Week 8 Reflection

After I took a look at the GAME plan I developed and followed throughout this course, I realized that I was able to accomplish most of the goals I set for myself for the new school year. My two goals were to: engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources and to promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning and creative processes. What I realized from the GAME plan that I developed is that I learned how to become a self-directed learner because of the four phases of the GAME plan. As Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) have stated, the GAME plan helps individuals “think about and take steps to direct [their] learning process, specifically while learning about technology and how to integrate it into the curriculum” (p. 3). The GAME plan I created really helped me stay accountable for the goals I set and “as [I] set goals, take action, monitor [my] learning, and evaluate [my] progress, [I] take control of [my] own learning process” (Cennamo et al., 2009, p. 7). Although most of my goals were met using the GAME plan, I am still waiting to hear back from my principal about getting an interactive whiteboard, since this was part of my goal in my GAME plan. I finally emailed him, and have not heard back. Once the school year starts, I will speak with him in person.

Because I participated in developing my own GAME plan, I was able to learn a plethora of new information as a result of following my plan. I not only learned a lot of information dealing with implementing technology into the content areas, but I also learned a lot about how the GAME plan can be used with my students as well to help them become better self-directed learners. Since teachers are now creating lessons and curriculum to help prepare students for jobs that are not even created yet, it only makes sense to use the GAME plan in instruction so students practice becoming better self-directed learners.

This course allowed me to discover and try out many different technology tools used to help students learn content through technology integration. Because of this course, I have a few immediate adjustments I will incorporate for the next school year. I have decided to set up class wiki pages, and to have students do a problem-based learning activity each year. I am starting small and then will create problem-based learning lessons for each quarter. I will have students upload digital projects onto their wiki pages such as digital stories and URL’s to other projects done online. Students will also experiment with creating voicethreads and starting their own blog for reflecting in both English and Spanish. I have already written one unit plan thanks to this course that I will be ready to implement into my classroom the second month of school. I am excited about what I have learned and I cannot wait to integrate the new technology I have discovered in this course into my classroom! I think my students will be so happy and motivated to learn!

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

Week 7: Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

Over the past few weeks, I have learned what a GAME plan is. I have developed my own GAME plan as a student in this Master’s course, where I have decided in what NETS-T standards I can become more proficient. Through the GAME plan process, I have learned all about setting a goal, creating an action plan and then monitoring and evaluating my progress. I was able to identify which NETS-T standards in which I was not proficient and set a goal to become proficient by the end of my plan. This to me is a great way for anyone to accomplish a goal because it keeps a person accountable on their progress.

The NETS-S and the NETS-T interrelate because they are both a set of national standards, and they encourage the use of technology in school and life outside of school. The teachers are the ones designing the lessons and the students are the ones learning how to participate in the technological lessons created by the teacher. They ensure that both a teacher and a student are prepared for 21st century learning. Both the NETS-S and NETS-T can be implemented easily by either a teacher or student developing their own GAME plan. I will use the GAME plan process with my students just as I was instructed to do so in this Master’s course. I will use the GAME plan process with my students so they can be held accountable for their learning. Setting goals and monitoring and evaluating the action plan used to set the goal is a great way for any student to learn persistence. I have decided that with every project, I will have my students develop a plan. They will choose a NETS-S in which they would like to develop proficiency and a goal for the project on which they work. This will be a very valuable tool to teach every student about achieving goals.

Revising my GAME Plan

What I have learned so far that I can apply in my instructional practice is the GAME plan strategy. It has helped me see how it would come across to a student, how it helps, any challenges I come across I can fix before I have the students use this strategy. I am still working on my two goals, although I have made a lot of progress thanks to this current master’s course. I have come up with a lot of different lesson I can use for my first goal and I have learned a lot about online reflections with this class. I will have my students reflect using blogging next year and I will have developed a unit plan when this course ends that will help me with this second goal. I sent an email to my principal about getting a new interactive whiteboard, so I am waiting for a reply. If the reply is good, then I will have met all my goals! If the reply is a no, then I will be persistent and keep trying!

Based on the NETS-T, I have already come up with a new learning goal I will set for myself next year. Since I will finish with my Master’s degree in December 2010, I will make it my goal to engage in professional growth and leadership so I can be up to date with new technological advances in education. This current program helps me stay up to date, but when it is over, I will have to keep learning and take a leadership role to show others the benefits of technology integration.

Next time I use the GAME plan, I think I will be more active in my approach from the start. This time since it was new to me, I did not start on being active in my plan until the second week, and I think I could have got a lot more done if I had started earlier.