A closer look...

My game plan has been put into action, but I do not know if I have taken it where I want it to go. I also have a feeling that my game plan can produce greater outcomes, or be implemented to a greater degree than I have allowed it. Part of this dilemma is a result of my race against the clock. Instructional days are becoming a scarce commodity. I am having to make the most of all opportunities as time is running short and students' attention spans are running even shorter. More and more students are letting their minds shift into summer mode.

With these thoughts in mind I suppose I am expecting to change my plan a little. I have taken my students need to learn home addresses to new levels. We have incorporated this objective into many different instructional areas. I would still like to bring it back to technology before I get ready to assess my students growth in this skill. I hope to get back to the lab one more time and have the students explore other locations in reference to their own location in this vast world. Googlemaps will still serve as an applicable tool for this exercise, unless I am presented with another alternative.

This process has taught me a lot about giving my students opportunities for SDL. I am too quick to underestimate my students' potential to learn. I think that often I forget how intrigued I was at that age to find out how things work, or to acquire new information. Though it may not be the case for all students, I feel that many students share a similar passion and excitement for learning. They may not come right out and say it, but I have noticed that with so many of my students they can not help but be curious about what is unknown to them. That is why through this GAME Plan I have been inspired to take a closer look at the opportunities that I provide my learners to grow themselves. Am I giving them rich and valuable opportunities that will quench their inquisitive personalities? What can I do to keep them excited about learning, and what can I do to keep them wanting to go deeper?

One part of my GAME Plan was to become more of an expert in regards to the tech tools that I use. My school is getting dumped on with new technologies. I know getting new technology in a school is something to be excited about, but at the same time it is happening at such a rate that our building is having a hard time keeping up. I have been, and will continue to be a go to person when questions arise regarding a new technology. I am wondering if there is a good conference, workshop, training, or resource that may benefit a teacher like myself who is quickly finding out that he is acquiring the "techie" identity at his school?

It's Game Time!

It is now time to take the GAME plan and put it into action. My plan has been put together in a way that will utilize the use of technology to support the instruction I am providing my students in the classroom. One mistake I have seen teachers make is that they feel technology is an area that is separate from the rest of what is taught in their classroom. It has become my clear understanding that the technology I choose to use will serve as an assistive tool in helping address the many learning needs of my diverse body of students. In my plan I have designed a lesson that focuses on learning our home addresses, knowing how to write them, and understanding what different things we can do with our addresses.

To carry out my plan I am going to be using my computer/interactive whiteboard setup in my classroom. This will mainly be used in demonstrating the computer usage and how to interact with the googlemaps website that we will be using. I will also need use of our school's computer lab for about two 30 minute periods. The purpose of the first period will be to go to the lab, practice getting on the site, inputting the information, and getting somewhat familiar with the features of the website. Our second period will be aimed at going to the lab and using the site to acquire certain information. Students will input their address, look for features near their home, and identify routes to various locations.

I am relatively comfortable with the googlemaps program, so I feel that there is not a lot of new information I need to acquire. If anything, I will be going to googlemaps to get a better perspective on how I can effectively teach it so that my students catch on as quickly as possible. Of course, this online research will require some information from my students. I will be assigning them to write down their home address and return that address to school. Obviously, I could get this information from our school office, but this will be a great way to have each student have some interaction with their own address. This will be a vital piece of information that I want them to start becoming comfortable and familiar with.

I have been able to demonstrate some of the features of googlemaps to my students. This was a good way to address the needs of my visual learners, but my tactile and kinesthetic learners needed to get their hands on something. I was able to have some of these students interact with the website and practice putting an address in and searching for that location. Some students were successful in their search, while others ran into various obstacles. Surprisingly, I was glad to have these issues arise when they did. Seeing some of the problems my students faced allowed me to plan my next steps. I have realized that before we go to the lab for a full class visit I am going to have to talk to my young second graders how important it is to accurately input our address information. It should not have been a surprise to me that students were inputting their addresses with spelling mistakes, leaving out critical information, or simply not putting spaces between their words. I thought to myself, "Can I blame them?" At least they are excited about engaging in the educational experience, and in my book that's nothing to get upset about!

