Reflecting on my GAME plan

My Goals:

-Using Technology in the classroom and becoming a model for students and fellow staff.

-Incorporating one technology based assignment each unit for students to participate in.

-Engage in professional growth and leadership by researching resources and digital tools to be used in the classroom.

Throughout the course of EDUC 6713 I have had the opportunity to create goals based around the ISTE standards (ISTE, 2008) and through the course requirements, meet many of my goals. I have worked with the GAME Plan format in a variety of ways: creating personal goals, writing lesson plans, and setting goals for students. I think the GAME plan is an excellent way to really dig deep and determine how we are going to meet the goals that are set, and evaluate our progress along the way (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).

My first goal was to use technology in the classroom and become a model for students and fellow staff. In order for students and peers to really grasp technology and understand the meaningful purposes it can serve they need to witness it. Throughout this course I have had the opportunity to create a classroom blog, practice online collaboration, familiarize myself on how to create a Wiki, and several other valuable tools that will benefit my students. By using these tools and familiarizing myself with them I am prepared to use them within my classroom, which leads me to my second goal.

My second goal was to incorporate one technology based assignment in each unit for students to participate in. When I created by PBL students created a digital story time lining the events of the Vietnam War. Within this course I learned the power of digital storytelling and a variety of ways that I can incorporate it into my classroom.
Although I have only three goals I plan to continue adding to my GAME plan and focusing on different goals that I will set for myself. I have discussed with a variety of teachers the idea of a PLC dedicated to technology use in the classroom, which is my third goal. I plan to create a GAME plan that will help me throughout this process. I think the GAME plan can also be tailored for students. They can create a GAME plan for each unit, setting goals to improve their understanding and grades. With the process they can explain particular actions that will help them be successful, monitor their progress and evaluate their final outcome. The GAME plan can also be used to organize students and focus them on the task at hand on a smaller scale.

Immediate adjustments that I will make to my instructional practice is being more diligent in modeling technology use in the classroom. I will continue researching and trying new strategies and saving helpful websites in my Diigo library that can be beneficial to fellow staff members and me. I am excited to implement and integrate new ideas and technology into my classroom. I have realized that problem-based learning can not only provide students an opportunity to find solutions to real problems but work with a wide array of technology throughout the process (Laureate Education, 2009). With problem based learning students are not only learning content but practicing their online collaboration skills and could present their findings in a digital story. Although these strategies could be used independently in various lessons, they work really well together to complete an entire unit. I will definitely be using these to increase student motivation and further students’ knowledge in the content area.

Learning by doing is a powerful way to learn information and this course really forced me to work with new technologies and ideas that I was hesitant about using in my classroom. Because I have become more familiar, and understand the powerful impact they have on students learning I am excited to see my GAME plan progress and continue working on my goals.

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.


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

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011a). Program 5: Spotlight on Technology: Problem-based Learning, Part 1 [Webcast]. In Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.