Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Monitoring my GAME plan


As I implement my GAME plan, I am reflecting on what went well, what did not, what
improvements could be made, and what did my students and I learn from this.  In regards to the first standard I chose:  2A:  Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity (ITSE, 2012), I have used the internet to uncover interactive websites that could be utilized in the classroom.  Implementing them as a whole class activity is easiest as I have only one computer in the classroom.  Integrating technology like this has its drawbacks.  If it is not the student’s turn at the interactive whiteboard, then they have a tendency to not pay attention to what is going on.  Even with the inclusion of a guide that the students must record answers on, keeping students on task is a tremendous challenge.  An additional consideration was the loading time of the links that student’s chose.  Being that we do not have the fastest connection at the school, this too took time and lost student interest in the activity.  Exit cards at the end of the lesson had students reflecting on the note taking and slowness of the connection as being the big drawbacks of the activity.  The next time I try something like this, I would like to use one of our computer labs and have the students work at their own pace.  This might eliminate the time spent redirecting student behaviors.

The second standard that I am focusing on is 5C:  Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning (ITSE, 2012).  Devoting time to look at and work with these technologies is challenging as majority of my time is spent grading, creating lessons that will engage my students, documenting the interventions that I use in my classroom, and the myriad of additional record keeping tasks that occupy teachers time.  At this time, I have had precious little time to explore new technologies to use with my students.  I have a Word document with a list of technologies that I want to spend some time getting to know.  I am playing with the idea of bringing in a few students during RTI (Response To Intervention) time and giving them the list to explore.  They could take notes on what they like and dislike about it, what is challenging about it, and whether or not they feel it has any educational value.  This endeavor will allow me to bring technology to my students and provide them with the opportunity to become the instructor (empowering the learning process).   From there, I would then choose the technologies that I feel merit a closer look.

 

References


ITSE, I. S. (2012). NETS for Teachers. Retrieved September 12, 2012, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

2 comments:

  1. Sandra,
    I too feel I don't have time to use new programs I have learned with the Walden courses. After reading your blog, I realize probably all teachers are overwhelmed at the start of a new school year. I think I over estimated the maturity of my students when I introduced the anti-plargiarism unit. I realize now their approach to the copy & paste & chomp & reorganize data demonstrated their confusion.
    On a different note, one Web 2.0 tool I think you can introduce for Standard 5C is www.spiderscribe.com
    This website allows anyone to open a free account. You make one as the teacher and demonstrate the text box, the map box, a picture upload box and the way to add color and different size text. Then students, in their own accounts make a concept map based on your lesson plan. They can save or delete as they work. They can make a concept map easily in about 15 minutes and then they can share it by emailing it to whomever they want. My 6th & 7th grade students really liked this lesson plan. I just wish it lasted longer than a day or two! By the way, you can make 30 maps before you have to delete the older ones. So the web tool is very usable; easy to understand too.

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  2. Sandra,

    I guess it is no surprise that quite a few of us chose to improve on the standard that involves implementing digital tools and resources to enhance student learning since we are all technology and education people. As I have read blogs over the past few weeks it seems that many teachers are wanting to improve the learning experience by implementing technology into the classroom. The technology goes beyond the classroom which makes the learning outside the classroom more meaningful for students.

    As you shared, with having limited resources it can be difficult to keep all students engaged and on task. If each student had a computer or some technology tool then it would be easier to have them engaged. The teacher would have the task of monitoring students to be sure that they are on task. I think have students in a computer lab is a great idea and it does give students the freedom of working at their own pace.

    I agree that there is little time to devout to other things with all of the other "stuff" teachers have to do. I too have to deal with the majority of my time grading, lesson planning, paperwork, and other record keeping tasks.

    Liana

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