Final Reflection for Course 6713

It is true that by setting goals, having a plan, monitoring progress, and engaging in reflection; we can create a technology rich environment and help to prepare our students for future tasks, jobs, and life situations, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010). As we began the process of our GAME plan, I found it to be a great tool for organization, goal setting, and accountability. I still believe that we must place careful thought into how we approach and document these tasks; but after having monitored my GAME plan throughout the duration of this course, I realize that this can be done in a number of specific ways. Originally, to achieve my first goal, to become more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); I had stated that I would engage in proper training for technology tools, increase the number of opportunities that my students had to utilize technology, and to model and scaffold the idea of proper etiquette and responsible social interactions related to technology use. I even had the idea of developing class guidelines for use with each individual class that I engaged. While this is a great starting point; creating lesson plans that helped to clarify what proper use is and isn’t, using teacher think-alouds, and helping my students focus on my own thoughts of how to use technology responsibly becomes a piece of that support. Ideas continued to develop and lead my vision to be further detailed with pedagogy and specificity. The idea of incorporating Problem Based Learning Lessons that promote in-depth understanding of subject-area content while simultaneously developing student’s higher-order thinking skills (Ertmer & Simons, 2006), became a reality. Anticipating my students becoming self-directed learners, learning to collaborate with others in an effective and productive manner, and to have confidence in my students and the technology that I have taught them to use to solve problems which may not have a concrete solution became a larger part of my focused approach. Online collaboration is a piece of my plan that allows for social group work and improves the amount or frequency of feedback that a student receives. Assessing students and providing feedback using a checklist or rubric allows for me to facilitate learning and to record when students shared data, analyzed data, and completed writing tasks to communicate their findings.

The second goal that I aspired to of being able to “exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008) is one that did not necessarily change throughout my GAME Plan revision, but one that became a goal that I could see more clearly as the course and our knowledge evolved. Now, a few weeks before the new school year, I am again reminded that no matter what subject we teach or how much experience we have, that there are people out there in the same position, trying to take risks, increase rigor, and infuse technology in their classrooms. This fact drives me to keep open lines of communication with neighboring middle schools and to share resources and knowledge that we develop. Even more so, it invests me in the idea of supporting the new teachers we have at our middle school. With my dissemination of information relating to the NSTE-S and NSTE-T, and the inspiring help of my colleagues; we can and will develop activities, assessments, rubrics, and guidelines for strengthening reading, writing, literacy, and technology skills.


References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

The NETS-S and the NETS-T are inter-related in such a way that the focus or objectives for technology use, literacy skills, global networking, and digital citizenship overlap with each other; the student standards simply require an active role of participation in the activity, whereas the teacher standards employ a creative and developmental nature of how we can help students achieve these goals and be successful in the activities. My goal of becoming more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); fits directly with the goals that are set for students themselves. By analyzing practices already in place and then engaging with appropriate resources, I can create experiences where students work responsibly and creatively to solve problems, interact with others around the world, and regardless of content area, can learn more, and retain it because they are satisfied with the experience, (Hargis, & Wilcox, 2008). Instructional practices such as PBL, online collaboration, and digital storytelling, for example, provide a forum for both teacher and student standards to be addressed. In a different forum, I can engage my students in using computer based assessment tools and work towards furthering goals such as, “students demonstrating a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations,” (NETS-S, 2008). The use of probeware to collect data in science experiments, having students blog about their lab reflections rather then just writing the report in their lab book, and enlisting administration to support our progress; all works towards the ideals for which the NSTE Standards were created. I honestly, look forward to my students becoming more comfortable with new standards and processes; to them becoming self-directed learners. I see nothing wrong with having them develop their own GAME plan for certain tasks or goals. With my dissemination of information relating to the NSTE-S and NSTE-T, and the help of my colleagues to develop activities, assessments, rubrics, and guidelines for strengthening reading, writing, literacy, and technology skills; the sky will truly be our limit.



References:

Hargis, J., & Wilcox, S. M. (2008, October). Ubiquitous, free, and efficient online collaboration tools for teaching and learning. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(4), 9–17.

National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) located at
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Revising Your GAME Plan for NETS-T

My first goal is still to become more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008). After engaging in the resources throughout this Walden class I have learned that I will not only need to become proficient in how to use these tools, but also in how to creatively incorporate them into my already existing curriculum. I am convinced that by doing so I can create experiences where regardless of the content or subject area being taught in a classroom, my students can work collaboratively in small groups, learn more, and retain it because they are satisfied with the experience, (Hargis, & Wilcox, 2008). Online collaboration allows for this social group work and improves the amount or frequency of feedback that a student receives. I plan to incorporate a number of Problem Based Learning Lessons that reflect the use on online collaboration and promote in-depth understanding of subject-area content while simultaneously developing student’s higher-order thinking skills (Ertmer & Simons, 2006). I am looking forward to my students becoming more comfortable with this process and therefore being self-directed learners.


