Final Reflection

“Self-directed, metacognitive learners engage in three key processes: planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning activities” (Cennamo & Ertmer, 2009, p. 3). The GAME plan guides directs self-directed instruction and learning.   I created a GAME plan for my class which was based on an informational writing piece. I found the GAME plan forced me to look at the development and implementation of my lesson with a more critical eye then I had ever looked at my lessons before this point.  One revelation that I had was that we shouldn’t only look at self-directed learning in terms of our students, but we should also look at self-directed learning for teachers.    

According to Slavit and Roth McDuffie (2013),“Self-directed teacher learning is an avenue for exploring questions of practice generated by teachers. When these questions are constructively negotiated by a teacher community, buy-in is almost certain. This buy-in also supports teachers’ attitudes that improving practice should remain a priority in their work…” (p. 104).

The most beneficial aspect of my GAME plan was the evaluation phase.  By following my GAME plan with integrity, I found that I don’t evaluate my lessons and learning enough.  Cennamo and Ertmer (2009) state that the most important question you can ask yourself is “whether you were successful in meeting your goals” (p. 5). I felt I met the goals of my plan, but I would do some things differently.  One, I would allow less time for my lesson.  I felt the lesson dragged on a little too long.  The other thing I would do is have all of the students add their reviews to a classroom blog.  I understand choice can be a good thing, however, in this lesson, students had a difficult time with having a choice.  I believe a blog would make it much easier for students to share their reviews and for others to access.  

Overall, the GAME plan was easy to use and beneficial in developing and improving my lessons. I will continue to use it in the future. Even though Cennamo and Ertmer (2009) developed the GAME plan for self-directed learning, I have used it for a variety of lesson types over the last five weeks, and it has worked well.  Setting goals, applying, monitoring, and evaluating should be should be part of all lesson planning.

Just as the GAME plan can be adapted to be used with any type of lesson, it can also be used with students.  When students are doing self-directed learning or problem-based learning, it is easy for them to dive into learning without any goals and direction. The use of the GAME plan gives students a compass for their learning and forces them to monitor their progress toward their goals. Students are often self-directed learners on their own.  They are constantly learning new apps, video games, hardware.  According to Cennamo, self-directed learners should be planning, monitoring, and evaluating. She believes that students need help becoming self-directed learners, though.  We must give students practice writing goals, monitoring, and evaluating (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).  In the future, I will begin implementing the GAME plan with my students in a very basic manner.  I will start with a KWHL (know-want-how-learned) chart (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).  This prepares students for using the GAME plan without being stressful.  As students become comfortable with with KWHL charts, I would explain the correlation to GAME plans. I would  then have my students begin creating GAME plans for any self-directed learning.

I have learned a great deal from this course.  I will implement more self-directed learning and problem-based learning in my classroom.  I will also also use the GAME plan when I plan my self-directed learning and problem-based learning lessons. I believe the process will help me grow as an educator.

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas: Promoting self-directed learning with technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Slavit, D., & Roth McDuffie, A. (2013). Self-Directed teacher learning in collaborative Contexts. school science and mathematics, 113(2), 94-105

GAME Plan Progress
Tom Wilcox
November 19, 2014

As a reminder, I chose the following NETS-T standards to concentrate on:

NETS-T Standard 4.d:

Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

And

NETS-T Standard 1.c:

Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

Two weeks ago I developed GAME Plan to help me develop proficiency in two NETS-T standards.  Last week I looked at the GAME PLan and determined the resources I would need to tackle the GAME Plan. This week I will reflect on the progress I have made, and if there is anything I still need or should change to help me accomplish my GAME Plan.

My GAME Plan, as stated over the last few weeks is as follows:

To reach proficiency in the NETS-T Standard 4.d, I set the following goals:

• I will collaborate with a classroom from another country using ePals.

• My students will send emails, videos, Skyping with a classroom from another country to get to know their culture.
• My students will correspond effectively (grammar, sentence structure, etc.) with the student they are matched with.

The resources I will need to carry out my plan are the following:

·      A Chromebook for each child

·      Parent permission slip (both paper copy and Google Form alternative)

·      Google account

·      An ePal teacher account

·      ePal student account per child

·      Partner classroom

·      Skype account

·      SmartBoard

To reach proficiency in the NETS-T Standard 4.d, I set the following goals:

• I will create a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs to reflect upon each day’s lesson and use it as a model for students.
• Students will create a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs.
• Students will reflection using a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs to determine growth and areas of improvement in their learning.
• Students will use their reflections to improve their academic weaknesses.

