Continuted GAME Plan Progress

I have started carrying out parts of my GAME Plan. I have made sure to bring home all my pacing guides and resources that I had at school. I have also started perusing the web for resources to use with my ACTIVboard. I have found some great flipcharts that I can customize to meet my needs, especially in language arts and math. One area I have not started working on yet is finding a secure photo sharing web site. I am wondering if any of my classmates have used a photo sharing site with parents and how it worked out. My blog is set up to begin using for next year, but I need to work on creating a letter that introduces the idea to the parents. I also need to add information about the blog to my beginning of the year PowerPoint I share with parents at open house.

After the readings last week and this week, one thing that has come up in my mind is revamping not just my lessons but assessments too. Although I use all four types of assessments, I lean heavily on forced-choice simply because they are easy to grade. As I am revamping lessons I am also going to be finding ideas for more project and performance based assessments.

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

Resources: Most of the resources I will need to carry out my GAME plan can be found on the Internet. I need to search for resources to revamp my lessons. There are plenty of resources on the Promethean web site that I can adapt to meet my needs. I also need to be searching for a free secure photo sharing site to use next school year. I will also need to make sure to bring home all of my pacing guides this summer so I can be sure to follow our local guidelines.

Additional Information: I think I have everything I need to begin carrying out my GAME plan. I know what I need to be searching for and most of my GAME plan revolves around me getting in gear and getting things done.

Steps Taken: So far I have not taken any steps toward accomplishing my goals set forth in my GAME plan. Right now I am trying to survive the last two weeks of school and then take a week to rest. After that I plan on working a little at a time to start revamping my lessons to include the use of my ACTIVboard on a more regular basis.

My Personal GAME Plan

In order to educate students for the 21st century, teachers have to move their teaching practices into the 21st century. I have selected two indicators from the National Education Standards for Teachers to focus on. The first one I want to focus on is part of standard two, "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments" (NETS-T). The specific indicator I want to focus on is "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity" (NETS-T). My goal is to slowly revamp all my lessons to include the use of my ACTIVboard. In the past I have not used it extensively because it is on a stand and I would have to move it around whenever I wanted to use it. However, next year my board will be mounted so I will not have to worry about that issue. Other than having my board mounted, another action I will take is to spend time this summer revamping a few lessons in each subject. To monitor my goal I will keep track of how often I use my ACTIVboard and whether or not students are participating in the lessons or sitting like knots on logs staring off into space. Finally, to evaluate and extend my learning, I will continue to find new ways to incorporate the ACTIVboard and other interactive technologies into my lessons.

The second indicator I want to focus on falls under standard three, "Model Digital-Age Work and Learning" (NETS-T). Specifically I want to work on "communicat[ing] relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats" (NETS-T). In the past I have shared information with parents via a Scholastic web page. However, this year I started and then let it fall by the wayside. I have several goals for this indicator. First, I want to return to maintaining my Scholastic web site. Second, I want to start a homework blog that both students and parents will be encouraged to use. I spend a great deal of time on the computer in the evenings and would like to use the blog to answer students' and parents' questions about homework assignments. Finally, I would like to take more photos of the great learning happening in my classroom and have an account where I upload them for parents to view. There are several actions I need to take to accomplish these goals. First, I have to remember to update my Scholastic site each afternoon. Second, I have to find a photo sharing site that is secure and free to use. Finally, I have to get the word out to parents about the Scholastic site, the blog, and the photo account. Monitoring my progress is a simple as keeping track of how often I use these technologies. If I am not using them daily, in the case of the Scholastic site and blog, or at least weekly for the photo sharing, I need to evaluate why and consider what I can do to make them more relevant and useful.

International Society for Technology in Education ( 2008). National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Retrieved May 13, 2010 from www.iste.org

Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom Final Reflection

The most striking revelation I had in this class was the sheer amount of literacy skills we need to be teaching students. I do not believe my school is doing a good enough job of teaching our students these skills. Other than the gifted teacher, I do not know of another teacher that has students creating products using technology. In fact, most of the teachers only use the computer lab to take tests. We have to step it up, especially considering I live in Huntsville, Alabama, a city that has scores of technology related industries.

I have learned so much from this class. The part of this class I got the most out of was the readings and resources on effectively searching for information. I have always wanted a better way to teach students how to search and evaluate potential web sites, and this class provided me with those tools. I also realized how critical it is for me to teach students how to evaluate web sites. There are many misleading sites out there and students will be tempted to use the first one they come across instead of taking the time to make sure it is a reputable site. I feel I am much better prepared for next year when I start talking to my students about searching the web for information. Based on the things I learned in this class, I will be starting my year out teaching my students how to effectively search for information. This will help me down the line when we start working on inquiry projects.