Additionally, I have learned that student participation can easily be assessed using a checklist to record when students shared data, analyzed data, and completed writing tasks, (Trundle, Willmore, & Smith, 2006); and plan to enlist the help of my colleagues to develop such checklists and assessments for the projects that we create. I really do believe that, together we can overcome some of the challenges we face when deviating from traditional instruction and standards for which students are tested at the end of the year. A new goal that I am now working towards is to “use my knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments,” (NETS-T, 2008). When engaged in online learning, the primary means of communication is to read and write to interact with others on the same network. This, in itself, promotes the strengthening of reading and writing skills, the participation in authentic experiences with others, and the idea that we can learn from one another,” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Creativity and asynchronous teamwork will need to be a large part of achieving this goal, as well as the continued revision of already created lessons.


References:

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.

Hargis, J., & Wilcox, S. M. (2008, October). Ubiquitous, free, and efficient online collaboration tools for teaching and learning. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 9(4), 9–17.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program Ten. Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration , Part One [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

Trundle, K. C., Willmore, S., & Smith, W. S. (2006, March). The MOON project. Science and Children, 43(6), 52–55.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Evaluating Your GAME Plan Progress for NETS-T

While it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of my GAME plan, while on summer break in Fairfax County; I have found that by engaging with each week’s resources, I have gained insight into what I would like to apply in my classroom during the 2010-2011 school year, as well as how I may have to modify this plan once put into practice. I had said that to achieve my first goal, of becoming more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); I would need to secure the Netbooks for each student in my classroom during the 2010-2011 school year. While the application has been completed and reviewed, it seems that the technology will be placed in a colleagues’ classroom, rather than my own. Certainly, this decision is a bit disappointing and a tad discouraging, but having this new knowledge now has simply challenged me to create different opportunities for my students to use technology and the information that it provides.

I am most recently motivated to incorporate Problem Based Learning Lessons that promote in-depth understanding of subject-area content while simultaneously developing student’s higher-order thinking skills (Ertmer & Simons, 2006). This concept is one for which I most certainly can promote and gain confidence in. The student benefit for such activities is inspiring and exciting. I am now anticipating my students becoming self-directed learners, learning to collaborate with others in an effective and productive manner, to solve problems which may not have a certain answer, and to apply their learning to new and authentic situations, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Additionally, to “exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008); I plan to involve my fellow PLC members in the idea that honestly, I believe they would buy into or see benefit in. Together we can overcome some of the challenges we face when deviating from traditional instruction and standards for which students are tested at the end of each year.

My GAME plan will still include students becoming familiar with blogging, the use of a wiki, to know the difference in how to utilize the variety of technology tools that are available, and to be able to communicate with their peers about technology on an academic level; though most of this will now need to be accomplished during scheduled time in the computer lab or by securing the mobile laptop carts that my school has available. I still plan monitor the proper use of technology and insure that students are using the tools responsibly, by logging into Black Board on a weekly basis and verifying that students have posted appropriate responses to the blog assignments; as well as to provide formative and summative assessments in electronic formats, taking the data back to PLC to analyze and further drive instruction. Newly created rubrics and assessments for the PBL Lessons that we develop will aide in this portion of my GAME plan, and though I will not have each student with access to a computer in my daily classroom, we can focus on collaborative discussion and think-alouds to involve everyone in our new experiences. Through this group reflection, and the reflection that my colleagues and I engage in during PLC; I hope that we will be able to develop our own strategies for managing problems within our school and even more so, within our classrooms.

References:

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program Eight. Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part One [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Monitoring Your GAME Plan Progress

We have discussed setting goals, having a plan, monitoring progress, and engaging in reflection; now we need to look at additional pieces of the plan and consider resources that will engage students and create proficiency and confidence, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010). In order to do so, students will need to become used to the idea that technology resources can extend their learning and that they can, and should have an active part in creating this learning process. I still plan to incorporate staff development opportunities, collaboration time, and to develop class guidelines and lessons with each individual class that I engage; although more of a focus on Monitoring and Evaluating, by linking objectives to technology assisted assessments, will be incorporated. As a formative assessment I would like to continue to develop lessons where I utilize the Turning-Point interactive clickers to facilitate a variety of learning experiences. Consistent project-based assessments can be utilized in daily instruction to target material that is real-world applicable, demonstrates a wide range of skills, and requires judgment and innovation, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010). The task of importing summative assessments from word processing documents, into the county-based computer assessment software is now an idea that will be a focus for my PLC in the upcoming school year. The data collected from these CBA, will then be used to drive instruction and provide differentiation where needed. Students should still become familiar with blogging, the use of a wiki, and to know the difference in how to utilize the two for peer communication, assessment, and reflection. Ideas and “new finds”, such as the popular Rubistar website to create, customize, and save rubrics will be shared and can support my goal of demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008).



References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). 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.

