Monitoring my GAME Plan (Application 3)

In order to carry out my game plan, there are a lot of resources that will be very beneficial to my students’ learning.  My classes have introduced me to a lot of new resources, but I will also need to attend various workshops to increase my knowledge.  The resources this week helped me to realize the importance of setting goals for the students and that more emphasis should be put reaching the goal rather than how it was attained.  This is where the use of technology allows teachers to be “flexible” with their teaching to individual students (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). 

To accomplish my goal, technology will be utilized to help address all learners.  The first part is a classroom website that allows communication through a blog, posted homework, as well as websites that provide practice problems.  The next resource is to become familiar with the on-line edition of my textbook, which provides an electronic format of the text in addition to a virtual instructor that will teach lessons.  These are everyday uses of technology that can be very convenient for the students.  Then, as a teacher, I will install the textbook question bank on the computers in my room.  This will allow students to get extra help or to complete their homework on the computer.  As a classroom lecture, I will utilize a smart board and projector to present PowerPoint presentations to the class.  The students will also need these tools for the project they will be assigned.  One of my classmates also suggested that students can keep track of their grades in Excel, so Excel will need to be available on my computers.  In addition, on the web many movies, computer generated manipulatives, and other teaching aides, all of which will require a computer or computers and a smart board. 

Through workshops and talking with peers through blogs or in person, I need to find ideas that will keep technology at the center of implementing different learning strategies.  There are many technology tools that I have already learned about but have never tested in the classroom.  Prior to implementation, I need to do a lot of research and become familiar with all of the programs.  To make technology a greater focus in my classroom I plan to “utilize instructional strategies that allow individual students greater access to active learning” (p. 123).   

I have taken the necessary steps and developed classroom website where homework is posted and students can read and respond to my blog, although the blog feature does not get used very often.  There were a few times I had my students play games on the computers in order to polish their skills through repetition, but this does not happen enough.  I have also had my students complete a PowerPoint presentation on a unit out of their book.  The students did all of the research on the internet to prepare themselves to present a unit to the class.  This is a recent project and the two classes are almost finished. 

When integrating technology to show students how important it can be for their learning, the possibilities are endless.  I am looking to gain more knowledge throughout the school year that will increase my ability to utilize technology in all of my lessons.   Hopefully my students will see the impact this technology has on their learning. 

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach.  (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

GAME Plan

While I have been taking classes on integrating technology in the classroom, I have strived to increase my level of technology being used inside the classroom.  Through my findings I have also realized the importance of how the technology is being presented.  I have established a “GAME” plan for myself to increase my teaching ability (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).  The two indicators I want to focus on from the NETS-T are #2 a and b. 

My goal for the indicator #2 a and b is to teach students the advantage technology has on their learning.  I want students to go to a computer to further their learning rather than always asking the teacher for the answers or immediate help.  I want my students to go to technology to assess how much they have learned in the current unit.  I want my students to utilize technology if they do not understand the way a book, peer, or teacher is teaching a lesson. 

My action plan to meet these goals is to incorporate technology in multiple ways, such as “individual use,” “small groups” and “whole groups.” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 88-92) Technology needs to be used in everyday lecture lessons for either homework, motivation, or as a manipulative.  Throughout the year, I will also have my students complete at least one big project that is done using the web, Microsoft word, and PowerPoint.  This project teaches the students many skills that are needed for research, evaluation, and then using the information correctly.  It also shows them how useful and accessible information is on a computer.  My last plan of action is to engage in at least one professional development seminar to increase my knowledge on the use of technology.  I would like to find a workshop that focuses on how to integrate technology in the classroom in an effective way.

To monitor my progress, I will continually evaluate my students’ grades to see what lessons the students did not understand.  With that knowledge I will be able to use technology in different ways to change a lesson if the students did not understand it the first time.  Also, to monitor my progress, I will keep a journal that I will write in every day to discuss what went well with the technology and what could be improved.  With that feedback in writing, I will be able to make adjustments, which will also be recorded.  Through this journal, I plan to “go beyond a simple description of what happened to consider why it happened, how it is connected to other events, and what adjustments should be made to subsequent actions based on this understanding.” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 11) 

Evaluating my work and progress will begin with reviewing my journal to see how changes were made during the year and if they increased my students’ interest in the use of technology.  I will also evaluate the projects my classes created to see how much creative thought my students demonstrated.  Through that process, I will compare the unique aspects each project and the methods I used to present the material.  If I find one class that had more projects that inspired creative thinking, I will have to reflect on the procedure I used for that project. 

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach.  (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Reflective Essay for class EDUC 6712

This last year of teaching I tried to incorporate more internet based research. Through this course I developed a unit plan that will get me started using the internet on a more regular basis. The most useful information that I received from this course is that “we had better start teaching” our students “to be web literate” (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 119). I implemented internet research within my class last year but I did not teach them how to use the web.


Through this course I plan on teaching my students how to use the web at the beginning of each year. This will allow me to use web literacy projects through out the whole year. I will also be more aware of how to help the students search for information on the web because of the knowledge I have gained about my researching and evaluating skills. Along with the information that I have gained from this course, I have also produced a unit plan that is a great starting place for me with introducing web literacy. This unit plan will be used next school year and is a starting place for producing more unit plans that include web literacy.