The resources I will need to carry out my plan are the following:

·      Google account

·      Reader writer notebook

·      SmartBoard

The truth is, last week was a terrible week for me so the progress on my two goals has been minimal.  My mother has been in the hospital this past week. I have been at her side each night which consists of a three hour round trip and a late night at the hospital.  On top of that, It is report card time, all my grades were due, I had 80 narrative stories to correct, 80 summative assessments to correct, parent conferences, selling my condo, grad class assignments, blah, blah, blah… To say the least, I was a little swamped!  I was able to set up email accounts for my students on ePals and I set up Google Classroom for my students.  All of my students joined google classroom and we did an assignment using Google Classroom. It worked really well.  The next step is to use Google Classroom for the virtual reflection journal.

One activity my class will be partaking is will be an author visit on December 2-3. We are currently reading the author’s book and on the 2nd and 3rd we will meet with the author and begin a writing assignment.  In January, we will be Skyping with the author.  The Skyping activity addresses  NETS-T Standard 4.d.  It will also give me experience using Skype technology in my classroom.  I would like to use this technology more often.  I will begin exploring the ePal website for classrooms that are looking for a partner school.

At this point, I will stick to most of the GAME Plan I originally constructed.  After viewing

this week’s video resource and reading the required text assignment, one area of my plan that needs to be looked at is the creation of effective assessments.  Ross states that we must have a “cadre” of techniques to monitor and evaluate our students (Laureate Education, Inc.. 2009). In order for me to evaluate my GAME Plan, I must know if my students acquiring the skills that are expected of them.  A combination of assessments including forced-choice, open-ended response, performance-based, and project-based should be incorporated into the plan. Rubrics and checklists will be the primary way of scoring the assessments.  They are most effective because they help reduce subjectivity of subjective assessments (Cennamo,  Ross,  & Ertmer, 2009).

I look forward to implementing my GAME Plan in my classroom.  With a few tweeks here and there, I am sure I will develop proficiency in the two NETS-T standards I have adopted for my classroom.

If anyone has used ePals in the past, I would love to hear from you. i would like to know about your experiences.  What are some tips for a beginner to the process?  If you have not used ePals, do you know anyone who has?  If so, what were their experiences?

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content
areas: Assessing student learning with technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

GAME PLAN Resources And Needs

Tom Wilcox

November 12, 2014

Last week I determined two NETS-T standards that I felt I could work on to improve myself and my students. Those standards were:

NETS-T Standard 4.d:

Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

And

NETS-T Standard 1.c:

Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

In order to meet each of these standards, I created a GAME Plan.

To reach proficiency in the NETS-T Standard 4.d, I set the following goals:

·      I will collaborate with a classroom from another country using ePals.

·      My students will send emails, videos, Skyping with a classroom from another country to get to know their culture.

·      My students will correspond effectively (grammar, sentence structure, etc.) with the student they are matched with.

The resources I will need to carry out my plan are the following:

·      A Chromebook for each child

·      Parent permission slip (both paper copy and Google Form alternative)

·      Google account

·      An ePal teacher account

·      ePal student account per child

·      Partner classroom

·      Skype account

·      SmartBoard

To reach proficiency in the NETS-T Standard 4.d, I set the following goals:

·      I will create a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs to reflect upon each day’s lesson and use it as a model for students.

·      Students will create a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs.

·      Students will reflection using a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs to determine growth and areas of improvement in their learning.

·      Students will use their reflections to improve their academic weaknesses.

The resources I will need to carry out my plan are the following:

·      Google account

·      Reader writer notebook

·      SmartBoard

Prior to implementing each of my GAME Plans, I must survey my students to better understand their technology literacies, comfort levels with various media, and learning styles. If I know my students’ strengths and weaknesses, I can supplement various media to meet the diverse needs of my students (Laureate Education, 2009, b).  I will also make sure, prior to implementing my GAME Plan, that I have the support that I need within my classroom.  I will make sure that I teach myself the technology that I use prior to using it with my students.  Ross stated that teachers must know the adaptive technology their students are using (Laureate Education, 2009, b). I believe that rule should apply to all technology used in the classroom. On days that we Skype, I will be sure to involve the media specialist. That way, if we have any network problems, hardware issues, or software glitches, I will have support.  The special education teacher should also be involved in the implementation of the GAME Plan.  Together, we can plan modifications that must be made based on IEP’s and 504 plans.

            So far, I have taken a number of step beyond the initial GAME Plan. I have met with my house team to discuss each of my GAME Plans.  Through the multiple discussions, the world cultures teacher and I have agreed to team up on the ePal GAME Plan.  It fits in with her curriculum perfectly.  We will select a classroom to collaborate with together.  I have also

signed up for ePals and created 80 accounts for my students.  I am in the process of creating a parent permission slip and Google Form.  In addition to the mentioned steps that I have taken, I have met with the media specialist who is very excited to join our team for the venture.  He has added some great suggestions.  Finally, after meeting with the special education teacher, she has begum putting together a list of required modifications from each of the five IEP’s from my classroom.  Once this is complete we will get together and develop flexible technology goals for the special education students as well as any other student, gifted or otherwise, that need additional media alternatives.

