For the past five to six weeks, I have learned quite a lot about my students as a result of having to modify my GAME plan. Vocationally, they are acutely aware of where they believe they will be, professionally, in the next five years. The use of the graphic organizers to help them set their goals is an aspect of my GAME plan that I will continue to use in all my lessons. Thus, my progress in this aspect of the GAME plan has been quite helpful. As it relates to my personal technological development, progress has been minimal. As the academic year approached its end, my timetable of events became swamped with preparation for several school functions and finals. I have resolved, therefore, to use my summer days to continue working towards my goal to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments. I am yet to discover and plan effectively the integration of the school's available technologies into my lessons both for instruction and assessment. Likewise, I have yet to learn how to incorporate Excel in my class routine of learning and assessment as well as to increase my pedagogical repertoire by adopting and adding to my teaching routine a minimum of three new strategies from the web sites that I have bookmarked on interactive activities and on differentiation.
I am not setting any new learning goals, yet, from the list of technology standards in the NETS.T document. This will be done after I am satisfied that I have met my goal requirements for standard two. Consequently, I plan on sharing my experience of creating a GAME plan with my colleagues at the teacher's workshop that the school will be hosting in the third week of August 2010. In this way, I believe, I will be extending what I have learned, not only in my other classes, but in several other subject areas and grades as well.
I will continue to use the learning strategy of inquiry as my main vehicle of discovering new ways to convert my classroom in to a technology-rich environment that will address the individual and specific needs of the diverse student body that I will be interfacing with daily. I also intend to continue working on my GAME plan, but this time I will invite my closest colleagues to help me accomplish the many tasks that I have planned for myself. In this way, the work will be delegated, and the end result of our combined efforts will benefit us all.
In conclusion, despite my overall slow pace of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating my GAME plan, I envision great success for the future for my students, my colleagues, my school and myself.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Chapter four. Technology-enriched learning environments. Technology integration for meaningful classroom use. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning
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Hi Jewel
ReplyDeleteI really like how you are utilizing the GAME plan to help students set goals for the future. So often we hear students talk about what they want to do after graduation without any real plan to get there. Or, they have very high amibitions for the future and are not taking the right actions to get there in the present. I commend you for assisting them with this process.
I also believe you are making the most out of this process by involving your colleagues. Not only are you utilizing them in order to lighten the load for yourself but driving their professional development as well.
Congratulations!
Katie
Jewel:
ReplyDeleteI think it is wonderful that you are going to share your GAME plan with your colleagues. By enlisting their support, you will not only fulfill your needs, but you will be encouraging 21st century learning throughout your entire school. Too many times educators forget to share their discoveries with other educators, and then the cycle is broken. I truly commend you on taking what you have learned and acquired in you higher education to your fellow teachers. Best of luck, and I know you will do great!
Thanks for sharing!
To Katie
ReplyDeleteI hope that my students will continue to see the benefits of setting intermittent goals as they move from one stage of their academic experience to the next; and as this aspect becomes a feature of their scholarly life, I also hope that it would transcend into other areas, not being limited to my class or to school, but extending itself to their future working experiences. As it relates to my colleagues, I am anticipating positive responses to the idea of using the GAME plan strategy to create, plan and implement self-actualization technology projects in order to improve their own practice.
To Christina
I am encouraged by your thoughts because the need to share best practice is a principle that is written in my school's teaching and learning policy, yet, its occurrence is sporadic. I hope to share many of the ideas that I have read from the many discussions posts that we have made to each other as a group, from the ideas presented in the videos and in the course texts, with my colleagues, in order to expose them to what it means to be a 21st century educator, as you rightly said. As a school, my principal and the administrative team are striving to have a "culture of scholarship" as Walden has coined it, in order to maintain a cycle of continual learning and improvement as we seek to make our school a better educational institution for our clients, the students and the parents.