To pursue my learning of web literacy, my goal for this next year is to search the internet each week and find a useful website to share with my students. By showing my interest in searching the web, the students will hopefully become more interested. This will also improve my research skills in which I can use towards teaching my students how to search the web for reliable information. I am also hoping through this goal that my students will see how useful the internet is and use the sites that I provide for them. They might even find their own sites that will be useful for them and their classmates.

Reflective Essay

At the beginning of this class, I developed a Personal Theory that was focused on integrating technology to include all multiple intelligences and now that I have finished this course I would make some adjustments to that Theory. Technology provides many opportunities to reach all learners. There are a few topics I would like to add to my Personal Theory that were not included. The first would be to create more social learning environments, enabling students to rely on each others knowledge to build their own. Technology can be used in an array of group settings and can help students learn from each other. “The cooperative environment also develops a social support system for students” (Orey, 2001, p. 11). I would also like to include more detail about using technology as a way to provide graphic organizers, cues, immediate feedback, nonlinguistic representations, and reinforcing effort. Technology is versatile because it can be used in small ways and also for large projects.


This class has introduced two new tools, Concept Maps and Voice Thread, that I feel will be beneficial to my students. I have already integrated concept maps into my classroom, and I have found them to be helpful as they outline the chapter so my students are better able to see how the lessons relate to each other. They are also a “tool for organizing and representing knowledge” (Orey, 2001, p. 1). I leave extra bubbles so they can fill in examples so they know what types of problems go with each heading. This provides an easy way for my students to take notes. I have not had them make their own yet, I am trying to give them a couple of examples before I have them try it on their own. The second technology tool that I want to integrate into my classroom is Voice Thread. I have not introduced it yet, but plan to by the end of the year. This will allow my students to discuss topics which will promote a higher level of thinking. My students will truly understand a topic rather than just knowing enough to complete the homework. Voice Thread will also allow my students to ask questions when they do not understand; the teacher or their classmates can answer their questions.


The first long term goal that I have is to be more clear on my expectations and level of achievement with my technology projects. I have integrated technology in my classroom, but so far my biggest struggle has been giving my students clear expectations. In the future I plan to give my students a packet describing the project’s purpose and expectations. I will also attach rubrics that will be filled out by each individual. The rubrics will be used for self and group evaluation, and also for evaluating their finished product. Depending on the project, I will also have them evaluate the rest of their classmates’ projects. To achieve this long term goal, I will need to verbally explain the purpose and expectations of the project and the rubrics to the class. This will allow and opportunity for the students to ask questions before they start their project.


My second long term goal is to integrate technology into almost every lesson. Even if the students are not completing a project, technology can still provide a better learning experience for my students. I want to utilize more advanced organizers, cues, and immediate feedback. These help to focus “on enhancing students’ ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 73). In the future, I will determine my learning objective for every lesson and then find a way that technology can play a role. I feel it is vital to dedicate time each day that is focused directly on integrating technology.


References

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.

Social Learning

Social learning can be done in many ways; one way that we looked at this week was cooperative learning. “Cooperative learning focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 139). In some of my classes I have my students in base groups where they use cooperative learning everyday when they are working on homework. This social aspect of their learning has helped them teach other students and has also helped them ask for help from their peers. They are continually working on their communication skills and building their knowledge. These base groups have helped to “build trust, camaraderie, and teamwork, and they are useful for checking homework and completing tasks and other routines” (p. 140).



The technology resources that were provided for us this week are ways for students to collaborate while they are not face-to-face. These types of tools are helping students collaborate to achieve a learning goal. The tools also provide for a continuous stream of communication between the students and help them learn from one another.


References

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

VoiceThread

Here is my link to a voice thread that I created.  In my voice thread I have podcasts that were developed by my students.  These were created to help the students study and use as a resource.  I did not see the benefits of having them complete this project.  I am having a hard time getting my students to study.

http://voicethread.com/share/885348/

Constructivist/Constructionist Learning Theories

A constructivist classroom sets “lesson/unit goals and expectations at the outset, so that learners understand what hey are trying to achieve and the level of that achievement” (Orey, 2001, p. 5). Once that is established, the students use their prior knowledge and resources to discover their objective. This can be done through project-based instruction, problem-based instruction, or generating and testing hypotheses. The online tools that I looked at under this week’s resources were a great way to come up with the objective of the lesson and then build off of that. Also, there were many lesson plans to get teachers going and more ideas on how to implement this type of instruction.

Project-based learning is a way to “engage learners in learning” which is a major component in constructivism (Orey, 2001, p. 6). These “projects are complex tasks, based on challenging questions, that serve to organize and drive activities, which taken as a whole amount to a meaningful project” (Orey, 2001, p. 9). Through the process of students developing projects, they are building off of their prior knowledge to collaborate and come up with new ideas. This type of instruction is student centered with the teacher acting as a facilitator.

Problem-based instruction “encourages question posing” that is related to real life scenarios (Orey, 2001, p. 6). It also “addresses broader learning goals that focus on preparing students for active and responsible citizenship” (Orey, 2001, 4). This type of instruction is a way for students to use resources to solve a problem or a question that is meaningful to them or their group. There is a purpose for their learning, which creates a high level of learning.

“When students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 202). The first couple of times that students attempt this there will need to be some teacher interaction to help guide them through the process. As the students continually generate and test hypotheses, they will understand the process and become more in-depth in their learning. This helps the learner test their hypotheses and learn at a higher level.


Resources

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/


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