          As far as my second standard goes, I have not made much progress yet. I have however, been learning how to create the type of form that I would need to create a virtual reflection journal.  I need to experiment with multiple format before I select one.  Maybe I will give students choices on this as well.

          Ross stated, technology allows us to reach many more students than we could with traditional print. He goes on to say that it also give us flexibility to meet the needs of all students(Laureate Education, 2009, a).  I believe my GAME Plan takes advantage of multiple technologies to meet the goals set in place by the NETS-T standards.

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-base approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Customed.). 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/standards/nets-for-teachers

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas: Meeting students' needs with technology, part 1. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas: Meeting students' needs with technology, part 2. Baltimore, MD: Author.

The GAME Plan

The GAME Plan: Strengthening Two NETS-T Standards

I consider myself technologically literate, however; one area I need to improve on is collaborating online.  I am somewhat shy, so collaborating online is uncomfortable to me.  I have to tell myself that I make my students work outside of their comfort zone quite often.  I need to do the same for myself.  Most of my students use some form of social networking daily.  I would like to tap into their ability to social network. According to Will Richardson, “We now live in a world where even twelve-year-olds can create their own global classrooms around the things about which they are most passionate” (Bellanca, 2010). I want to give my students the tools to create these global communities.  I can begin by scaffolding my lessons to ease my students into the world of global collaboration.  ePals is great place to begin.

NETS-T Standard 4.d:

Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

Set Goals

·      I will collaborate with a classroom from another country using ePals.

·      My students will send emails, videos, Skyping with a classroom from another country to get to know their culture.

·      My students will correspond effectively (grammar, sentence structure, etc.) with the student they are matched with.

Take Action:

·      I will send home permission slips for my students’ parents to sign to allow their students to participate.

·      I will create an account with ePals and request email accounts for my students.

·      I will select a classroom from another country from the ePals “Find Classroom” page.

·      I will contact the teacher from the classroom I have selected and set up a list of expectations (an emphasis on culture) and create a timeline.

·      My students will correspond with the class via email, video, and Skype.

Monitor Progress:

I will ask the following questions throughout the collaborative learning experience:

·      Is my class collaborating with a class from another country?

·      Are my students learning about another culture?

·      Are my students using multiple technology tools to correspond?

·      Are my students effectively communicating with their counterparts?

·      Do I need to modify my GAME plan?

Evaluate and Extend:

To determine if I have met my goals, I will ask the following questions:

·      Have my goals been met?

·      If not, what could I do to meet these goals?

·      What worked well?

·      What could I improve for the future?

·      How could I extend the project?

I believe that I do a pretty good job reflecting within my classroom informally.  I do not, however, write out formal reflections that I keep in a notebook for future references.  I understand that reflections are more than descriptions, they can be in depth with shared feelings, critical perspectives, and may even lead to creating goals.  To get to high-level reflection, one must take the time t work on writing deep reflections. It is not easy: it takes time to develop these skills (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I believe that I have to do a better job of developing my students into self-reflectors.  Creating a virtual notebook with Google Docs should give my students the practice that they need to be better at reflecting upon their academic achievements and needs.  This should improve their academic success.

NETS-T Standard 1.c:

Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

Set Goals

·      I will create a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs to reflect upon each day’s lesson and use it as a model for students.

·      Students will create a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs.

·      Students will reflection using a virtual reflection journal in Google Docs to determine growth and areas of improvement in their learning.

·      Students will use their reflections to improve their academic weaknesses.

Take Action:

·      I will provide time each day for reflection. 

·      My students will reflect at least once a week (due to my classroom set of five Chromebooks) in their virtual reflection journal in Google Docs.

·      Students will set goals to improve any academic deficiencies.

Monitor Progress:

I will ask the following questions throughout the collaborative learning experience:

·      Are the actions helping my students achieve the GAME Plan goals?

·      Is the virtual notebook doable with only five classroom Chromebooks?

·      Are my students writing meaningful reflections?

·      Are my students setting goals that are helping them improve academically?

·      Do I need to modify my GAME plan?

Evaluate and Extend:

To determine if I have met my goals, I will ask the following questions:

·      Have my goals been met?

·      If not, what could I do to meet these goals?

·      What worked well?

·      What could I improve for the future?

·      How could I extend the project?

The exercise to use the GAME Plan to strengthen preficency in two NETS-T standards has given me a better understanding of how the GAME Plan works.  I have found that it is very efficient.   The plan is easy to follow when created.  I like how it is always being monitored and can be adjusted as needed throughout the process.  In the end, the evaluation phase determines how the lesson can improve the next time it is implemented so that students benefit from the best lesson possible.

References

Bellanca, J. (2010). 1st century skills: Rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, IN:Solution Tree Press.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful

classroom use: A standards-base approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom

ed.). 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/standards/nets-for-teachers