GAME Plan Progress

At this point progress on my GAME plan is limited because I am substitute teaching instead of teaching full-time. Because of this I am not in a very good position to try out new activities and technology with my students and evaluate who effective they are. It also does not help that my district has this entire week off from school.

There are a few areas where I am making some gains. For the purpose of my Walden assignments I have been revisiting some of the lesson plans I have used in the past when I was teaching full-time and revising them to incorporate some of the new technology tools I am learning to use to make them more effective and more learner centered. Through substitute teaching I have also been learning about activities and technology other teachers in my district are using and have been able to see how effective some of these activities are in engaging and motivating students. During my 4th grade substitute experience on Friday I learned about the everyday mathematics games web site which students were excited to use. Students were also excited to share their creative writing stories with each other and to hear each other's stories. These stories were hand written on paper, but the assignment could have been easily turned into a multi-media project which the students would have probably really enjoyed making and viewing.

My action plan would probably be great if I was teaching in a full-time position currently. Though I think modifying it for substitute teaching would be difficult since I am using the lesson plans of other teachers in their classrooms, I am generally only there for a day or two, and usually do not know ahead of time what I will be teaching. Even when I do know what I will be teaching ahead of time, I am usually teaching out of subject area so do not have the background knowledge about the curriculum I would need to create effective learning experiences for that particular class.

GAME Plan Resources and progress

My primary resource will be the internet. Through internet sources I can locate acitivities devleoped by many other teachers that I could use as is, adapt, or gain ideas from.

There are also many people within the district who I can consult. I can collaborate with other teachers in the building both who teach in my subject area or use technology tools I am interested in incorporating. My district also generally provides one or two technology training sessions each year in which they bring together all the teachers who teach the same subject area together to focus on learning to use new devices the district has purchased for us and collaborate on activities we can use those devices for in our subject area (last year it was Smartboards, the year before last it was LabQuests). A lot of my teacher resources also have on-line activities and links to various multi-media sources as well as activity ideas. The district also has a technology integration specialist, curriculum specialists and most of the schools have teams of teachers which serve as a technology integration team for the building.

The knowledge and practice I am gaining through my Walden experiences will also provide me with a good working knowledge of many free web tools available and confidence in using them to develop my own activity and lesson ideas.

Given that I am currently not teaching full-time but am substitute teaching instead, my progress towards my game plan has been primarily limited to the knowledge and practice I am gaining through my Walden experiences. Although I have been seeing and using lesson plans created by other teachers. Generally these lesson plans aren't typical because they are plans left for a substitute to follow but the experience is providing me with exposure to some of the activities other teachers are using in different subjects and grade levels including some being used in special education classes and alternative schools. I am also getting to know many different teachers through out the school district who could serve as resources for me.

My GAME Plan

One National Educational Technology Standard for teachers (NETS-T) I would like to improve my confidence and proficiency in is design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments. To do this I will focus on the two performance indicators of design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, and develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

My GAME plan to achieve this is as follows:

Goals
Develop a learner centered classroom experience for my students in which technology tools are utilized to maximize learning and creativity.

Actions
Conduct internet searches to find learner centered activities, use my own creativity and knowledge of technology tools and subject matter to develop my own learner centered activities, and adapt and revise activities I already utilize in my classroom to make them more learner centered and enhance them with technology.

Monitoring
Track how much time I am devoting to teacher centered activities as opposed to student centered activities. Observe how my students are responding to the activities and the technology.

Evaluate and Extend
Determine what activities are working well and where students may be having difficulties. Adjust the activity directions or amount of instruction on the use of the technology tools to further increase student success.



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). The ISTE NETS and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4318222715905215475