Monitoring My GAME Plan Process

It is getting extremely close to the end of the school year. With only fifteen more days of school, I am finding it more and more difficult to focus on everything that needs to get done before June 18th. Because there is so much on my mind towards the end of the school year, I have found it challenging to take the necessary steps towards my two goals of: creating more meaningful learning experiences that involve the use of digital tools and promoting creative thinking in the classroom. Although I have talked with our district math coach and my administrator about professional development opportunities, the lack of funding for education has put a halt on my progress. Not only is there insufficient funds for training, but there are a limited amount of technology grants available as well. I have been trying to research grant opportunities that provide technology tools in the classroom and have so far been unsuccessful.

Throughout all of my research I have learned that grant writing is more difficult than I had originally thought (especially in more challenging economics times) and that I may need to take an actual class before attempting to apply. Most of the technology grants are very precise and require teachers to provide specific lesson plans; therefore, I first needed to decide what tool I wanted in the classroom and why I wanted it. I have decided that since I already have a student response system, I would really like an Interactive White Board. According to multiple sites, this tool would cost roughly $2,000. This is $2,000 that our district does not have and is something that I am not prepared to pay for; therefore, I will be looking more in depth for grants that provide this type of tool. As for writing the grant, I will need to find someone in our district that can help with this process. One person I have in mind is our physical education teacher who has already written and earned a grant of her own.

At this point I do not think that I need to modify my plan; however, I may need to stretch the deadline. Although I may not be successful with earning a grant this year, I have all summer to write and apply. I need to relax and take things one step at a time, otherwise I am afraid that I will get burnt out and will have less success with teaching my students the new skills that they desperately need for a better future.

Some questions that I still have are:
1. What other resources are available for funding technology in the classroom?
2. If technology is as important as educational leaders say that it is, why can’t we get more assistance in this area?
3. What are some effective strategies for writing grants?

Carring Out My Game Plan

The two goals that I have created for my action plan are to: create more meaningful learning experiences that involve the use of digital tools and promote creative thinking in the classroom. Now that I have created these two goals, I need to develop a plan of action that will help me to carry out the plan.

In order to create more meaningful learning experiences that involve the use of digital tools I need to use my self-directed learning skills and seek out professional development opportunities that involve the use of technology in teaching mathematics. One person that might be able to help me with this is our district math coach who not only helps develop trainings, but knows of other trainings offered throughout the state. Once I have experienced the trainings and understand what tools have been developed, I then need to look into Grant’s and other funding possibilities for purchasing new classroom technology that supports the math content. Connecting newly acquired technology to the seventh grade math curriculum will help me to develop the meaningful learning experiences that motivate students, while meeting the needs of diverse learners at the same time.

Once the learning experiences have been created it is important to then focus on my second goal of promoting creative thinking in the classroom. When it comes to classroom management techniques I think that the best advice comes from other teachers who have created effective learning environments; therefore, I will seek out those who may have recommendations on how to accomplish this goal. According to Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer, “Sharing what you have discovered with your colleagues is a critical step in improving your instructional effectiveness” (2009, p. 115). Although my colleagues may have great ideas, it will be important for me to seek additional information about my incoming students for next year. This way I will have a clear understanding of specific learning needs and can brainstorm ways of accommodating them before running into issues with the various learning experiences.

Although these goals may take time, I have already started to look forward to next year by focusing on creating learning experiences that involve creative mathematical thinking. This summer I will attend two or three different professional development opportunities directly related to my goals and have talked with other educators who have had success promoting creative thinking in the classroom. I plan to post these goals close to my desk so that I can stay focused on them throughout the school year.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Using the GAME Plan to Accomplish NETS-T Goals

Today’s students have the world at their fingertips as the search the Internet, download music to their iPod, socialize on Facebook, and Skype with their friends. When student’s have a question, they can easily find out the answer. According to Mark Prensky, “Long before they ever get to school, kids have seen a tremendous amount of the world” (2008, p. 42). So in a world of immediate information, it is the educators job to “build on, and strengthen students’ reservoirs of knowledge” (Prensky, 2008, p. 42). In order to accomplish this task, the International Society for Technology in Education has created five different standards known as the NETS-T, which are the ‘National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers’. The five standards include: Facilitating and Inspiring Student Learning and Creativity; Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments; Model Digital-Age Work and Learning; Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility; and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership (ISTE, 2008).

Out of all five standards, the one that I feel the most comfortable with is the fifth standard, which is to ‘Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership’ (ISTE, 2008). As a third year teacher I have been involved in: ongoing district professional development with technology, a Master’s program promoting the use of technology in the classroom, and a professional learning community that works towards “implementing new technology to improve student learning” (ISTE, 2008). I feel that as a teacher I “continuously improve my practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in the school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources” (ISTE, 2008).

