As I prepare my students for the 21st
century workplace, it is my responsibility to develop skills needed to be
successful. Prensky (2008) notes technology
skills, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, ethics and
responsibility, and global awareness as the 21st century skills our
students need. The skills needed for our students to be success mirror the National
Educational Technology Standards (NETS).
When reviewing the standards and indicators of the NETS there were some
standards I felt fairly confident with and some standards I knew I needed to further
develop my confidence and implement more into my instruction. I decided to create a personal GAME plan to
increase my confidence in two indicators of standard one, “Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and
Creativity,” (ISTE, 2008). The two
indicators I want to integrate more in my instruction are indicators b
and c (indicator b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving
authentic problems using digital tools and resources, indicator c. promote student reflection
using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding
and thinking, planning, and creative processes), (ISTE,2008).
Integrating
technology into instruction effectively requires knowledge of how to teach
content using the digital tool, confidence with getting students to use the
tools, belief that student centered instruction and hands on learning makes for
good teaching, and a supportive culture as I integrate new technologies into
instruction (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).
Through developing and following my personal GAME plan I strive to
integrate technology into instruction effectively in order to engage my
students and improve learning of content and 21st century skills
(ISTE, 2008). My GAME plan will allow me
to set specific goals, take action to meet those goals, monitor my progress
toward achieving those goals, and evaluate whether the goals were achieved
(Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).
My GAME plan:
·
Goals:
o
Determine how collaborative tools such
as blogs, podcasts, and VoiceThread can be used to promote student reflection
and incorporate these reflective tools regularly into instruction.
o
Create new authentic learning
experiences and real world problem solving activities with technology as I
develop my third grade common core curriculum.
·
Action
o
I plan to use cooperative learning and
problem based learning experiences to engage my students in authentic learning
activities with technology.
o
I plan to have my students regularly
collaborate and reflect on problems in math using technology.
o
I plan to use various technology
resources such as blogs, VoiceThread, podcasts as reflective tools during
reading and mathematics instruction.
o
I plan to use various technology
resources such as concept mapping tools, kidspiration, webquests, blogs,
VoiceThread, and podcasts to engage my students in authentic problem solving
activities in math next year.
·
Monitor
o
I will use formative assessments to
determine if my students are learning content as they engage in reflection and
authentic learning activities.
o
As my students engage in authentic
learning activities and reflection using collaborative tools I will use
observations to reflect “in action” to determine if I need to make modifications
as my students work.
·
Evaluate
o
At the conclusion of new learning activities
I will determine how well the activity went, if the activity had the intended
outcome, and what I can do differently next time to improve the outcome.
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Customed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Enriching content area learning experiences with technology, part 1. Baltimore, MD: Author
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teacher (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx
Prensky, M. (2008).
Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.
I read about belief system in an article I find quite enriching on http://www.inspired-personal-development.com/belief-system.html I think you may like it too.
ReplyDeleteHi Chelsea!
ReplyDeleteWhat fabulous goals you have developed for yourself. The goal that spoke most to me was your goal that stated, "Determine how collaborative tools such as blogs, podcasts, and VoiceThread can be used to promote student reflection and incorporate these reflective tools regularly into instruction" (Kalnoske, 2012). I have been a kindergarten teacher for two years, and I truly desire to utilize technology tools such as blogs, podcasts, and voicethread to enhance student learning. My district offers half-day kindergarten, so often any project type activities must completed at home with parental guidance due to the age of my students. This year I am teaching first grade, and I am so excited at the prospect of having students who are more technology savvy, having more time with students throughout the day, and working with students who have developed a little independence in comparison to how my kindergarteners entered school.
Student progress monitored via formative assessments is a fabulous way to determine whether or not your strategies are effective. It is so important the we, as educators, recognize the importance of placing value in formative assessments. What have students understood or taken away from my instruction? In what areas are they still lacking? How can I adjust my teaching strategies to meet the needs of all students? These are critical questions that we must ask ourselves, and it sounds to me as if you are well aware of these crucial questions.
Great post!
Hannah,
DeleteThank you for your comments. I agree that the crucial questions you noted must be a constant in our instruction. Having students reflect more about their learning using technology could be a great way to find out what our students do and don't know. I am so happy to hear you will be working with your first graders to use technology. You will be developing an excellent foundation.
