share with me and find out of they can be implemented into my classroom instruction.
Over the past several weeks, I have been taking a closer look at creativity and how to use technology to encourage this in my classroom. Currently my students are working on a state wide writing prompt that is consuming most of my instructional time. However, the prompt actually revolves around how communication technology has changed their lives. They are currently in the researching phase and they have all chosen one type of technology that people use to communicate to focus on for their paper. I plan to expand on this assignment and have the students use one of these technologies to create a final product. In the final product the students will explain how the specific communication technology could be used in the elementary classroom. So far, my students have been very interested in researching and have been able to find a lot of useful information.
I have also researched digital citizenship and discussed this with my students. In the next two weeks I plan to use some of the online resources on YouTube and TeacherTube to help my students understand this concept of being a respectful digital citizen. My hope is that after Christmas break my students will create a VoiceThread about digital citizenship to share with other students. Since my students are researching different types of technology that people use to communicate, I may change this and allow them to choose their own technology tool.
The research my students have been doing has exposed me to new technology tools that they use to communicate with their peers. For example, several of my students use one of the PlayStation game systems to chat with their friends. I had no idea that this could be done. I have also learned that a lot of my 5th grade students are on facebook. The class discussions I have had with my students this week has made me more aware of how much they truly know about technology. I plan to continue to research any new technology tools that they share with me and find out of they can be implemented into my classroom instruction.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Slight Change in my GAME Plan
After reviewing my GAME plan and comments from my peers, I have decided to combine my two goals. I plan to have students create a VoiceThread about being a responsible digital citizen. I will be able to meet my goal in both standards. By having the students create a VoiceThread about digital citizenship; it will require my students to take a closer look into digital equity.
One thing I am wondering about is how to present the information I have found on digital responsibility. I think it would be more interesting if I used technology to teach my students. I think a VoiceThread would be a great way to teach my students, however I don’t think I should if I want them to create a VoiceThread on the topic. I could create a podcast to teach them about these policies. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
One thing I am wondering about is how to present the information I have found on digital responsibility. I think it would be more interesting if I used technology to teach my students. I think a VoiceThread would be a great way to teach my students, however I don’t think I should if I want them to create a VoiceThread on the topic. I could create a podcast to teach them about these policies. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
My GAME has started...
In order to learn more about facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity I have spent quite a bit of time on Google searching a variety of different topics. Some of the websites that I found are below:
These websites and the other ones I found provide a wide variety of ways to inspire creativity in the classroom. I still need to talk to teachers that inspire creativity. In order to carry out my plan, I plan to continue to research using the Internet to learn about how other teachers inspire student learning and creativity. One of the suggestions that I read about creativity immediately made me think about using VoiceThreads. I plan to continue to look into the idea of using VoiceThreads and compare it to other forms of technology that also inspire creativity.
In order to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility, I naturally went to the Internet to learn more about being a responsible digital citizen. I found a wonderful resource relating to addressing appropriate technology behavior. It provides strategies for teachers as well as appropriate and inappropriate uses of technology. This resource will become very valuable for me when I begin to teach my students about being a responsible digital citizen. I plan to continue to research this topic for more helpful resources for me to share with my students when I begin teaching my students.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
My GAME Plan
There are two NETS that I would like to focus on. I have decided to examine these two standards by developing a GAME (Goal, Action, Monitor, Evaluate) plan.
The first standard I would like to focus on is the first standard: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. I choose this standard because I am always trying to encourage student learning and creativity. My goal is to create lessons that engage the students and encourage creativity and student learning. I also plan to develop lessons that are appropriate for my students. I plan to incorporate technology within these lessons to promote creativity. One action I plan to take is to incorporate different types of technology within my instruction. I plan to help build on my students’ experiences in technology and encourage them to experience using new forms of technology. I will also step outside of my comfort zone and experience with new technologies with my students. I also plan to use collaborative learning to promote creativity and have students reflect on their learning. I plan to monitor my progress by observing my students during the entire process. I will also use student surveys and questionnaires to determine the effectiveness of the lesson. I will use the student responses and my observations to adjust my lessons so they will help accomplish my goal. I will evaluate my plan using the final student products. I will be able to determine the students’ knowledge of the particular material. I will be able to look back at my instruction and reflect on what the students may still need to work on. I will also be able to determine what instructional strategies and tools were the most effective. By analyzing my instructional strategies and tools I will be able to decide what technology tools I should use again and ones that weren’t quite as effective.
