My GAME plan progress

I have made some progress on my GAME plan this week. I have a lesson plan that I would like to do that introduces my students to a new technology- voice thread. My next step is to check and see if I can access my voice thread account at work. The lesson plan not only implements a new technology, but it meets my goal of being activity based. Now I need to figure out when this lesson plan will fit in with my district’s pacing guide. It fits it with curriculum, I just cannot remember what unit.

My GAME plan has also taken an unexpected turn this week. After talking with my principal and a couple colleagues, I have decided to start an after school computer club with older students. None of the teachers at my school site teach their students about new technologies or about how to be responsible on the Internet. While I plan to expose my own students to these concepts, they are still a bit young to fully grasp them. My goal is to start the computer club and give some of the older students (grades 4-6) some of the skills that they are going to need in Jr. High and High School. I have already started a framework for what the club will look like. We will meet after school one day a week. I will start by teaching the kids about blogging and we will design a Computer Club blog page- in part for the students to communicate together outside of the club meetings. My next project will be to teach them how to do research online. Having just learned more about this myself, I have a passion to share what I learned with students. I will teach the students the steps I just learned about creating research- able questions, conducting a search online, evaluating resources, and eventually I will help them synthesize this into a project. Who knows what we will do from there. Since this is a student club I want to give them options and skills and let that design the activities we do together.

I am so excited to start this new project. If I would not have had this GAME plan, this idea would not have happened. It was only when I was researching and looking into ideas for my own class that I got the idea to expand and work with more students across three grade levels. I am learning that setting goals for myself works like oil in an engine. As I strive to achieve my goals, and focus on an area of my teaching new ideas come up and I start thinking about ways to take my goal to the next level. It has been an exciting process!

What do I need to carry out my GAME plan?

The first goal in my GAME plan is to implement one new technology in my classroom this year. The information I will need to carry out this plan is to talk with the technology department in my district and learn exactly what technologies are allowed and which ones are blocked. I already know that we are allowed access to blog sites, but not to wiki sites. I will need to find out about the voice thread site I am registered with along with podcast sites.

The second goal in my GAME plan is to do one self directed learning activity with my students this year and allow their feed back to shape the activity. I have a lesson plan that I created in another class that I want to try to implement. What I need to do now is clear it with my principal and make sure I have the technologies available to me to carry it out.

Completing these steps will put me on my way to meeting my goal.

My G.A.M.E. Plan

When examining the technology National Education Standards for Teachers I certainly see room for improvement. However, there are two areas where I am not as confident in executing as I would like to be. Those two areas are standard 2.a and standard 2.b. Standard 2.a states: teachers design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. Standard 2.b states: teachers develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress. In order to meet these goals I have set up a plan for myself called a G.A.M.E. plan (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2009).

The first step in my plan is to set goals (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2009). I would like to work with my district to find new ways to incorporate more web 2.0 technologies into my classroom. The current thinking in my district is that if you use the SMARTboard you are integrating technology, but I think that technology integration can be much more than that. To be more specific in my goal, I would like to actually implement one new technology probably Web 2.0 in my class this year. Another goal I have is to turn over some of my teaching time to my students where they can participate in a structured, content based self directed learning activity. Again, to be more specific, a realistic goal for me would be to do one self directed learning activity where I also use student input to shape and guide the experience. Knowing if I am successful in my goals is easy- I will either follow through or not.

The next step in the G.A.M.E. plan is to take action (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2009). To meet my goal I will need to use my curriculum to find a subject area and content standard to focus on. I will also need to research to find which technology best supports the content. To do this I might turn to the internet to research, or look up lesson plans in a teacher café type of website. Once I determine the technology I would like to use, I will have to work with my district to make sure that the technology policy allows me to use my desired technology. Finally, I will have to create lesson plans that help me to meet my goal.

The third step is to monitor my progress (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2009). I might consider setting timelines for myself for each part of my action process that ultimately leads to my implementation of new technology and incorporation of a self directed learning activity. As each due date in my timeline approaches I can stop and evaluate if I have completed the task or not. If I have not completed the task I will stop and ask myself what is keeping me from completing that task. As I answer that question I can evaluate and change steps in my action plan as needed.

The final step in my plan is to evaluate and extend (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2009). My goals are to implement a new technology and to incorporate a self directed learning activity. Monitoring these goals is as simple as checking to see if I have done them or not. If I am successful in my goals I will evaluate what a next step might be. A next step could be anything from creating lesson plans to use my newly implemented technology, to designing more self directed learning lessons. I will also be sure to journal some of the struggles I had during the process along with things I can do differently next time to make the process easier. If I am unsuccessful in meeting my goals I will sit down and evaluate what my struggles were that kept me from meeting my goal and create a G.A.M.E. plan to overcome those struggles. I will also consider modifying my goals to make them more attainable.

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