Delay of GAME?

In working to increase my use of UDL in lesson planning, I did upload the lesson template to Google Docs. While there I decided to search the existing templates and found a student survey that I thought would be useful (George, 2009). Also I found a great many resources available that would be helpful to teachers who are planning lessons using the principals of UDL. Most come from the CAST website, so I am unsure about the legality of me uploading them to Google Docs. I know I would be more apt to use these guides if I can easily access them there. Would this be acceptable as long as I cite the sources of information, or is this considered copyright infringement? Media specialists and technology teachers, I need your expertise here!

I do not feel like I need to modify my action plan at this time. I do feel as if I need to take more action though. It seems like the holidays are one of the most challenging times of the school year to accomplish much of anything with the students' excitement building and the many activities that come along with the season. Unfortunately I have not had many opportunities to use the new technology tools that I learn about in class with you all in my own classroom. I am always referencing the activities that we do and know that I must take time to make the time for incorporating these new ideas.

So far I have learned that the students are impressed when I make mention of the new technology tools that I am using. It is easy to see they are excited and perk up when I mention these ideas. I realize just how significantly technology can increase student engagement, now I just need to harness it!

Questions that I find myself asking are along the lines of my tech-resistant peers. Though I possess a better mind-set, I am now finding myself facing some of the realities. Why won't our Board stop being so old fashioned and unblock the great sites I want to use. How can I pry the CRS system from the hands of the math teacher who always seems to be using it the day I want to? When will I fit it all in? Again, I think it is partially the timing that is holding up my GAME plan and I know there are ways to work around the challenges I am facing and recognize that many other teachers face many more. I will continue to work towards my goals and appreciate all of your help and suggestions!

George, Marj. Google Docs. accessed November 25, 2009. http://spreadsheets.google.com/gform?key=tf7makOc8IlxEZxbDKyyYMQ#

Reviewing the GAME Plan

In order to plan lessons that employ digital tools to create valuable learning experiences, I am going to need more than just my everyday school supplies. I already have access to a SMARTBoard, wireless laptops and the LCD projector and regularly employ them. But I need to use other, less accessible technologies like the CPS systems, digital cameras, scanners, airliners, and websites that are not allowed by our Board of Education like YouTube.com in addition to the aforementioned tools. Furthermore I plan to use the strategies in the texts we have read throughout our Walden coursework and will continue to look for advice through authorities in technology integration, professional organizations, and networking communities for new ideas for use in my classroom. I especially would love to hear from my classmates about what works in their middle schools or social studies courses!

I have not yet used the GAME plan lesson format for preparing lessons, but many of the components are similar to the format our county uses now. It will be advantageous for me to upload this document to Google Docs where my colleague and I can access it easily during our planning time. Additionally, I am going to share this with my team so that we can all work to integrate technology and reach more of our learners through this UDL compatible format. One area I did make an advancement in was in sharing my use of technology to communicate with parents with my principal. I showed my principal the benefits and possibilities that having a class wiki provide versus her support and encouragement of using schoolnotes.com with other teachers. And I let her in on the handy way to post notes via our online grade book reporting system. She was impressed and I was encouraged to keep working toward my goals and I look forward to further monitoring my progress.

Getting in the GAME

Set Goals: Although all the NETS standards are important for teaching in the 21st century, I consider the indicators of standard 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity and standard 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations (ISTE, 2008) to be of particular importance and as attainable goals at this time. Dr. Peggy Ertmer asserts that confidence is essential in integrating technology and that "it's OK not to know more than the kids if you're willing to learn from them" (Laureate, 2009) and thanks to our coursework, I feel quite able to succeed in these areas.

Take Action: One valuable piece of advice from real classroom teachers will certainly shape my actions and that is to "look to technology to support the lessons, not form it" (Laureate, 2009b). The key is to promote learning and creativity, which I can preform well if I remember to begin with the end of content-based learning in mind. This way my lessons not be forced or frivolous. When I do deem it appropriate to integrate, I will use a lesson template such as the one provided for the 'Daily Lesson GAME Plan' (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertner, 2009). Additionally, as I gain practice with new technologies in my remaining courses or upcoming staff development opportunities, I will brainstorm at least two current lessons that could be improved by the integration of this new knowledge.

Monitor Learning: In each unit of study, I will look back on the lessons where I applied the GAME plan and completed the sections entitled 'Monitor' and 'Evaluate' in order to determine my successes and areas that I need to improve upon. I will also compare notes with my colleague to get an unbiased opinion of the effectiveness of my lessons. Also I will share with him and other interested teachers strategies that worked well in my classes and teach my students ways they too can use these new technologies.

Evaluate and Extension: Every fall, teachers are asked to identify two professional objectives that complement our school improvement plan. What better way for me to keep track of my progress than to align my technology integration goals with my school-based goals? I know that I will be proud to invite my principal into my class to see the lessons I plan and how efficiently I am able to use technology tools for my own personal use. Aside from this official evaluation, I know that my own extension of my graduate work in the coming years through continuing learning and keeping abreast of new tools will be most important.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. . (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards Based Approach. Cengage Learning: Mason Ohio

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 2008. accessed November 12, 2009. www.iste.org.

Laureate Education Inc. (2009). “Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.

Laureate Education Inc. (2009b). “Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 2.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.

New and Improved Literacy!

