Final Blog Post

I am glad I had the opportunity to create a GAME Plan for learning some of the NET-T Standards and using them in my classroom. Although I have not yet integrated my plan into my classroom, I am planning to use it next semester in my Geometry classroom. I am very excited about creating two meaningful technology activities to use in my classroom!

I think mainly I learned that I need to make more of an effort to integrate more technology into my classroom. I need to have a plan that I can use to slowly get more comfortable with using technology in my classroom. I think having a plan will be key to really getting it done!

Since my GAME Plan goal was to create new technology activities for use in my classroom, I will definitely make some immediate changes to my instructional practices. One thing I plan to start at the start of the new semester is the use of www.schoology.com with my classes. I am very excited about this. I also plan to create at least one meaningful technology activity for each 9 weeks.

I have enjoyed this class! I think it has definitely been one that has inspired me to get to work creating new activities for my students!

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

I do think that the GAME Plan process could be a great learning tool for students to really make a plan to learn more about technology and what is available to them as students. I also think that it could be a great tool to help students follow through on their goals. I think that it could be implemented in the classroom in much the same way that it was implemented during this course. I feel that students could look over the standards and choose one that they feel a little uncomfortable with. I could help them to write their goals and come up with a plan to meet those goals.

I do have one concern for my classroom specifically. Right now in my district, technology is becoming a bigger deal. Every classroom in the district has a promethean or smart board. We have added computer labs to each school as well. They do support us using technology in our classrooms and even expect us to use it. However, we also have an even bigger push for teaching the content standards to students, and it can be difficult in a math class to have the time to teach every standard. There has not been a push to teach students the technology standards in NET-S. Therefore, using the GAME Plan to help my students learn the NET-S standards does not seem feasible right now. However, I could see myself implementing it to help students meet some sort or math goals that they set for themselves. We could even include the use of technology to help students meet their goals.

Revising your GAME Plan

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice? What goals are you still working toward?

I feel that throughout this master's program, I have learned so many new thing that I can apply to my teaching practice. Right now I am seriously considering using a social networking site to have my students submit assignments to on a regular basis. I cannot remember the name of one that my cousin is using in her classroom, but she said that it is set up much like facebook, but is a safe site that students can only use after being given a password from the teacher. This could be used in so many ways in the classroom. I am looking forward to implementing it into my classrooms second semester! I still have so many goals to work towards meeting. I want to be a teacher who truly puts to practice this new knowledge that I am gaining in my master's courses, so I have a lot of work to do to make my instruction the best that it can be!

Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself?

Since I feel that I still have not truly met the goals that I set for myself in the first place, I am not ready to set new goals for myself.

If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far?

Again, I hope to begin using the social networking site in my classroom. I also hope to implement new technology-based activities into my classroom each 9 weeks.

What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?

To improve my learning, I think I need to spend more time really learning about different web sites that are available for me to use in my classroom and I also need to spend a significant amount of time determining exactly how I want to implement them into my classroom, making sure that everything I do in the classroom is intentional, and nothing is just "fluff." I want to have a yearlong plan that outlines how I will use technology specifically in each class to teach the standards and keep students engaged and interested in the learning process at the same time. I am excited about all of the possibilities that these new technologies bring!

Evaluating my GAME Plan Progress

I feel that this week I am very much in the same place that I was in last week as far as the implementation of my GAME Plan. Since I have decided to implement my GAME Plan for next semester in my Geometry classes, I have not yet decided on specific projects to use. I think my next step needs to be to decide exactly which two units (one first 9 weeks and one second 9 weeks) I would like to create my technology activities for. I would like the two activities to be somewhat spread out so that they fall at least 6 weeks apart. Once I decide on specific units to use for my activities I can really begin to plan specific activities for my students. I want to make sure that the activities are truly engaging and I want to make sure that they are standards-based since I only have so much time to teach all of the standards that they students are required to learn! I also want to make sure that they students will truly learn the standards on their own without too much additional instruction from me (other than a discussion and some modeling afterwards to make sure all students understand). I am excited about my GAME Plan and getting it under way next semester!