The two standards that I could improve on are: “Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity” and “Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments” (ISTE, 2008). More specifically, my goals are to create more meaningful learning experiences that involve the use of digital tools and to promote more creative thinking in the classroom. In order to meet my goals, I need to take action by reviewing the math content and state standards to find places where technology can easily be implemented. At this point in the GAME plan it is critical that I “make sure all activities clearly relate to specific learning outcomes and are not perceived as unnecessary ‘busy work’” (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009, p. 97). Throughout the process of delivering the specific digital activities I will be sure to monitor my progress and make changes where necessary while focusing on encouraging student creativity. Teaching the same class three times in a row allows me to ‘tweak’ the plan and measure student progress in order to compare different deliveries of the same lesson. At the end of the activities it will be very important to evaluate the effectiveness of each lesson and decide whether or not they would be worth doing again.

At the end of the GAME plan it is necessary for me to continue my development of the NETS-T by creating new goals that will challenge me further in my self-directed learning. Just as students have taught themselves to use technology at home, I too can take charge by learning new and creative ways to implement these five goals into my teaching of seventh grade mathematics.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

ISTE. (2008). National education standards for teachers retrieved from http:www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008 on May 12, 2010.

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

Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom Reflection

This past week I had a student who intentionally plagiarized on her project by copying word for word from a specific source. When she was confronted about plagiarizing she asked if she could have a chance to redo the assignment. I allowed her to redo the project; however, I noticed that when she turned the assignment in for the second time she had once again plagiarized from the same source. The only difference the second time was that she had changed a word or two from each sentence, thus she felt she had ‘made it her own’. It was at this moment that I realized she did not understand what plagiarizing entailed and therefore had most likely never learned the ‘New Literacy Skills’ taught throughout the course I am finishing in my Master’s studies at Walden University.

The New Literacy skills taught throughout this course include: Questioning, Understanding Resources, Evaluating, Synthesizing, and Transforming (QUEST). In order to teach these skills, educators must embed them into the content for a more natural classroom experience. The most striking revelation that I have had throughout this course is, “that children learn best when they practice skills and strategies within the context of authentic learning activities rather than artificial ones” (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 51). Although I have heard this in the past, I never quite understood how to make it work within a middle school mathematics classroom.

This course on Inquiry-Based learning has taught me how to create authentic, more meaningful learning experiences for my students and has provided me with helpful resources that include ways to teach the New Literacy Skills. Rather than having students solve problems with pre-established mathematical algorithms, I will teach my students how to problem solve through questioning, evaluating, synthesizing, and transforming information. It is my goal as a teacher to provide students with real-life experiences and as Dr. Warlick said, “graduate less with a transcript and more with a resume” (Laureate Education, 2009).

In order to prepare myself for this type of teaching there are still some things to learn. One professional development goal I have for the summer is to attend a workshop or class on how to create effective rubrics that assess student knowledge when it comes to authentic Inquiry-Based projects. I will need to call our district office and get in touch with the professional development planner for our area to find out whether or not there are any classes like this offered throughout the summer. If there are not any classes offered within my district, I will need to look on the Washington State Educational Website (OSPI) for more information regarding professional development opportunities.

As I look towards the next school year, I plan to start early by assigning Inquiry-Based projects that teach the New Literacy Skills. It is my hope that by doing so, I will not have students unknowingly plagiarize on large projects towards the end of the school year and into the future.

References:

Eagleton, M.B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Supporting information literacy and online inquiry in the classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Think Out Loud Evaluation

The title of this post will link you to my screencast produced by Screentoaster.com. Throughout the screening you will watch and listen as I go through the process of validating a website.

Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology Reflection

Roughly seven weeks ago I wrote a paper reflecting on my very own personal learning theory. Since then, I have been studying how to ‘bridge learning theory, instruction, and technology’ through my studies at Walden University. Although I have learned many new strategies for classroom instruction, I still believe that, “We teach so that our students will learn the concepts or skills we have identified as critical” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 10).” I believe that the research and studies presented to me throughout this course have helped deepen my understanding of the way in which students learn and how to apply it in my classroom.

After reflecting on all that we have studied, I immediately need to adopt at least one of the nine strategies explained throughout Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malensoki’s book entitled, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. The strategy that I plan to concentrate on is ‘immediate feedback’. The reason why I have chosen to focus on this strategy is because students need to “know how well they are performing relative to a particular learning goal so that they can improve their practice” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007, p. 41).

The two technology tools that will help me implement immediate feedback are, VoiceThread and Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets. I will have the students use VoiceThread to post their work and explain their understanding. After all students have posted their initial work, other students will be required to respond by leaving comments and questions, which is a form of immediate feedback. If students are not creating their own project, they are usually doing mathematical calculations. Rather than having students waste time calculating data so that it can be graphed, I can create a template in Microsoft Excel that students will use to calculate their data for them so that more time can be spent on the creation of their graph.

Although I plan to immediately implement the use of these tools, I also have a long-term goal of using my website as a ‘hub’ for all the technology used in the classroom. My plan is to slowly introduce new technology to students, have them practice in class, and then assign them activities that can be completed both in and out of the classroom. As the students have more experience using the technology they will have more meaningful learning experiences that teach them the critical information required for today’s world.

References

Lever-Duffy, J. and McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations. In Teaching and Learning with Technology (3rd ed. pp. 2-35). Boston: Pearson.

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

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