Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, November 1, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
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.
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.
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