GAME plan T.O.

I have not had much time to do anything with my GAME plan other than work on the lessons for our weekly assignments, and even that has had to take a back seat to caring for my wife who recently took a fairly bad spill down our back steps. That being said I have found some things in our text that are similar to lessons that I have previously used on recycling that would fit not only my GAME plan for the Unit but the GAME plan I set out to accomplish in this blog.

Blog On

I think that working on a Problem Based Learning lesson for this week’s assignment falls right in line with my GAME plan goals. I need to find an authentic lesson that my young students can relate to and utilize my lab to complete. I probably won’t be able to put it to use until at least November as the first few class sessions are going over and reviewing the basics of computer lab procedures, familiarizing the classes with the programs accessible from their desktops and properly saving files. Once we can get past that stage I feel I will be able to test drive my plan on the students and monitor their progress so I can see where to tweak it.

GAME Plan moves along

What I am finding out while developing this GAME plan is that there is a wealth of options out there for implementing new technology into my lab. I am finding different free technology by subscribing with an RSS feed on my blogger page. I bookmark what might work in my classroom and see what my students might be able to use. What I am finding a bit difficult is monitoring and modifying because I am not currently using some of this technology because we are on break. It is hard to say what will work for any particular group of students when you cannot get any feedback from those students. I have definitely adjusted my mind-set after going through these graduate courses as to what my expectations for my students are. I want to make sure that they believe in their minds that using this 21st century technology, they can do whatever it is that they imagine in their minds.

Resources for the GAME plan

What I need to set up for my classes in order to allow them to explore real world issues would be a class blog that would link them to current events and other things that may be of interest to the students. By setting up the blog I could get feedback from the students on what they would like to learn more about. I could also solicit ideas from my colleagues as to what could also tie into what they are studying back in their homerooms. I have not been able to do too much on my plan this week as some family health issues have taken away from my computer time. If I am back in the same teaching situation in the Fall, I will have access to online encyclopedias, Safari Videos and Brain Pop animations to help the students find out more about their topics.

GAME Plan

My GAME plan for boosting my proficiency in NETS-T would have to focus on these two indicators:
1.b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
And
2.b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
My goal would be too have my students be able to work independently on web-based projects that interest them. My action would be to model using the tolls for a research project at each grade level, gradually preparing them for becoming self-directed learners. I would monitor my progress by assessing if the students are becoming more and more independent with each project. At each assessment I would determine what is working well and what needs to be reworked or augmented in some way. I would continually look for new technology to introduce to the students so that many different learning modalities are incorporated.

A Turnaround

The course I am taking now, has me looking at things from a different perspective. Usually I am trying to fit the content to the software programs that need to learned. With this course I have to try and look at it from the classroom perspective, how do I use technology in the content areas. It would be nice if the classrooms had the necessary technology to link up a whole class. Our school is fortunate to have portable laptops that can be sent to classrooms for use.

Reflection on New Literacy Skills

Reflecting on the New Literacy Skills

I think the most striking revelation that I had about teaching new literacy skills to my students was how ill-prepared we ourselves are as an institution to really teach these new skills effectively. Throughout our discussions it is apparent that many districts are simply restricting or blocking access to the tolls necessary to meet this challenge. Instead of sheltering the students from the evils of the internet, we should be teaching them how to use their new skills and judgment to weed out the bad from the good. If they are not exposed to and given guidance on using these new literacy skills they will not know how to deal with it when they do have to put their knowledge to the test in the working world.
With the knowledge I have gained from this course, I intend to expose my students to the internet at a younger age than I currently do. Having them practice inquiries that meet their needs. That is of course, if I still have a job teaching computer lab. If not, I feel that I am much better prepared to utilize these new literacy skills in a self-contained classroom environment.
I would like to learn more about using Wikis and blogs to work with other students around the country and the world to collaborate on projects that affect the students’ communities. I feel that these are the skills that the students will need in the future and the best way to acquire these skills is to practice them. I would also like to share what I have learned this term with the other teacher’s in my school, so we can begin to build a network of collaboration and cooperation within our building. We could start small by having the grade levels work together creating Wikis that they can use throughout the year. We can them connect with other schools in our district and around the world so that our students can practice their newly developing literacy skills.