Monitoring my GAME Plan Progress

In monitoring my progress on my GAME Plan, I do feel that I need to modify it slightly to make it feel more manageable. My current GAME Plan is set up so that I will create on new technology activity per unit. Although this is still my ultimate goal, I think for now I would just like to focus on creating one very meaningful activity per 9 weeks. I would also like to add that since I am getting ready to start a new semester with new students in January, I would really like to focus on starting my GAME Plan next semester. I have already begun to brainstorm some ideas that I can possibly use for my projects. However, I have not come to the point where I have surely decided on what projects to implement. I will be implementing these into CP Geometry classes, so I think it will be easy to do, but I really want to make sure I plan meaningful activities that my students will get excited about and have the opportunity to show off what they have learned in a creative way. There are still so many things that I need to do to get this GAME Plan going, but I feel that now that I have changed it to just two activities, I can really focus on making two GREAT activities. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them. Have you done similar activites in your own classrooms that I could benefit from? Thanks for the input! I look forward to hearing from you!

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

In order to carry out my GAME plan, there are some things that I will need. As far as resources go, I will first of all need support. I will seek support as needed from the technology specialist at my school. I will also need support from my administration and the math department at my school when I plan for and attend technology conferences. Another resources that I will need is time. Creating these activities will require much time and effort if the activities are going to be good activities. Furthermore, I will need creativity and confidence when creating new activities for my classroom. Finally, I will need technology resources and information on that technology. I will also need the knowledge to use and teach the technology that my students will be using. So far I have not had the opportunity to take steps to start to create these lessons. However, I hope to start soon. I plan to start implementing these activies at the beginning of second semester in January, so I will begin planning these activites within the next few weeks!

My GAME Plan

I have chosen to create a GAME plan for strengthening my confidence in two of the NETS - T standards.

The first standard that I would like to strengthen my confidence in is the first standard: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. My goal will be to create more engaging and authentic lessons that use technology. The action that I will take to help myself achieve this goal will be to make an effort to include at least one activity that uses technology in every unit of study. I think by starting with this small step, I will not feel too overwhelmed at first. I will also be able to create better activities since I am just focused on creating one for each unit instead of one for each individual lesson to begin with. I will monitor my progress by making sure I include one well-planned engaging and authentic lesson that uses technology in every unit of study. I will evaluate my learning by reviewing the effectiveness of each new lesson after it is taught. I will make sure that the lessons are intentional and are effective at reaching the goal.

The second standard that I would like to strengthen my confidence in is the fifth standard: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. My goals will be to take part in some type of technology training each school year and to share my learning with my department at my school. The actions that I will take will be to actively search for, sign up for, and attend some sort of technology conference or training during each school year. I will also prepare a presentation and/or training for my department when I return from the training so that they can become more technology proficient as well. I will monitor my progress by making a point to do some type of technology training every school year. I will also ask my department head to make sure I share something with the department at least once a year. Finally, I will evaluate my learning by taking the time to reflect on what I learned at the training that I attended and share that information with my colleagues.

Reflection

After taking this course, I think the most striking revelation that I had about the teaching of new literacy skills to my students is that these skills really do need to be taught. When I was a student, which was really not that long ago, I was not taught all of these skills. However, I did manage to pick them up along the way. I think that I just assumed that these are skills that students, by the time they get to high school, just know. I was wrong. Each of these skills need to be taught to students, and they need a chance to practice using the skills as well.

What I have learned in this course will impact my teaching practices greatly. After taking this course, I plan to spend time every semester on a project-based unit in which students are taught not only the mathematics concepts from the standards that I am expected to cover, but also the new literacy skills that they need to know to thrive in this ever-changing world. I would actually like to implement the unit plan that I created throughout this course. I want my students to learn these new skills, but I also want them to realize that they can do research on mathematics topics as well as the topics that they choose for other classes like English and Social Studies.

I think I would like to help implement a program at my school that requires that all students are trained yearly on Internet ethics before being allowed to access the Internet at school. It is so important that students are actually taught these ethics, as suggested by Dr. Warlick in the class learning resources. We have a program at our school called "Eagle Time," which is much like homeroom. We meet every two weeks with our "Eagle Time" classes, and I think that this would be the perfect opportunity to train our students on Internet ethics. In fact, they could be trained on the first day of school in "Eagle Time." After they view the training PowerPoint, I would like for students to be required to complete a short quiz answering questions about what they were trained on. After passing the quiz and getting parent permission, students would then be given Internet privileges at school.

Reflection

After reviewing my Personal Theory of Learning that I developed during week 1 of this course, I still feel very much the same way. However, I would like to add in much more technology use into my daily lessons to help stimulate my students' minds and help them to become more engaged in the learning process. I am a strong believer that learning is an active process, and I think it is so important to keep students engaged in what they are learning. I think adding more technology into my lessons can be a great way to get my students engaged.