Integrating Resources for the GAME Plan for NETS-T

We have discussed that by setting goals, having a plan, monitoring progress, and engaging in reflection; we can create a technology rich environment and help to prepare our students for future tasks, jobs, and life situations, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010). In order to do so, careful thought of what resources and information to include, is necessary. To achieve my first goal, to become more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008); I will need to secure the Netbooks for each student in my classroom during the 2010-2011 school year. While the application has been completed, I will need to follow up with administration and resource personnel so that this luxury is in place when school doors open to students. Proper training and staff development will need to be part of this plan as well. To increase the opportunities that my students have to use technology in school, I will need to carve out planning time to collaborate with my colleagues and revise old projects to infuse technology such as when using it as a mindtool, an assisted technology tool, and to encompass the UDL approach to differentiation. I will need to model and scaffold the idea of proper etiquette and responsible social interactions related to technology use, and would like to develop class guidelines with each individual class that I engage. Lesson plans that help to clarify what proper use is and isn’t should be presented; while a teacher think-aloud, focusing on my own thoughts of how to use technology responsibly will support such lessons. My plans include students becoming familiar with blogging, the use of a wiki, to know the difference in how to utilize the variety of technology tools that are available, and to be able to communicate with their peers about technology on an academic level.

I had stated that I would monitor the proper use of technology and insure that students are using the tools responsibly, by logging into Black Board on a weekly basis and verifying that students have posted appropriate responses to the blog assignments. This will require that I have access to my own laptop as well as to the grading software that Fairfax County utilizes. I will provide formative and summative assessments in electronic format and analyze the data to drive further instruction. To clearly “exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008), I will encourage our group to take advantage of collaboration and to know that for every subject we teach, there are people out there in the same position (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). I will encourage us to keep open lines of communication with neighboring middle schools and to share resources and knowledge that we develop. By revisiting PLC topics each week, I can insure that the level of technology infusion is increasing and to approach administration if further resources are needed to do so.


References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008a). Program four. Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part Two [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Establishing a GAME Plan for NETS-T

Common knowledge today is that, “once we let students (particularly in groups) take the lead on technology projects, that teachers tend to see more engagement and better results,” (Prensky, 2008). Certainly the same must be true of adults in the field of education. To enrich professional practice, the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) has established a set of performance indicators for teachers to aspire to. The standards provide opportunities for teachers to become active participants in learning how to use technology, and more importantly, how to use technology within their classroom to engage students. By setting goals, having a plan, monitoring progress, and engaging in reflection; we can create a technology rich environment and help to prepare our students for future tasks, jobs, and life situations, (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010).

My first goal will be to become more “proficient and confident in promoting and modeling digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information,” (NETS-T, 2008). Indicator 4c can be accomplished by simply increasing the opportunities that my students have to use technology in school, and moving away from the idea that we must focus on mastering each skill, (Prensky, 2008). Simple willingness can increase confidence and allow for authentic and responsible learning to occur more frequently. I will need to model and scaffold the idea of proper etiquette and responsible social interactions related to technology use, and would like to develop class guidelines with each individual class that I engage. Lesson plans that help to clarify what proper use is and isn’t should be presented; while a teacher think-aloud, focusing on my own thoughts of how to use technology responsibly will support such lessons. To monitor the proper use of technology and insure that students are using the tools responsibly, I will log into Black Board on a weekly basis and verify that students have posted appropriate responses to the blog assignments that I will give and that they are conducting themselves in a respectful manner when responding to their classmates. Students who are not following our class guidelines will not only be deducted points for the assignment, but will also need to spend additional time with me to clarify what proper use is. As for the evaluation piece of this plan, I will provide formative assessments where students will have to identify proper use of technology and those situations that are not, as well as routine warm-ups exercises where students will have to create a response to my prompt and then share with the class what they might post. I will also require my students to engage in a classroom discussion that assesses how someone on the receiving end of misuse may be made to feel and evaluate their participation and responses. With each of these components in place, I have confidence that my students will become more comfortable with the use of technology as a classroom tool and that they will learn to conduct themselves in a scholarly manner while doing so.

Second, I am making a plan to focus on Indicator 5b and to “exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others,” (NETS-T, 2008). As the Planned Learning Community Leader of 8th grade science I will promote the idea that our group, take advantage of collaboration and know that for every subject we teach, there are people out there in the same position (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). I will encourage us to keep open lines of communication with neighboring middle schools and that we share our successes and failures so that we can all learn from them. Since I am fortunate enough to work with a Department Chair in Science who shares my view of technology infusion and is motivated to encourage and help develop such practices; we will apply for and attempt to furnish each student that we teach, with their own laptop for classroom use. Our focus and philosophy of the integration of technology will continue to be communicated to our administration and further supported by resource teachers in the school and parents within the community. A scaffolded approach to helping other teachers in our PLC can be used incorporating the idea that I or my Department Chair can come to teach a class period in their room and that by observing our process/lesson, that they can develop their own confidence and repertoire of technology skills. By revisiting the focus topic or lesson that we are addressing each week in our PLC meetings, I can monitor the level of technology infusion and share in the decision making process of what we should modify and what we found success with. By working as a group and evaluating ourselves, we will be able to take risks and clearly see the motivation and engagement that we all desire for all students in our classroom.


References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program three. Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part One [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.