Perhaps one of the most interesting views gleaned from this course was from just this last week; as David Warlick says "It's not about the Technology" (Laureate, 2009). As teachers, we want to hitch our star to the latest teaching wagon so to speak and unlike some others I am usually all about trying anything with technology. However, I have come to realize that technology is what you make of it and how you use it. I'm not just talking about just for our own personal convenience in grading and handout making either. It's about understanding how to teach the students to use information technology tools responsibly, critically, and reliably in appropriate situations. Instead of just saying "It would be a great idea to have my students post their notebook responses on a blog!", I now realize that it goes beyond this. I know that I need to work to model appropriate ways to interact with others in online communities. Students need to look at online sources of information and not just trust them blindly.I have to show my students ways to show how others have influenced them without plagiarizing. And thanks to the many strategies I have learned such as QUEST, (Eagleton & Dobbler, 2007) I feel confident in teaching my classes to be technologically literate before using technology tools.

As I mentioned, I do plan to apply my new knowledge of online literacy to a variety of projects in the classroom, but I believe that this will be most useful when teaching students lessons for research on their National History Day projects. When you ask a sixth graders to choose a topic to research and even to determine what they plan to prove about it in a thesis statement, they are excited. However once they have to find sources of information, cite them, and explain how they are useful in an annotation, they panic. Just today I had a student say "Why can't I just Google it?". Instead of falling back on the old teacher (and parent) standby, of "Because I said so.", I can fully address his question.

One professional development goal I plan to accomplish is to work more closely with my sixth grade team to explain the many tips and strategies I have learned about throughout this course. I am proud of the unit I put together to guide my students in a comprehensive inquiry and I think it would be useful for both my co-teacher and I to use it in our classrooms so that we can not only see it in action, but to reflect upon it and make any adjustments for future reference. Furthermore, I know that the language arts teachers would be excited about new ways to use technology in their current literacy lessons. And particularly I think the science team would be able to make their content more accessible to the students. I know what its like to have a curriculum full of unfamiliar vocabulary and difficult concepts, but using the inquiry strategy in combination to teaching online literacy would be beneficial, no matter what the course is.

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Laureate Education Inc. (2009). “Developing Students' Digital Literacy.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.

Reflection on My Personal Learning Theory

In the beginning of this course, I described my personal theory of learning as a recipe. Indeed I am still the chef, blending Cognitivism, Constructionism, and Social Constructionism to be an effective teacher. However, I will admit that Behaviorism has a larger role as a base ingredient than I initially admitted. In today's educational trends, Behaviorism has fallen out of favor but I believe it still plays a critical role. Another adjustment I have made is the use of the term Constructionism rather than Constructivism because I better understand that in this theory of learning "people learn best when they build an external artifact that they  can share with others" (Laureate, 2009). I believe this is key in education because building a product shows the highest level of learning.

My short term goal is to change the way I use technology is to aim to use it more as a learning tool rather than an instructional tool. In the past, I as the teacher used various programs to help me teach more than I used it to help students learn. I had one of our school's SMARTBoards in my room at the beginning of the year, but I let another teacher keep it at the end of the year because I knew I was not using it to its' full advantage where all students were actively involved in the learning process. I was using it mainly like my usual LCD cart and had only one or two students actually touching it; and admittedly, only when time allowed. Over the summer I plan to use other technology tools like my new favorite, Spin Scape concept mapping along with interactive websites to plan lessons that require all students to be involved in the use of technology for learning.

In the long term, I would like to extend the above goal to use technology as a learning tool more than an instructional one. I have already begun searching for sites that will allow the SMARTBoard and concept mapping to enhance the students' learning. By the end of the summer, I hope to have at least one lesson per chapter that uses the interactive whiteboard along with another learning tool. Secondly, I want to plan more cooperative lessons to allow social constructionism to occur. In these lessons I will design basic guidelines but will ask students to create an artifact that means something to them on a more personal basis. "Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face." (Pitler, et al, 2007). I will ask the students to use the various forms of technology we have used in class to help them in whatever ways they deem fit and will assess them according to the requirements of a teacher-created rubric which will be reviewed before beginning the lesson. Hopefully the students will enjoy using technology and therefore become engaged learners because their teacher knows how to use it more effectively! 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theory. Baltimore

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

 Expediency, 7(14) 345-367. 

Social Studies?

In my social studies class, the students have many opportunities to interact while learning. I was fortunate to have a forward-thinking mentor teacher when I was student teaching who told me that the students should always work harder than the teacher. On the surface, one might think this means the teacher can kick back and let the students be completely responsible for their own education. But what he meant was that the teacher should instead function as the facilitator or the 'more knowledgeable other' (Laureate, 2009) and that students should have a certain degree of self-motivation and direction of learning. Cooperative learning activities certainly facilitate both.

Our county is very supportive of social interaction in the use of Kagan strategies. Some were mentioned in this week's resources such as jigsaws, base groups, and three-step interviews. As you might guess, not all teachers embrace these strategies because group work can take a bit of adjusting to because of diverse ability levels, clashing personalities, and there's always the noise but they are denying themselves and their students. These teachers would see that "cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn." (Pitler, et al, 2007). And gradually teachers will notice that they are not the sole 'more knowledgeable other', but students will rely upon their peers to help them learn what they are trying to find out. Also it will give students the chance to develop their own unique talents and give them recognition among their peers and boost their self-esteem so that everyone plays an important role in the classroom environment. 

These roles can then be extended into networks thanks to technology. Many of the suggested resources in our text would be appropriate for allowing the students to develop and share knowledge. Social networking sites, webquests, calendars, blogs, and simulated games enable students to reach out and develop their interests and help others who want to know more about a certain topic so they can essentially go from asking the experts to becoming an expert. I was amazed to learn that there are over fifty benefits for students who use cooperative learning in the classroom in the areas of social skills, psychological abilities, academics and assessments (Orey, 2001). Thanks to technology, teachers don't have an excuse not to use cooperative learning. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Program ten Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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VoiceThread

Hi Everyone, 

Check out my post on VoiceThread to weigh in on our school's absence policy and providing make-up work here: http://voicethread.com/share/525517/. I look forward to hearing from you!