Immediate adjustments that I will make to my instructional practice will definitely be to integrate more technology into my lessons. "Educational technology is a support for teaching and learning that both teacher and learned can call on to help ensure the opportubity for optimum performance" (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 28). The first technology tool that I am definitely going to integrate into my classroom next year will be a classroom blog where students will go to post comments/questions and/or responses to given prompts that all center around our classroom lessons. A second technology that I would like to integrate into my classroom instruction is Voice Threads. I can see how I could use a Voice Thread in my classroom in many ways. I would like to use it to review material already learned in the classroom so that students can use it for additional help. I would also like to use a Voice Thread to give students prompts to respond to.

The first long-term goal that I have for changing my instructional practice is to begin to use technology in the classroom more so that I am more of a mediator while my students actively learn through the use of technology because "integrating technology into instruction tends to move classrooms from teacher-dominated environments to ones that are more student-centered" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn. & Malenoski, 2007, p.3). A second long-term goal that I have is to get students more excited about math through the use of technology in the classroom. To achieve both of these goals will mean continuing to learn about the best technologies that are available to me and my students and learning how to use them so that I can integrate them into the classroom.

References

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Voice Thread

http://voicethread.com/share/1191713/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

There were many strategies discussed in the chapter, "Cooperative Learning" in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. These strategies had a very strong connection to social learning theories.

One particular strategy that I liked was WebQuests. They are "inquiry-oriented activities that allow students in a class or from multiple locations to work together to learn about a particular subject or to tackle a particular project or problem" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p.145). By having students work together to complete WebQuests, they are interacting with each other as well as the material in the WebQuest to learn. This is very much an application of social learning theory.

A second strategy that I liked was Web Site Creation. By having students work together to create a web site that follows given criteria, students are very much interacting with the information and deciding what is most important for their web site. They are also interacting with each other to create the web site and learn the material, which is another great application of the socialist learning theory.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Constructivism in Practice

After reading "Generating and Testing Hypotheses" in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, I found that the strategy is very much related to constructivist/ constructionist learning theories. This is because by having students make their own hypotheses about a topic and test those hypotheses, the students are actually involved in creating (constructing) some project that helps them to test their hypotheses. By constructing some method of testing their hypotheses, students learn first-hand whether or not their hypothesis is correct. They also construct an understanding of the topic that they are hypothesizing about, which allows them to learn that particular topic.

One specific example that I liked from this chapter was Mrs. Omar's interactive spreadsheet that students used to determine which investment was best. Students were able to put in their own starting values to see which investment choice was best. This was a great way to allow students to test their hypotheses without a lot of tedious calculations. It allowed them to construct their knowledge by seeing how the values changed based on the initial investment made (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). By using technology, students are also more likely to get excited about the topic as well.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Using Cognitive Tools to Enhance Learning Experiences

After reading in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works about two instructional strategies that embed technology: “Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers” and “Summarizing and Note Taking,” I have taken the time to reflect on how they relate to the cognitive learning theories that I have also been studying this week.

In the chapter called "Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers," I found that many of the recommendations that were made in the chapter are all great tools to use that relate back to the cognitive learning theories. For example, in the text, the authors talk about "teach[ing] students how to use graphic advance organizers" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 74). Advance graphic organizers are a great way to use the cognitive learning theories in the classroom. They help students to make connections through dual coding and elaboration, two of the theories that Dr. Orey discussed in his video on Cognitive Learning Theory (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008).

In the chapter called "Summarizing and Note Taking," I also found that the recommendations made by the authors were very much strategies that can be used in the classroom to align with the cognitive learning theories. I particularly like how the authors state that "the classroom recommendations for note taking include using a variety of note-taking formats and giving students teacher-prepared notes" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 128). I agree that students need variety in they types of instructions that they receive to help them stay interested and excited about learning. I feel that this definitely falls into the category of cognitive learning theories since it has students making connections in ways that they might not make them otherwise. In the cognitive learning theory, the connections made in the brain are the primary way that learning takes place, so making those connections in many different ways is vital to the learning process.

Sally Moore

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Application 2: Behaviorism in Practice

I have recently read about two instructional strategies, "Reinforcing Effort" and "Homework and Practice," from the book Using Technology in Classroom Instruction that Works. Each of the strategies correlate very closely with the principles of behaviorist learning.