The second NETS I would like to focus on is the fourth standard: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. I choose this standard primarily because so many of my students are creating their own social networking web pages and I want to make sure my students know how to be responsible on these online sites. My goal is to teach my students how to be a responsible citizen in the technological world. I also plan to teach my students about digital etiquette and online communication tools. One of the actions I plan to take in order to accomplish my goal is to share with my students how I am a responsible digital citizen. I think sharing this on a personal level will help provide an example of what digital etiquette really looks like. I also plan for them to work in collaborative groups to provide examples of people displaying digital responsibility. I will monitor my progress mainly through observation and class discussions. By monitoring my progress, I will be able to decide if there are any areas where I may need to go back and teach another lesson. I will evaluate my plan by having an ending assessment where my students may create their own social networking site. The students would create their personal page. I would be able to use the final page to determine the effectiveness of my teaching and if the students truly understand how to be a responsible digital citizen.
The first standard I would like to focus on is the first standard: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. I choose this standard because I am always trying to encourage student learning and creativity. My goal is to create lessons that engage the students and encourage creativity and student learning. I also plan to develop lessons that are appropriate for my students. I plan to incorporate technology within these lessons to promote creativity. One action I plan to take is to incorporate different types of technology within my instruction. I plan to help build on my students’ experiences in technology and encourage them to experience using new forms of technology. I will also step outside of my comfort zone and experience with new technologies with my students. I also plan to use collaborative learning to promote creativity and have students reflect on their learning. I plan to monitor my progress by observing my students during the entire process. I will also use student surveys and questionnaires to determine the effectiveness of the lesson. I will use the student responses and my observations to adjust my lessons so they will help accomplish my goal. I will evaluate my plan using the final student products. I will be able to determine the students’ knowledge of the particular material. I will be able to look back at my instruction and reflect on what the students may still need to work on. I will also be able to determine what instructional strategies and tools were the most effective. By analyzing my instructional strategies and tools I will be able to decide what technology tools I should use again and ones that weren’t quite as effective.
The second NETS I would like to focus on is the fourth standard: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. I choose this standard primarily because so many of my students are creating their own social networking web pages and I want to make sure my students know how to be responsible on these online sites. My goal is to teach my students how to be a responsible citizen in the technological world. I also plan to teach my students about digital etiquette and online communication tools. One of the actions I plan to take in order to accomplish my goal is to share with my students how I am a responsible digital citizen. I think sharing this on a personal level will help provide an example of what digital etiquette really looks like. I also plan for them to work in collaborative groups to provide examples of people displaying digital responsibility. I will monitor my progress mainly through observation and class discussions. By monitoring my progress, I will be able to decide if there are any areas where I may need to go back and teach another lesson. I will evaluate my plan by having an ending assessment where my students may create their own social networking site. The students would create their personal page. I would be able to use the final page to determine the effectiveness of my teaching and if the students truly understand how to be a responsible digital citizen.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Reflection
In reflecting on everything I have learned in this course about learning theories, my personal learning theory pretty much remains the same. I believe students learn by doing which closely relates to the constructivist learning theory (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008). I also believe my theory is also complimented with social learning theories because my students often work in collaborative groups. My learning theory also closely relates to the behaviorists approach because I use rewards as part of my instruction (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008). Overall, I believe students learn in a variety of ways. Therefore, I try to teach my students using the strategies that benefit them the most.
One thing that I focus on when determining my instructional strategies is maximizing student involvement in every lesson. I focus on allowing the students to move around my classroom to complete various hands-on tasks (Orey, 2001). I believe this benefits my students because they are engaged in the learning process when they are actively involved in the lesson. In my classroom I also encourage meaningful discussions between students. I believe that everybody is a teacher and a learner. Therefore, I encourage my students to share how they reached an answer with their peers because they often understand a peer’s explanation better than one from an adult.
