Reflection: Final Blog Post

The game plan I have created has had some obstacles, but overall, I am very happy with the increased technology use that my students have experienced. I have learned lots of great ideas and teaching methods from the Learning Community 7 wiki. I have been very fortunate to be with some on the ball co-wikiers. The growth I have experienced lies mostly in my new emphasis on reflection and ingraining content tightly into technology.
I won't be making any immediate adjustments to instruction considering it is Christmas break, but after the holiday I plan to continue to have my students create their own GAME plans and branch out more into independently chosen topics in problem based learning.

Week 7

After visiting the website for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and examining the National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S), I see many interrelated elements between these standards and the ones for teachers-(NETS-T). Both sets of standards emphasize creativity and collaboration. These are important 21st Century skills that are unfortunately neglected in most state's content standards. I also appreciate the fact that like the teacher standards, the students are expected to plan their own strategies for inquiry learning. I like this because even though teachers are expected to scaffold the learning and strategies, the impetus is then transferred to the students to be independent learners and thinkers. The standards for students thoroughly mirror the design for teacher implementation and this makes sense to thoroughly infuse the ideals of this method of learning and way of becoming a life-long learner in the 21st Century.

I plan to use the GAME plan process with my students to help them develop proficiency in the NETS-S. The standards emphasize content and critical thinking supported by technology. This will help to actively and authentically incorporate technology in the classroom. I plan to infuse my grade level content standards with Web 2.0 interactions, safe practices on the internet, including parents in my technology plan, and improving collaboration skills both within the classroom walls as well as with other classrooms around the country and even the world.
The most important step will be just getting that GAME plan format into the kids' hands and running with it. The students will be gaining access to a world class learning environment.


http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm

Revising Your GAME Plan

“The most persistent norm that stands in the way of 21st-century learning is isolated teaching in stand-alone classrooms. Transforming schools into 21st-century learning communities means recognizing that teachers must become members of a growing network of shared expertise.”
(Quote Taken from Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work)


I am still working on helping foster digital citizenship in the classroom. My district is doing computerized MAP testing- using all available computers for this purpose so I am adapting my instruction to spend more time modeling and doing whole group instruction to keep myself on track. I am using the white board very heavily at this point. I think this is forcing me to spend more time on planned mini-lessons that teach technology basics, net etiquette, and critical analysis. This is one cloud that has a silver lining. My students have been anxious about getting back to the labs.
One learning goal that I want to set for the rest of this year is Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
I am going to start with a local learning community. I have arranged for a speaker to come to our next two cohort meetings to help teachers learn more about computer programming and streaming videos. From that point, we will evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice to support student learning. My hope is that the teachers will return to their schools to share these ideas with their co-workers.
It has been challenging to progress steadily on my original goals for the reasons included on my last post, but I am trying to be flexible in finding alternative modes of instruction.
I decided to go back to the "Just Do It" motto today when I told my fourth grade students that I would help them animate their bridge pictures and record them reading their stories with "Crazy Talk" software. We will see how it goes but they are so excited. It will force me to do more of the requirements that will be used in weeks 7 and 8.

http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Week 5

As I work towards refining my GAME plan, I see that my actions have been partially effective in helping to meet my goals
I have gotten around some of my computer access by using the laptops. The kids were excited this week to be relaxing all over the library on the floors and chairs working on their research. It was gratifying to see these students from a title one school sitting by the "fireplace" (video of a fire on a big screen)in the library learning to navigate the vast information available world-wide. It was hard to keep lapping the entire library to help students- but I think that made them more prone to try and trouble-shoot a situation independently. At this point, I am feeling like my students are at a point where their toolboxes are open and they have many of the basics of digital and inquiry learning. I will continue to have large group mini-lessons on information literacy skills, and am on the run continuously with troubleshooting in the lab but my students' interest in learning and sharing has definitely been piqued. The glogs are going slowly as parents are slow to turn in the permission forms. I don't want to start until I get them all. Even though the glogs have a special division that is geared towards education and is secure, I think I might adapt my plan to do small group posters and posters as a class initially.
One thing that I have been forced to do through this class is to be more reflective. I realize that the techniques for reflection that we have used will make my life easier in the long run because I will be a more effective teacher.
I am finding that it is taking me longer than I realized to get these students confident and proficient in trying new tools and trying to locate information. I have adjusted my time-line to take this into account.

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