Evaluation of My GAME Plan

Moving on to the evaluating phase of my GAME plan, I now need to measure my gains in order to see where additional changes and actions can be made. Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) add that this step asks: "were you successful?"…"did you learn enough?"…and "How can you extend what you learned?…" (p. 5). This reflection process is necessary to appreciate improvements, recognize professional growth, and provide direction for future self-directed learning.


My GAME plan actions have helped me to reach a comfort level with my goals and recognize that it will be an unending process as technology and technology resources continue to change. Through the varied resources and collaboration channels in this course, my exposure has been significant; and I feel ready to incorporate them more into my instruction. Learning to offer choices in order to reach all learners, to make activities authentic to my students, and to use the tool of reflection as a means and measurement of understanding have supported my instructional practices the most.

An area that still needs concentration is to include more problem-based learning activities that will help my students utilize and develop their creative-thinking skills. This week we developed a lesson plan that uses this type of activity and helps students to use technology as "mindtools" (Cennamo, et al., 2009, p. 56). Solving problems and delving deeper through technology is my goal for my students. Rethinking my existing activities with this thought in mind will help me to extend my lessons and enrich the learning experience. According to Dr. Peggy Ertmer, problem-based learning has "multiple benefits" (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009). A new goal is to now direct my focus on providing those benefits through the use of more problem-based learning.

As teachers, a big portion of our jobs is to evaluate and assess our students. It is equally important to examine our own practices for areas of strength or weakness. Making note or reflecting on our own effectiveness as well as that of our lessons and chosen technology will help to guide us. One personal component to continue my growth process and reach my goals will be to address them with colleagues. It is in this networking process that we are able to solve problems together, contribute, create, share, and learn more effectively.

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program eight. Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1 [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

To continue reporting on my GAME plan progress in learning about technology and technology resources, I have made some gains. In this monitoring phase, I am evaluating my plan to determine advancement as well as critically looking at possible changes. Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) suggest examining the plan to "reflect on whether the strategies you have chosen are working" (p. 4). This portion of the GAME plan will help me to redirect my efforts if they are not aligned with my goals.

With the help of this course, my blogging has increased, and I am also trying to keep current with a professional blog: http://theedublogger.com/. Reading and posting to blogs is giving me practice with reflecting and journaling—skills that I want to pass on to my students.

Constructing a lesson plan using UDL (Universal Design for Learning) has also helped me to look closer at how I can bring technology into my classroom in ways that will support and be meaningful for all students. With technology always changing, I will need to be persistent with this action step as I search for new tools and beneficial ways to use them. "Explore how other districts, schools, classrooms, teachers, and students are using the technology" (Consortium for School Networking, 2006, p. 15). I have learned how to offer choices and make variations in my lesson plans to allow for diverse learners. Again, the diversity changes with each new group of students, so this plan needs to be flexible.

A question that has arisen because of this process is whether or not the software my classes use is best suited to the goals and objectives of the class. I plan to look at alternative ways to use the software as well as other software that might be available. In one particular course, the publisher is seeking feedback, and I have exchanged a few emails on elements that I would like to see changed. I plan to continue this process of analyzing current materials and making modifications if necessary.

In the last few weeks, I have also met with some community employers who share their perspectives on potential jobs and needed job skills in our area. This, too, can be unpredictable at times so it will be important to make this type of collaboration ongoing. In order to provide authentic instruction, I will need to know what the real-world activities entail as well as what technology they use or plan to use. "With technologies evolving rapidly, it's difficult to predict which ones will be the must-haves and exactly how they will be used. But administrators, teachers, parents, and students will be on the front line of figuring out effective, productive, and engaging ways of using technology innovations" (Consortium for School Networking, 2006, pp. 14-15).

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

The Consortium for School Networking. (2006, August). Hot technologies for education: What's happening now and later? Middle Ground, 9(4), 12-15.

Focusing on Action in My GAME Plan Cycle

It's time for action! After determining areas of instruction dealing with technology integration and course content that need improvement, I am now continuing the process and examining what resources and additional information might be helpful as well as what I have accomplished so far. Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) define this process: "You identify what you already know about the task at hand and develop a plan of attack, otherwise known as a learning strategy" (p. 3). With this action plan, my learning is self-directed, within my control, and enables me to gain skills that I can then share with my students.

My first area of adjustment is to help my students become more reflective with collaborative tools. I have chosen to use a blog for this, and the resource that I feel would be most helpful is to become increasingly involved with blogging—particularly with other teachers and professionals. In this way, I will be able to sharpen my own blogging/reflection skills. Practicing what I will be asking my students to do will give me insights on how to guide and encourage them. In addition to this course, I need to continue to investigate blogs that would foster this type of reflective interaction. My progress in this area is the blogging I am doing for this course—composing my own posts, reflecting on the GAME plan, and then reading, reflecting, and responding to my cohorts. Also, in my own classroom, we use a blog and I am beginning to post more reflective prompts for my students to address. My continued involvement in this exchange will strengthen my skills and serve as scaffolding for my students.

