Course Reflection

During this course I learned about using a GAME plan as a way to set goals and follow through in accomplishing those goals. While using the GAME plan I learned some valuable lessons. The goals I chose to focus on would be considered long term goals considering it was almost summer and the things I want to try will have to be done in the upcoming school year. This reminded me that while long term goals need to be set, the GAME plan would best be used with students to accomplish short term goals. I also plan on using the GAME plan in conjunction with a KWHL chart in class. After the students have set their learning goal, they can create a KWHL chart to plan on how best to accomplish the goal. I really think the GAME plan will work great with students in all subjects in my fourth grade classroom.

The GAME plan I created focused on two areas of the NETS-T. First, I wanted to involve my parents more through the use of technology. To accomplish this goal, I created a blog that I intend to use with parents and students next year. The main focus of this blog is to post homework assignments and announcements about classroom events. Because I am around the computer so much in the evenings it will be easy for me to check the blog periodically and answer any questions that might have been posed. I have also created an account with PhotoBucket to upload pictures taken in my classroom throughout the school year. In addition, I have decided to go back to using Scholastic to maintain a web page. I am going to try to use both the Scholastic page and the blog, but if I find the blog is doing well, I might just use it instead. Finally, to complete this goal I am going to create an e-mail list so I can send out periodic e-mail reminders to parents. I have done this in the past and it was a great way to communicate with parents.

The second goal I focused on dealt with adapting my lessons to include technology that will require the students to think more creatively. I have begun searching for resources on the internet to use to make my lessons more interactive for the students. I am trying to move away from me standing in front of the class teaching to students taking a more active role in their learning. I have found some good resources so far and plan on starting in July revamping some of my lessons to use my ACTIVboard more. I have not focused quite as much on this second goal since I wanted to enjoy my first month of summer vacation. I am pretty sure I will be ready to start gearing up for next year within the next couple of weeks.

I have decided to make some adjustments in my teaching practices based on the things I have learned in this class. This class has reaffirmed the need to have students become active instead of passive learners. After creating the problem based lessons, I feel that I will be creating more of those in the future. Because I am self-contained I can create units that are cross-curricular without having to worry about having to work the logistics out with another teacher. I have always thought of teaching this way, but now I have a better understanding of creating this type of lesson and including technology. Overall, this class has given me some ideas for changing my teaching practices that I feel will really open up doors for my students.