Final Blog Post

Following my GAME plan throughout this course has been beneficial in many ways. The process helped me think about the way(s) I learn. "As a future teacher you will be directing much of your own learning, so it is important that you think about the learning process and how you work best within this process" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertner, 2009, p. 3). It was also helpful to reflect on the effectiveness of different learning methods. This has helped me to continually use methods that work for me and to not use ones that are not as effective. "As a reflective learner, you will think about what has been effective in the past, but also continually monitor and evaluate what is effective for you now" (Cennamo, et al., 2009, p. 11).

My two GAME plan goals were to add variety to my instruction and assessment as well as teach my students about digital citizenship. Through the course of this class, I have learned about and created a large variety of assessment and instruction options. Technology really creates flexibility in the classroom and allows teachers to differentiate their instruction and assessment options. "While technology is not essential to creating authentic, learn-centered instruction, it offers a powerful resource for engaging students in authentic experiences, typically increasing both their motivation and their learning" (Cennamo, et al., 2009, p.51). My GAME plan has also helped me discover some fantastic resources that will help me teach digital citizenship to my students. My favorite is the video at Brainpop.com. I plan on showing my students this video before engaging in any online activity.

The two most noticeable changes that I am going to make to my instruction are an increase in the variety of my assessment options and additional instruction about digital citizenship. Many of the activities and lessons that I learned about during this class will be put to good use in my classroom. I am excited to integrate these new ideas and the technologies that I have been learning about. I am also contemplating adding a whole lesson about digital citizenship/etiquette. This would give my students all the information they will need while using the internet for the rest of the year and beyond. Overall, my instruction and assessment options will be more than doubled with the new ideas I have picked up. Integrating these new technologies will engage and motivate my students more and allow them to better demonstrate their content knowledge to me.

-Matt DeAmaral

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.

http://www.brainpop.com/spotlight/digitalcitizenship/

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

As an educator, one of the values I hope to instill in my students is that of being a lifelong learner. I think that the best way to do that is to guide them toward being self-directed learners. The GAME plan is a great resource for teachers or students who want to learn something new; like technology. I would like to teach my students the GAME plan process at the beginning of the school year. I will ask them to make goals for learning new technologies based on the NETS-S standards (ISTE, 2007) and develop actions that they can take. Every 5 weeks we will monitor our GAME plans and see if there is anything that needs to change. If a student feels that they have achieved their original goal, I will ask them to evaluate their method and determine why it was successful. I would like to continue this process with students all year and then at the end of the year we can all share what we learned. One of the benefits of the GAME plan is that I can continually learn as my students do. "As you are considering ways that you can meet the required teachers standards, you can simultaneously consider ways to help your students meet the required student standards" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 7).

As I was looking for new ways to teach students technology, I found this website. It gives some good information that educators can pass on to their students. Things like citing and copyrights may not be topics that students choose to learn about on their own, but they should be covered by teachers who want to frequently use technology. Even though digital citizenship is included in the NETS-S, I don't think many students will want to learn about it.

-Matt DeAmaral

References

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

http://www.letu.edu/opencms/opencms/_Portal/cetl/helping-students-learn/Technology.html

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

Revising Your GAME Plan

From my original GAME plan, I have learned many new practices that I will be able to use in my classroom in future years. Most importantly, I have gather some key resources that will help me teach my students about digital citizenship and etiquette. I have also adapted to a broader sense of what assessment is and therefore have been able to utilize a wider variety of assessments. I am much more likely to offer my students options for assessment at the end of a unit. I want them to choose the method that they feel most comfortable with and fits their learning style best.

The new goal that I have set for myself come from the NETS-T list of performance indicators for teachers. My next goal will be to continue to improve my skills as a professional. More specifically, I will focus on item 5c (ISTE, 2008): "evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital
tools and resources in support of student learning." This will include staying up to date on research and implementing new ideas into my planning. I will also strive to make technology a constant piece of student activities and assessments.

I believe that I achieve my previous goals because I set realistic expectations of myself and used methods that were comfortable for me. I most used the course textbook and internet resources to find the information that I needed. I also visited some great blogs and discussions that offered some differing perspectives and interesting ideas. Because this method worked well for me previously, I am going to rely on it again to achieve my next goal of continuing my professional development. In some preliminary internet searches, I have already found a variety of resources about professional development for teachers. This has already helped me narrow my goal to focusing more on reflection for the moment. I found this website to be of particular interest for reflective practices. If I continue to peruse the reflective process, I will modify my teaching style and improve my effectiveness as an educator. "As a reflective learner, you will think about what has been effective in the past, but also continually monitor and evaluate what is effective for you now" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 11).

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.

http://webserver3.ascd.org/ossd/reflection.html

Evaluating GAME Plan Progress

My methods of gathering information have been effective up until this point of carrying out my GAME plan. The course textbook has been extremely helpful in finding new methods of integrating technology. Searching the internet for successful lessons was also a great way to find new ideas. These actions were helpful in meeting the goals that I set. I have learned many new ways to integrate technology into my assessments. This has also helped me to create more variety in my assessments and give students options of ways to demonstrate their knowledge.