The second and fourth areas involve designing learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources, and communicating with students via digital tools. Some resources needed to continue exploring these areas are: consulting with my school IT department on acceptable resources, conferring with my colleagues on tools they have used successfully, and reading current literature on new technology and classroom strategies. In addition to the information gained from this class and program, I have also addressed these topics with a few teachers at my school and plan to make this an ongoing practice with more colleagues.

My third area of improvement deals with customizing my instruction to meet the diverse needs in my classroom. Resources that will help me accomplish this will be to initially determine what those needs are and then begin to restructure my lesson plans to accommodate them. Examining student data, observing my students, talking with prior instructors, and asking for advice from the school special needs coordinator will be beneficial. Creating options for students is my goal, and a valuable resource will be searching for current lesson plans online that will help me to see applications for my own classes. My progress so far has been to create a background knowledge questionnaire for one of my classes that includes questions dealing with how students learn best or what they feel they need in order to be successful in the course. In this way, I hope to gain a little more perspective on how to structure the class.

Howard (2004) offers that every student should "have access to the curriculum in a way that promotes the most learning for that individual" (p. 26). Three of my four action steps deal with tailoring my instruction and technology use to be a better fit with the needs of my students. All of my action steps, however, are intended for the same target—to help my students better understand and personalize our class content.

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Howard, K. L. (2004, February). Universal design for learning: Meeting the needs of all students. Learning and Leading with Technology, 31(5), 26-29.

My Personal GAME Plan

In order to increase my efficacy as a teacher, I need to continually examine my practices to make sure that I am adeptly preparing my students and growing professionally. Turning my evaluating and assessing skills inward will help me to be able to reflect on my own strengths and weaknesses and begin to make corrections. This on-going process is called self-directed learning, and is essential for me to use in order to meet my own personal learning goals. To guide me in this practice, I will use the GAME plan. According to Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009): "The GAME plan enables you to customize your approach to learning tasks, to develop relevant skills that are important to you, and prepares you for lifelong learning" (pp. 3-4). The four elements included in this plan are: goal setting, taking action, monitoring, and evaluating. By managing my own self-directed learning, I hope to be able to model the same techniques for my students.

After visiting the ISTE Web site and reviewing the standards and performance indicators for teachers, I recognize areas where I need improvement. Here is my GOAL plan to help me make the necessary adjustments and strengthen my proficiencies:

NETS-T-1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes

Goals—Utilize digital tools for reflective purposes in addition to collaboration
Action—Make use of journaling and/or posts through our class blog, a wiki, email, or specialized software to assess student understanding. Encourage students to respond to classmates' reflections by offering their own views.
Monitor—Become an active participant in this reflective process by providing guidance and feedback.
Evaluate—Determine if reflections are reinforcing content by "facilitating group and community learning" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 79).

NETS-T-2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

Goals—Increase authentic experiences and activities for my students that endorse creative thinking
Action—Consider how digital resources can enhance student engagement and autonomy and match available tools with real-world activities. Investigate having students build databases, create digital stories, and design concept maps
Monitor—Continually examine and scrutinize success of activities to determine if students are meeting goals and mastering skills
Evaluate—Determine if the technology tools and activities are good matches, if they support the course content and learning goals, and if they are being used in purposeful ways. Determine what changes need to be made to improve.

NETS-T-2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

Goals—To consider the unique and diverse needs of my students when planning activities
Action—Use student data and observation to adjust activities to match abilities, learning styles, and backgrounds
Monitor—Perform ongoing assessments to determine if students are reaching potential
Evaluate—Determine if grades, understanding, and performance correlate. Examine technology tools, lesson plans, and allotted time to make necessary modifications.

NETS-T-3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats

Goals—To make use of a variety of channels to communicate with my students
Action—Investigate assigning students to update our class blog daily with assignments and pertinent class information. Increase use of email for whole-class messages. Consider using Voicethread to share information and ideas. Investigate designing class Web page.
Monitor—Request feedback from students on new channels of communication and track use
Evaluate—Based on comments concerning new communication formats, make adjustments to better suit suggestions, criticism, and views.

Initiating these changes will help me to improve my classroom environment and better address the needs of my students. Cennamo, et al., (2009) offer these additional suggestions for improvement: "Be open to creative ideas…Provide feedback…Be explicit…Be consistent in expectations...Be patient" (p. 80). The ISTE standards are a guideline for all teachers, and we need to persistently reflect and strive to connect our vision for teaching with these recommendations.

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final