I plan to make an immediate adjustment in my learning theory by implementing the use of technology on a regular basis. In the past I did not effectively use technology. I used technology more as an instructional tool instead of as a learning technology tool. Throughout this course I have learned that technology benefits the students when it is used as a learning tool where the students are using it as an active learner (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). When technology is used as a learning tool the classroom is student-centered which relates to my personal learning theory.
I plan to use Webspiration in my classroom for creating concept maps. Concept mapping will help create a nonlinguistic representation of information (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). It will also help the students make connections and remember new information. I have used maps in my classroom in the past and have seen a lot of success. I think by adding the technology of Webspiration to make concept maps the students’ knowledge will continue to expand. The students will also be actively engaged in the learning process.
I also plan to implement the use of VoiceThreads in my classroom. VoiceThread will allow students to work in a group to create an artifact to share their knowledge with their peers. I like VoiceThreads because it is fairly simple to use. It also allows for students to be able to share their thoughts and make comments on their peers’ VoiceThreads. I think this technology will encourage my students to collaborate and help them become better communicators in the real world.
I believe technology is an essential tool in every classroom. I have set two goals for myself in regards to technology integration in my classroom. My first goal is to assign at least one project using technology every nine weeks. I plan for these projects to use different types of technology. I want for these projects to encourage my students to get away from their comfort zones and try something new. Another goal I have set for myself is to continue learning about new and upcoming technology tools that can be used in the classroom. I want to expand my knowledge of technology and then teach my students all about it. I plan to be a learner with my students as we learn about new technologies and then use them in our classroom.
In conclusion, I have learned a lot in this course about learning theories and technology integration. I am excited to start a new school year with so much new knowledge and an abundance of ideas to use in my classroom.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program thirteen. Technology: Instructional Tool vs. Learning Tool [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
One thing that I focus on when determining my instructional strategies is maximizing student involvement in every lesson. I focus on allowing the students to move around my classroom to complete various hands-on tasks (Orey, 2001). I believe this benefits my students because they are engaged in the learning process when they are actively involved in the lesson. In my classroom I also encourage meaningful discussions between students. I believe that everybody is a teacher and a learner. Therefore, I encourage my students to share how they reached an answer with their peers because they often understand a peer’s explanation better than one from an adult.
I plan to make an immediate adjustment in my learning theory by implementing the use of technology on a regular basis. In the past I did not effectively use technology. I used technology more as an instructional tool instead of as a learning technology tool. Throughout this course I have learned that technology benefits the students when it is used as a learning tool where the students are using it as an active learner (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). When technology is used as a learning tool the classroom is student-centered which relates to my personal learning theory.
I plan to use Webspiration in my classroom for creating concept maps. Concept mapping will help create a nonlinguistic representation of information (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). It will also help the students make connections and remember new information. I have used maps in my classroom in the past and have seen a lot of success. I think by adding the technology of Webspiration to make concept maps the students’ knowledge will continue to expand. The students will also be actively engaged in the learning process.
I also plan to implement the use of VoiceThreads in my classroom. VoiceThread will allow students to work in a group to create an artifact to share their knowledge with their peers. I like VoiceThreads because it is fairly simple to use. It also allows for students to be able to share their thoughts and make comments on their peers’ VoiceThreads. I think this technology will encourage my students to collaborate and help them become better communicators in the real world.
I believe technology is an essential tool in every classroom. I have set two goals for myself in regards to technology integration in my classroom. My first goal is to assign at least one project using technology every nine weeks. I plan for these projects to use different types of technology. I want for these projects to encourage my students to get away from their comfort zones and try something new. Another goal I have set for myself is to continue learning about new and upcoming technology tools that can be used in the classroom. I want to expand my knowledge of technology and then teach my students all about it. I plan to be a learner with my students as we learn about new technologies and then use them in our classroom.
In conclusion, I have learned a lot in this course about learning theories and technology integration. I am excited to start a new school year with so much new knowledge and an abundance of ideas to use in my classroom.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program thirteen. Technology: Instructional Tool vs. Learning Tool [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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