Friday, August 20, 2010

GAME Plan Reflection

As I look back and think about the progress I made on my GAME plan throughout this class, I am amazed at how easy (yet time consuming) the process is. I developed a plan where I set goals to incorporate a bigger variety of activities into my lessons to incorporate students' learning styles and also to network with other teachers to share ideas that incorporate technology in the classroom. Although my progress seemed to be stalled at first because I was not sure what direction to move in (due to the lack of a full time teaching job) I finally decided to modify my plan and find general resources for students of all ages. I also was able to begin communication with teachers in my area who were interested in sharing ideas that they had for technology within a community of teachers.

One thing that I learned in this process is that other teachers are the key to finding good resources. Also, knowing how to search for reliable and worthwhile resources is also very important because otherwise a lot of time will be wasted looking for resources. I also learned that the GAME plan process can be very beneficial to use in the classroom and not just for teachers, but for the students as well. It gives the students a pathway for setting and completing goals that is easy to follow. I will definitely be using this process with future students!

I am going to continue working on my goals until I have a classroom where I can apply what I have learned and what I have found through this process.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Using the GAME Plan with Students

After working with the GAME plan process over the past few weeks I think that it would be very beneficial for students to use this process in the classroom. The steps are clearly outlined and should be quite easy for the students to follow. The first couple of times that I use the GAME plan with students I think that we should set goals and complete them as a class so that they students can get used to the process. I believe that after we complete a couple goals together, the students will be able set up and use the GAME plan process individually with little guidance.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

GAME Plan Revision

Sorry for the delay in this post. The past week has been very stressful as I was attending family functions and calling hours/funeral for my grandma. Anyway, hopefully I will be getting back on track now.

I have learned that there are a lot of resources on the Internet that are both very helpful and a waste of time. It has been quite time consuming weeding through the various resources that could be used in the classroom. I have also learned that teachers in my area are more than willing to collaborate and share what resources they have. I am still working on organizing the resources that I have collected.

I am not going to be setting any new goals for myself at this time, although once I have been placed in a classroom full time I am sure that I will take a new look at the NETS-T standards and decide the best route I should take. I am going to continue collecting resources and organize the resources that I do have.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Evaluating my GAME Plan

  • How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
I have successfully connected with a few teachers in my area that are interested in sharing resources and information about integrating technology. We have been in communication through email over the past few days and are looking forward to expanding our circle. I have also begun looking for resources that could be used in my classroom. I currently have these resources saved under my Favorites list until I can decide how exactly I want to share and organize them.

  • What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
Through communicating with other teachers, I have learned that there are teachers close by that are interested in not only sharing resources, but also in networking our classes (my future class). This is an idea that I have never really thought about too much, but would be interesting to follow up on. Given the opportunity, I believe that it would be beneficial to all involved to network classes and work together on a project or activity.

  • What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I still need to decide what the best way to organize/share my technology resources is. I am not sure if I should post them in a blog, on a wiki, or some other website. Any ideas?

  • How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
I adjusted my plan last week to fit my current need of simply searching for resources and not actually apply them yet. I don't think that it needs to be adjusted at this time.