Monitoring My GAME Plan. . . One day at a time

At this point, I had hoped to be further along with my students as far as using the discussion/blogs in class.  However, I do plan to concentrate on this next week in class.  I feel that they need to be exposed to some type of discussion/blog everyday for part of the class so that they can get used to it.  I’m looking forward to trying it out.

As far as my second goal, I have investigated the ISTE website further and found some awesome resources right under my nose.  I joined a discussion group on project-based learning and found a place to collaborate and exchange ideas with other teachers.  They have an area on the site to learn about and teach digital-age skills.  My plan is to spend a few days each week to take advantage of the resources to further develop creative lessons for my students.  In addition to the ISTE website, I spoke with two other computer teachers in my county, and we have set a date to meet to collaborate ways to incorporate authentic tasks to improve student learning.

I look forward to challenging my students to think in a different way as I teach them how to respond to discussion posts.  In addition, I am excited about the new resources to explore on the ISTE website.

Carrying Out My Game Plan

For my first goal to promote student reflection using collaborative tools in order to facilitate learning and creativity, I will need to teach students how to use a discussion post/blog.  They will need to learn proper etiquette when writing.  This will require me to give students opportunities to “try out” the blog/discussion post and use these examples for instructional purposes on acceptable postings.   Then I can move on to regular discussion posts/blogs for student reflection.

My second goal is to participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.  I will need to join a global learning community to share/exchange ideas with other educators.  As a member of ISTE, I believe that they have these online learning communities.  It is necessary to carve out time each week to take part in this.  Also, I will need to schedule a time to meet with other teachers in my county to sit down and share our ideas.  We have been talking about doing this for awhile now, but it is necessary to actually schedule a date and time in order to make it happen.

All of this takes time, which I have very little extra at this point.  However, I realize the importance of providing engaging, creative, real-world learning activities for my students.  This is not something I can do alone.

GAME Plan

After reading over the NETS Standards for Teachers, I was able to gain a clearer vision of areas where I lack confidence.  As a technology teacher, I feel that I am able to model digital-age work and learning; however, I struggle with providing students with real-world learning activities where they think for themselves and develop 21^st century skills.

Two areas where I feel that I can improve are:

Standard 1:  Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

b.    promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes

Standard 5:  Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

a.       Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.

GOALS:  I would like to utilize blogs/discussion posts for my students to collaborate and reflect upon their learning. 

I would like to develop more authentic/engaging learning activities where students can “think out of the box” and reflect upon their own learning.  I want students to have opportunities where they can collaborate with others to share in the learning and develop critical thinking skills.

ACTIONS:  I will utilize the new blog and discussion areas on Edline where students can reflect and collaborate.

In order to create authentic learning activities, I will need to meet with other computer teachers in the county and online to share resources or develop authentic tasks.  I would also like to work closely with a core subject teacher from my building to develop a lesson.

MONITOR:  I will closely monitor class blogs/discussions to check for student understanding and content of conversations.

I will monitor the lessons that others share to see how well these activities promote student collaboration, creativity, and thinking.

EVALUATE:  I will evaluate the use of blogs/discussion by the conversations and reflections of the students.

I will examine how successful meetings with other teachers in the county prove to be.  In addition, I will reflect on the effort to collaborate with teachers globally.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved on September 13, 2011 from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx.