GAME Plan Reflection

As I sit and reflect over the past eight weeks, I realize that this course has given me a “tool” for setting goals and accomplishing great things for myself and my students. As teachers, we are always exploring new ideas to promote learning within our classroom. We set goals, research materials, make lists…, but many times we do not follow through. Instead we set it aside for another day, month, or year. A GAME plan, the “tool” introduced to us, provides us with a step-by-step process to set goals and then continuously revisit those goals as we take action, monitor our actions, evaluate our progress, and constantly readjust the plan to allow it to be successful for everyone involved. While following this process, I became more aware of the various standards (Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations, NETS-S, and NETS-T) and the importance of integrating technology to engage and motivate students. Using digital storytelling software, problem-based lessons, and creating wikis and blogs give students the opportunity to become creative self-directed learners through authentic learning experiences. Students are given choices in their learning, along with the responsibility of managing and assessing themselves (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009). Regardless of my students learning style, ability to use technology tools, language, and/or academic strengths/weaknesses, I discovered numerous ways to customize and personalize activities to satisfy everyone’s diverse needs.

While following my GAME plan, I suddenly became aware that my lessons included collaboration within the classroom, but my students had not experienced collaboration on a global level. I was not aware of ePals (online communication tool), nor had I thought about collaborating with classrooms outside of our district’s building walls. The knowledge I have acquired from this course will lead me to find opportunities for my students to communicate with other individuals from around the world while using technology. I will implement activities that promote creativity, the use of problem solving and critical thinking skills, and prepare each child for a world where technology is constantly changing and becoming more and more prevalent. I will need to adopt a new role as teacher and look for guidance from fellow colleagues, while I “facilitate student inquiry, provide constructive feedback, and apply new types of classroom management strategies (Ertmer & Simons, 2006, p. 41). For this reason, technology will definitely impact my instructional strategies.

An immediate adjustment that I plan to make within my classroom is to immediately assign email accounts to each student at the beginning of the school year. In the past, I have had difficulty monitoring these accounts for appropriate content. I currently feel more comfortable teaching digital citizenship and informing students how to create ePal accounts, blogs, wikis, and VoiceThreads using their email accounts to establish memberships. Another adjustment I hope to make is to use several of the technology tools I have recently been introduced to. My goal is to introduce a new tool weekly and provide many opportunities for each student to express their understanding of the material being presented to them. I am looking forward to a great year of implementing multiple forms of technology into my Language Arts and Science instruction and getting students excited about 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.

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.