The "GAME" Plan

I was given the opportunity to take a close look at the NETS standards this week. The NETS standards are designed and aimed at getting teachers to integrate technology in the classrooms in order for students to experience meaningful learning with real world implications. I will be presenting two of the standards I have chosen to apply to my own teaching practice and explain how the GAME plan applies to the application of these standards. The GAME plan consists of setting goals, taking action, monitoring, and evaluating / extending. The rest of my post will present my chosen standards and the plan I have to effectively address those with my students.

NETS Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.

A benchmark for this standard goes on to say, "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources ." This is a huge part of why I want to have my students become more involved with technology. It is so much a part of their every day lives, and that trend will only continue to become more common. I am always looking for new tech tools that can be used to help drive home a point, or add more of an excitement factor to a lesson. Currently we have been learning about addresses. It may seem simplistic, but it is a sad reality that most young students are unable to accurately name, let alone write their home address. By incorporating technology I feel that I could put a positive spin on what may seem like a trivial and boring lesson.

Goals: Provide students an opportunity to learn their home address. Give students opportunities to use web-based tools to develop a deeper understanding of addresses and their uses in regards to reading maps and having knowledge of locating specific locations.

Action: Initially I will have to assign students the task of recording their own home address. This will be a simple homework assignment that a parent can help them out with. Secondly, I will need to design meaningful lessons the include the use of the address they have brought back.

Monitor: While using the web-based tools I can monitor individuals or groups as they work on the online exploration. I will also meet with small groups to discuss their findings and understandings about reaching the outcomes of the lesson.

Evaluate: Before beginning I pre-screened my students for their ability to write down their home address. In the end I will be able to offer a post assessment. Comparing the two assessments will give me a clear picture of which students have benefited from the activities associated with our lessons.

NETS Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning.

Under this standard are a collection of benchmarks that refer to being fluent in technological uses as well as collaborating with others on such uses. The collaboration is explained to be not only between students, but peers, as well as parents. In the grand scheme of things, I feel this standard is in place to help develop a teacher so that they are truly comfortable with using technology, to the point that they are willing and able to use it, share it, and offer assistance with it when needed. This is a great standard for myself, because I am in a situation where our school is seeing a lot of new technology being introduced and I am noticing that a lot of individuals are either scared of it, or upset about the changes. I hope to find a way to help my peers feel less threatened by new technologies and more empowered for the new things they will be able to do with it.

Goals: Through this standard, my first goal is to become fluent and confident in my own uses of such technologies. I desire to not only become comfortable with the technologies, but also use technologies in a way that causes myself to be a more effective teacher. My second goal is to establish myself as an approachable expert in the building. I want fellow staff members to see me as an individual who can help bridge the gap between having technology and not know how to implement it.

Action: To be sure I am meeting this standard I will need to take time to learn the tools. It would be worthwhile to attend trainings or conferences on some of the technologies that I am less familiar with, or feel would be strong tools for many of the teachers in the building. I would also want to have opportunities to be available to those who need my assistance. I could present on a new technology at a staff meeting, or I could set up times to meet with teachers on an individual basis upon their request.

Monitor: This standard may seem a little bit harder to evaluate. For my own sake I could keep a journal of my uses of specific technologies, as well as their effectiveness, or ineffectiveness in meeting my expectations. In regards to collaborating with my colleagues, I could offer occasional surveys / questionnaires to get a better measure of their feelings and understandings.

Evaluate: For the sake of evaluation I am going to be taking a look at the impact my work with technology has had on student outcomes. I am also going to find ways to help other teachers find out how influential their tech practices have been with their own students.

Resource:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

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