In terms of creating variety in my assessments, I feel I have achieved my goal. I still have more to learn in the area of digital citizenship. I did not realize how broad the topic was when I began learning about it. I hope to narrow my research more to help give my students a concise understanding of digital etiquette. I am changing my GAME plan so that I can more effectively collaborate with other teachers. Blogs like this one have provided me some information and things to think about. I have had some contact with other professionals (via blogs and comments), but my GAME plan would benefit from more personal connections. I hope to connect with some other teachers at my school and share my ideas about the topic of digital etiquette with them.

References

http://digiteen.ning.com/forum/topics/1990934:Topic:13642

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.

Monitoring My GAME Plan

For my first goal (2d: provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching) I have a plethora of information. The textbook has been very helpful in providing suggestions of assessment types. This week's and last week's resources especially have given me some great ideas for new assessments. Chapter 5, about UDL, provided a great rational for why students need different assessment options. "The more flexible the teaching strategies, materials, and assessments you use in your classroom, the more accessible they will be to the diverse needs and preferences of all the students with whom you work" (Cennnamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 117). At this time, I believe my action plan is working well and right now, does not need to be modified. I feel that I have learned a completely refreshed way of designing assessment. The only question that I have at this point is: Is there a limit to the number of different assessments I can use for a particular assignment? In other words, would it be OK if every student was working on a different assignment all aimed at the same goal? Or is that simply too many options?

My second goal (4c: promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information) is requiring me to find information outside of the textbook. I have been searching the internet and various teacher websites to find materials that teach digital citizenship. I have stumbled upon a great program offered by turnkey instructional programs. They offer a free program called "The Digital Citizenship and Creative Content." I am thinking about ordering it for next school year. I think that my action plan is going well even though it is requiring more effort than my first goal. At this time, it does not need to be modified but I may be in need of some additional resources if anyone has suggestions.
I am surprised by the many different approaches I have come across while looking for ways of teaching this topic. I've also learned that some companies and organizations outside the education field feel that this topic is an important one to explain to students. My question for this goal is how in-depth should I go with this topic for 8th graders? Do students need to understand the reasoning behind copyright laws? Or simply know what the rules are and to follow them?

-Matt DeAmaral
Middle School ELA

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.

http://digitalcitizenshiped.com/

Game Plan Review

In order to carry my GAME plan out, I will need some additional resources. In regards to my goal of creating promoting and modeling digital etiquette, I will need to find concise information about the rules and regulations of internet content. Ideally, I would like to find a video that outlines the topic and show it to my students, provided I could find an appropriate video. So far, the best I have come up with is this animated short:
http://www.brainpop.com/technology/computersandinternet/digitaletiquette/

My second goal is to produce a greater variety of assessments for my students. For some ideas, I looked at "Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use" (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009). The authors describe many authentic assessments that I could possibly use in my classroom. Blogs, wikis, concept-mapping, discussion boards, and, WebQuests (p. 42) are just a few of the many suggestions that I could use in my classroom.

For both goals, it would be helpful to know what strategies are successful. If I can network with other educators, I could get a better idea of which strategies to try out.

-Matt DeAmaral

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.

GAME Plan

GAME Plan

Goals-

After reading through the NETS-T performance indicators for teachers, there were two that would really help me effectively utilize technology in the classroom. The first is 2d: provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching. My assessments are always a one size fits all type of assignment. I would like to challenge myself to offer more variety in my assessment so that my students all have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge.

The second area I would like to challenge myself in is 4c: promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information. I feel that if I am going to ask my students to publish their ideas on a blog, that I must also teach them how to respectfully and appropriately comment on each other’s work.

Actions

In order to achieve these goals, I need to make modifications to my lesson designs. To meet my first goal, I will need to take a look at each of my major assessments and create some alternative assignments that will allow students to utilize technology. This will require some creative thinking on my part as many of my assessments are written tests or essays.

To achieve my second goal, I will need to purposefully integrate a lesson on net etiquette. I must make sure that my students understand the expectations surrounding a blog or wiki project. This lesson would be an additional one during the introduction of the blog or wiki project.

Monitor

To see if my GAME plan is working, I will need to constantly monitor how my changes are affecting my students. If I create a variety of assessment options and students are not taking advantage of them, I will ask students to find out if the assignments are a good equivalent. Students may be able to give me some feedback about the assessments I have created or even give me their own ideas. By being open to ideas from my students I get the most variety and interesting assignments.

Concerning my second goal, I will monitor their conversations on the blogs to see if they are adhering to the expectations I gave them. Because I can see everything that the students are posting, I will be able to monitor all the comments they make and remove any comments if necessary

Evaluate

Toward the end of the school year, I will be able to reflect upon the changes I have instituted. I can analyze how many students participated in alternative assessments and how many choose the traditional one. This will give me some idea as to whether to create new assignments or keep the ones I created. Depending on my findings, I would share these new assignments with my colleagues and see if they have any suggestions for possible assessments.

To see how successful my second goal was, I could poll my students at the end of the year and get their opinions about whether everyone followed the guidelines or not. Assuming the process was successful, I could share my lesson plans with other teachers at my school or post them to an online teaching community. I could explain the need for internet etiquette and then provide my lesson as an example of how to introduce the topic to students.

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the

Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

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