Chelsea
Chelsea
Hi, Chelsea:
ReplyDeleteYour plan of how to improve in the indicators you chose is really good. Nevertheless, I would like to see the plan more defined and detailed. It is too general and broad. It is more like a plan made to realize the whole year instead of realizing it in a short term period.
It would be a good idea to include in your Action steps to receive feedback from your students about the technology they are going to use to reflect about their work. This would be helpful to know how much they know about this particular technology, how each technology works for them, and to improve yourself in the way you use it in your classroom (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 4). You could also ask an evaluation from your students to know how did you perform as their guide and which ways you could improve your own instruction style considering their preferences.
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.
Nadia,
DeleteThank you for your comments and suggestions. I never really thought about asking my students to evaluate how well I guided them in using the new technology. I will definitely do this in the coming school year. This would be a great way for me to find ways to improve. Thank you!
Chelsea
Hello Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I am particularly interested in the fact that you are teaching students at Grade Three. I believe they are predominantly eight years of age? My students in Year Four are about the same age. I also am interested in using these web tools as learning and instructional tools simultaneously. I plan to use them in my instruction so that my students can gain the experience of using them. This will help them to become familiar with the tools and even select them for producing their learning product at the end of a unit or inquiry. I think it would benefit your low level readers because of the listening and speaking application for the podcast and voice thread. They could retell stories and build higher level thinking skills; if they select parts of a story and give their view of the story after reading or listening in a read aloud session. This could help them to synthesize information. They can also work independently on this exercise once they know how to use it. I can just see their writing skills being developed as a result of this exercise. If you do not yet have a link to a voice thread account, you can build one here and allow your students to use it. It is great to use because you can just record online as you post the pictures: http://voicethread.com/
The use of concept mapping is an excellent idea Chelsea! I also plan to use this to develop a graphic organizer in each content area for students to see where they are going, how they are going to get there and how they will know they got there. Using the KWLH chart is a good idea when using the concept mapping tool online. I think it would be beneficial if your students participated in the exercise; especially for religious, science and social studies. This is a link to a concept mapping tool online that I found beneficial to use with my students: http://www.spiderscribe.net. I would add rubrics to the graphic organizer to show students the success criteria. This is scaffolding the students into learning the content as they utilize technology.
On the matter of assessments, I am planning on using portfolios because of the formative and summative potential it has for assessment. It also lends itself to students’ contribution and involvement including reflections. I think these are crucial to any self-directed learner. You will do quite well in achieving your goals if you formulate your plans with your lifelong learning and the students’ engagement in their learning. For assessments, I would suggest the use of rubrics to help you to determine if students understand the content matter. One strategy I plan on doing a teacher inquiry on is self-assessments done by students and how beneficial it can be if used with a portfolio. I think rubrics are useful if students help you to determine the success criteria for any piece of work. That way, they will know what they are working towards, and know when they get there too. If they get there quickly, you can have enrichment activities for them or have them help the slower ones to achieve the targets. All the best in your endeavours!
Michelle Rose
Michelle,
DeleteThank you for your comments and suggestions. I agree that using VoiceThread and podcasts will allow lower level readers and writers activity participate while developing their skills. Concept mapping is a note taking skill that works really well with third graders. I have used spider scribe whole class before. When my students work independently or in cooperative learning groups I typically use kidspiration for ease. I think incorporating KWHL maps more into instruction would greatly benefit my students. As for assessments, I have tried to use portfolios in the past without much success. While I see the potential I find it difficult to keep up with them with my third graders. I have has much more success with rubrics and plan to have my students reflect more about their learning while completing self assessments.
Chelsea
Hi Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more that "Integrating technology into instruction effectively requires knowledge of how to teach content using the digital tool, confidence with getting students to use the tools, belief that student centered instruction and hands on learning makes for good teaching, and a supportive culture as I integrate new technologies into instruction" (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).
One very crucial aspect in the ability of the teacher to impact knowledge is the belief that he is able to and that the students are able as well. This will form a culture of belief and possibilities around the learners and help them achieve their learning goals. The teacher's belief system is no doubt a deciding factor in classroom success.
I enjoy reading through your plan and I can see that your students will be adequately engaged with the various technology tools you intend to use.
Damilola
This was a part of my earlier post but I guess it got lost.