Continuing with my GAME Plan

I am on my way!  I assigned the screencast activity today to my Algebra II students.  They were really excited.  Not only did I show them how to use Microsoft Equation, which is part of Word, so that they could write out the math problems, I then showed them how to use Jing.  Some of the students who had their lap tops in class, immediately downloaded Jing, and started on the process.  It is really exciting for me to be able to show my class how to use new technology. 

My monitoring will occur as they work on this project.  It will be due next Tuesday, so I want to check with each of them to see how it is going.  Then I will evaluate the project by using a quick survey. 

Another area where I need to use my GAME plan is with my Smart Board.  I have been using it now, for a little over a year.  I know that there is so much more that I could be doing with it.  So...

My Goal:  Get some quality time with my colleague who is a Smart Board Pro!  I think that I will offer her lunch out, or something, if she will spend a couple of hours with me.  I want to know how to get the kids up there and what other cool things that I can do.

Action:  Spend some time on line at the Smart Board site to look at some sample lessons and ideas

Monitor:  I will go into my classroom once every two weeks this summer to try at least one new thing with my Smart Board

Evaluate:  Hopefully the students will notice the changes. 

By the way - does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get better?  Any good sites that you know have worked?  Please share.

I Have an Idea!

As I continue to work on my GAME plan, and as final exams approach for my students, I wonder if I can try another new approach to help with NETS-T standard 2a, "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity."  I  have anywhere from 15 to 19 students in each of my classes.  There are about 20 or so questions that need to be covered as review.  So... I will ask each student to take a question, download Jing, and create a screencast.  The screencasts can then be viewed by the other members of the class as they prepare for their final exam.  What will I need?

Action:  Teach students how to use Jing. 
              Get time in computer lab or have this be an at-home project
              See if screencasts can be accessible via internet

Monitor:  Meet with individual students to make sure that the problem is done correctly before they start.   Have the student talk through the process before they record.
               
Evaluate:  Ask students how they enjoyed creating the screencast, and if it helped them learn

I'll let you know how it goes.

Working on my GAME Plan!

I need to continue to work on NETS-T standard 2a, "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity" while incorporating my GAME plan.  This week my goal was to incorporate technology into the teaching of my ellipse lesson.  In the past, I would just teach the formulas and try to explain how the foci, the directrix and the ellipse all worked together.  Yesterday, my first class went to the computer lab and created their own ellipse using the Geometers Sketchpad (GSP).  I typed up a list of directions and just let them at it.  It was fun to watch.  As partners, they needed to follow directions, one reading while the other was manipulating the computer, both watching the creation unfold.  There were a variety of creations formed.

All groups felt successful, however.  Not all created an ellipse, but were able to look at another group's.  A couple of groups moved along quickly and I could ask enrichment questions and keep them delving deeper.  By the time the entire class went back to the classroom, all felt that they knew what an ellipse was, felt that they had created something, and that they had a good time.  They were now ready for the formulas and math that came along with the shapes.

I felt that I took action by using technology in an area that was new to me. I spent time with a fellow math teacher who had used this program often, and worked together to come up with plan for my class.  I monitored their interaction with the program as they were using it.  But the real evaluation will come when I am working through the formulas with them tomorrow and whether or not the working on the computer really helped them to visualize ellipses, or not.  It was a big step and an exciting one though, and I am glad that I tried it.

My G.A.M.E. Plan

Throughout this Masters Program, I have done a lot of self-directed learning, which according to Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer, is "any increase in knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her own efforts using any method in any circumstance at any time" (2009, p 2). The authors continue to lay out a GAME plan through which a self-directed learner can break their learning into four main steps:

1. Set Goals
2. Take Action to meet those goals
3. Monitor progress toward achieving goals and
4. Evaluate whether the goals were achieved and Extend your learning to new situations.

When reviewing the NETS-T (National Education Technology Standards for Teachers), I was really excited to know that I had been working hard on so many of the standards. However, a couple still stick out as ones to work on and I realize that I will encorporate the GAME plan to improve in these areas.

I have known for a while now, that I needed to work on the standard "participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning" (Standard 5a).  In order to prepare my students for a global environment, I too have to extend myself beyond the boundaries of my own school.  My first goal was to go back to school for a masters in this area, which I have done.  Now, I want to incorporate collaboration between classrooms, whether inside of my school or around the country and world.  I will be going to a conference this summer at the Center for Innovative Teachers, in San Francisco, called the Integrated Technology Symposium 2009 for School Leaders: Digital Tools & Practices to Enhance Learning Across the Curriculum.  I am hoping to network with other teachers and build some contacts with which to collaborate during the next school year.  I definitely see this as a great additional resource for me within my action portion of  my game plan.  I have been monitoring my progress within my classroom.  I can already see growth in my ability to incorporate technology into my classroom.  With my new found confidence, I will be ready to go to this conference this summer and be able to communicate well and build working relationships. Then once I try "global collaboration" I will be able to evaluate how it went and decide if I need to continue or do things differently in the future.

My second goal and area with which to improve, would be standard 2a, "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity."  Although I have already been working to this goal and have been monitoring my progress, my evaluation of my progress tells me that I need to extend myself in this area.  I know that I can do more in this area.  As part of the technology committee at my school, I have helped get projectors in every classroom and a variety of other things.  I am lucky to be only one of three teachers with a Smart Board.  My goal will now be to figure out a way to get all of the "old" computers on campus when they start to upgrade this summer.  This way I will be able to have small groups using computers at any time within my class period, rather than relying on scheduling time for the computer lab.  We only have one lab, and getting in there is difficult.  I want to start using Excel for data manipulation, Webspiration for concept mapping at the beginning or the end of a chapter, continue to do a better job with blogging and do more than one Wiki page per year.  Having more computers in the classroom will help me organize and plan my lessons so that I can incorporate technology to support content learning.  As Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer tell us, "technology can be used to support each step of the process: to gather information, to collect and analyze data, to synthesize results, and to present findings to interested stakeholders" (2009, p 30). 


Next year, I think that my students will help me to set goals, to take action, to monitor progress and then to evaluate how things are going.  I look forward to continuing on my path of self-directed learning and integrating technology into my classroom to support content learning.


References:

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.

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


2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf