Georgana's Personal GAME Plan (subject to change!)

Game Plan for Integrating Technology in a Language Arts Classroom

            I feel like a first year teacher – learning and instructing the curriculum simultaneously! However, the previous eleven years have taught me to be flexible, to embrace change, and to enjoy the ride.

            According to the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and the Performance Indicators for Teachers (NETS-T), technology should be used to generate authentic artifacts of student learning and to bridge the transition between the classroom and the world of work (ISTE, 2008). As a teacher, my role is to learn and incorporate the use of technology in my curriculum, as well as model responsible use of technology. For the student, learning to use technology for self-expression and demonstration of learning is a key to academic and professional success. Using the GAME Plan outline discussed in week one by Dr. Katherine Cennamo, I have planned the following steps to develop a technology enriched curriculum (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010):

GOALS:

First, I plan to address standard 5: “engage in professional growth and leadership” by “participating in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning” (ISTE, 2008). On a local level, I have enrolled in continuing education classes for utilizing a Blackboard program available on our server and workshops to develop lessons which incorporate a MIMIO pad. These are two tools that will create organization as well as provide students with technology interaction that is purposeful and applicable to continued learning. My second goal is to focus on standard one, “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity” by incorporating technology throughout the curriculum (ISTE, 2008). Students will learn to “explore real-world issues” and use digital tools and resources for problem solving (ISTE, 2008). As I grow in confidence and skill, so will my students.

ACTIONS:

 I have begun incorporating Blackboard, but never put the plans into action. The site allows for student journaling and posting of assignments so that students who were absent or not paying attention can access the notes and worksheets for daily lessons. Creating journal entries for each unit will encourage students to communicate what they know, feel, and understand about the themes in literature. By utilizing this type of technology, students will be better prepared for college too because most higher education institutions require students to interact regularly with these types of programs.

            I am ashamed to say I have had a MIMIO pad (a hand-held tablet) that interfaces with a Smart Board for a year and have not used it to instruct! I believe learning to use this tool and developing lessons for research, writing, and review will engage students and develop their skill and understanding of technology.

            These two actions alone will address several of standard one’s indicators, including the use of collaboration to learning as we work together to incorporate and facilitate the use of technology in the classroom.

Monitoring:

            Monitoring the success of my students will include a pre- and post-activity survey of skills. By determining what skills students possess before we begin will enable me to determine both the speed of progression and the attainment or fine-tuning of new skills. I plan to use a checklist type rubric to help students track their progress too. However, key to their success is my own understanding of the objectives for using technology as tool for learning the language arts standards. I need to monitor my level of understanding too! Therefore, I have begun a checklist of what technology I use now to instruct and what tools I want to learn and use, like Podcasts, wikis and blogs.

Evaluating:

The evaluation process really involves more than a grade. The key focus for me is the answer to this question: Did my students learn the objective of the lesson and demonstrate this understanding effectively with technology? Involving the students in determining what and how they will learn encourages a more self-directed learning process. We use KWL graphic organizers regularly, so adding the H for How will encourage students to determine a measure of their own learning and what tools they can use to achieve their learning goals (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).

References

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

International society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved on April 28, 2010 from  http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program One: Promoting self-directed learning and creative thinking [Webcast]. Promoting self-directed learning. Baltimore, MD: Author.