I would like to learn more about using programs such as Skype to communicate with classrooms around the world. I hope to set up epals for my students next year. This will be my first step in having my students communicate with other classrooms. I would like to take a professional development class in using Skype if one is ever offered around my district. After having my students communicate via epals, I would like to take that next step of video communication. The media specialist at my school has shown us how to use Skype once, so I will seek out her knowledge to help get an account set up and figure out the logistics of using my classroom. Hopefully by the end of the first semester of next school year my class will be involved in working on a project with a classroom in another part of the country or even world.

Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology Reflection

After rereading my personal theory of learning from the first week of this course, I realize my personal theory of learning has not changed drastically. I have just refined what I now think. I still believe students bring a wealth of knowledge and prior experiences into my fourth grade classroom. It is through their own discoveries and the background knowledge they have that students can make connections and learn the concepts we are studying. This theory of learning most closely aligns with the constructivist view of learning. I have amended my personal theory of learning to also include the theory of social learning. After consideration of this theory I realize that students, as well as teachers, do learn socially. Social learning expands the constructivist point of view to say that students learn and construct meaning through their interactions with others. In addition, I still believe the behaviorist theory works best when dealing with student behaviors and not student learning.

One immediate adjustment I will make in my instructional practice is to start using technology as more of a student learning tool rather than an instructional tool. I use PowerPoint regularly as an instructional tool and I want to now use it as a learning tool. I am going to start having my students construct PowerPoints to illustrate what they are learning. Another technology I want to immediately start using is Voice Thread. It is very user friendly and can be incorporated into lessons rather easily. It will allow students to collaborate through text and spoken comments about a variety of projects, whether the projects are written, video, or audio. There are also a couple of other technologies I want to incorporate into my lessons. My students are already familiar with constructing concept webs and now I want to introduce them to programs such as Webspiration. Webspiration can only enhance what we are doing now and will allow the students to connect the information in both written form and visually through the inclusion of illustrations or pictures. I also want to start including virtual field trips in my lessons. I already try to include video clips from Discovery Streaming into my PowerPoint notes for my students, but I want to start including more visuals to drive home what we are studying. Also, although many of my students have traveled due to their parents being military, they still have not been exposed to many of the wonderful places I can expose them to. These are just some of the great technologies from this class I want to start incorporating into my classroom and lessons. I believe that using these technologies will help turn my classroom into an even more student centered place.

One of my long term goals is to become better at using the ACTIVboard in my classroom. This board, when used "correctly" can be a great way to integrate some of the technology tools we have learned about in this class. Students can create a concept map on the board using Webspiration and it would be a great way for the students to collaborate. I know one of the things that keeps me from using the board as much as I would like is the fact it is on wheels and not mounted in my classroom. When we change classrooms next summer, I am going to ask that it be mounted in whatever room I end up in. That way it is not such a chore to have to get the board situated to use and then move it out of the way again. Another long term goal I have is to have students create some type of multimedia project each nine weeks. According to Ptiler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, "Student-created multimedia is a natural environment for cooperative learning" (2007, p. 141). I have never actually had the students create anything technology related from their research projects, it has always been a visual like a poster. However, when we return from Christmas break, my students will be researching the planets and creating a PowerPoint to share with the class. Each group of three will conduct individual research and then work collaboratively to create a PowerPoint that tells all about their planet. My goal is to have students create, not only PowerPoints, but pod casts and wikis too. I want my students to be so immersed in technology, it is second nature to them.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., &; Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cafeteria Solution

My Voice Thread deals with improving the atmosphere of our cafeteria.


http://voicethread.com/share/785696/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

"Learning is a social process. It occurs when people are engaged in social activities," (Orey, 2001). These statements sum up the theory behind social constructivism. Students learn when they are actively working with others to solve a problem or create an artifact. There are several approaches to social constructivism. Teachers who employ cooperative learning in their classrooms are demonstrating social constructivism. In cooperative learning groups, students are required to work together to solve a problem or produce an artifact. In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works the authors give several ways to incorporate technology into cooperative learning. These include using multimedia, web resources, and communication software.

"Student-created multimedia is a natural environment for cooperative learning," (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 141). Students must each take on a role in completing the multimedia project all the while working with the others in the group to ensure a successful outcome. Multimedia projects, like cooperative groups, must be well-planned and organized to be successful. It is helpful if the teacher provides the students with a rubric at the beginning so students are knowledgeable about how they will be graded.

Other ways technology can play a role in social constructivism and cooperative learning are through keypals, webquests, web site creation, and collaborative organization tools. Although many students use social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace outside of school, the school system where I work has those sites blocked on our server. However, being a user of Facebook myself, I personally do not see how it could be used in an educational setting. That being said there are other forms of networking, like blogs, that I believe do have a valid place in education.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.
Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., &; Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.