The first strategy I studied, "Reinforcing Effort," was all about using rubrics and spreadsheets to compare one's effort to his grades. The correlates with the behaviorism theory because when students see how their effort truly effects their grades, they will change their behavior and begin putting forth more effort to continue to receive the reward of a higher grade. I can see how this could be very helpful at getting students to become more self-motivated when it comes to paying attention in class, completing assignments, and studying outside of the classroom. This is a strategy that I may implement into my high school math classroom next year.

The second strategy that I studies, "Homework and Practice," was about different ways one can use homework and practice effectively. I felt that this strategy also correlated with the behaviorist theory. By having a homework policy in place, students are more likely to complete given assignments and therefore benefiting from the assignments. The grade for completing the homework is the reward. Also, by providing feedback on homework, students will see that the assignment is worth completing since they may actually learn something from it. This is behaviorism since students are working to receive feedback, which is the reward. I use homework very frequently in the classes that I teach. I have a policy in place that counts homework/classwork as a percentage of the student's final grade. I also check and go over homework at the beginning of the next class period so that students can find and correct mistakes that they are making.

Reflective Essay

In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills?

This course has helped me to develop my own technology skills by introducing me to different technologies that I can use in my classroom such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts. I also learned different ways that I can effectively integrate these technologies into my classroom.

In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of technology integration with the aim of increasing student achievement?

One way that I will continue to expand my knowledge of technology integration with the aim of student achievement will be to continue with the courses required for my master's degree in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Another way will be to keep up with new and emerging technologies by reading educational journals and blogs on the subject.

Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment into a place where technology is integrated seamlessly to meet instructional goals and increase student achievement. How do you plan to accomplish these goals?

The first goal that I have set for my classroom with respect to integrating technology seamlessly to increase student achievement is to create a class blog where my students will be expected to respond to an entry each week. On the blog I would also like to post class notes with examples so that students who miss class or need extra help could look for assistance. This will increase student achievement because students will be expected to read about the math that they are learning and then respond. My students need practice reading mathematics, and by writing about what they learn, they will reinforce the concepts even more. I hope to accomplish this goal for next school year. To accomplish it, I will take more time to learn about blogs and all of the various ways that they can be used. Once it is in place, I will maintain it by spending time each day as needed to update the blog and read my students' responses.

The second goal that I have for transforming my classroom is to allow my students more time for online learning through websites like usatestprep.com where they will play games, answer drill questions, and practice other various mathematics topics. This will increase student achievement by allowing them time to learn new topics on their own and allowing them to drill on topics that they are having trouble with instant feedback. I will accomplish this goal by signing up to use the computer lab on a weekly basis. I will then spend time researching websites that can be used to increase student achievement in mathematics. Students will be taught how to use and navigate each website at the beginning of the semester. They will rotate websites from week to week after that.

Technology Podcast

This is a link to a podcast that I created to gauge the amount of technology that my students have access to and use on a daily basis at home and at school. Enjoy!

http://moores.podbean.com/

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

I have just had the opportunity to browse the website of P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Skills). The url for the website is http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/. I greatly enjoyed learning about what P21 is all about.

The mission statement for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is to "Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders."

I feel that this is something that our schools need in order to prepare our U.S. students with the skills that they need in order to compete in the global workforce. I was a little surprised that this is actually the first I have heard of P21. I was also surprised to see that my home state of South Carolina is not on the list of states that are currently involved in this initiative.

I did not see anything on the site that I disagree with. I feel that what P21 is doing can have some very positive implications for our students. By teaching students by the framework created by P21, I feel that we will be doing a better job of preparing them for the 21st Century workplace and therefore giving them an advantage in an increasingly competitive job market.

Using Blogs in the Classroom

I teach high school math (grades 9-12) in Greenwood, SC. I have never used blogs in my classroom. However, I can see many ways that they could be useful. I hope to begin using a blog during the new semester since I will begin with new students. I think the initial purpose of my blog will be a place to basically "extend" the classroom. I will post entries that reflect on lessons and explain more difficult concepts. I will post links to sites that students can use to help them with homework as well as links to any powerpoints that were used so that students can print their notes if they miss class. I will also post about student achievements in my classroom. As I become more comfortable with using a blog, I hope to extend the purpose of the blog to have students discuss about topics learned in class. Students sometimes have trouble writing about math, but I believe that when they can explain what they are doing in words, they better understand what they are doing. By having students explain concepts and discuss concepts through a blog, I believe that they will gain a deeper understanding of the material.