My GAME Plan

The NETS performance indicators that I would like to work on and strengthen are:

1a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.

5c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

GAME plan stands for goals, actions, monitor, and evaluate and extend. The NETS standards that I chose I feel are the most important to me in the position that I am in at school. A lot of what needs to go on at school is active and creative thinking. Technology can surely help that. I also want to help bring as much technology and support that I can to my school to help support student learning. Here is my personal GAME plan. The first statement will reflect NETS 1a while the second will reflect NETS 5c:

Goals: To help promote, support and model creative and innovative thinking I want to use more of the fantastic resources and software tools that we have in our computer lab. I want to make sure that I have enough lab time scheduled during the week so that the students get a chance to use software like iMovie or Garage Band to create digital movies or podcasts to present and showcase. I want them to have the freedom to be creative with all of the tools that the computer, and even the Internet provide.

In order for me to evaluate and reflect on current research, I want to always be up-to-date on what is going on in technology and education in New York City. Currently, I am part of a three year grant that has been bringing wonderful equipment and training to me and my school. I want to stay updated and research other programs and grants, including Teachers Choice and different title grants. The more exposure I have with these organizations, the more technology I can bring to my school.

Actions: I will need to make sure that I teach and train all of the students using any sort of software or Internet source. It is always hard to find time during the day with so much concentration on reading, writing, and math. I will need to request a certain amount of lab time during the week and possibly some after school sessions with students. In order for any project to be a success, the students have to be familiar with the equipment and software.

I will need to perform my own research on what is available to New York City public schools. I work in a high needs, inner-city area, so there is a lot of support out there. It will require a lot of time and research to gather and produce. I hope to be able to promote it to my colleagues and administration to get everyone on board with bringing the latest and most up-to-date 21st century tools to our school. The money and support are out there, and I want to find it.

Monitor: In order to monitor the progress of how students handle this form of work, I will have “digital” conferences with them. In the computer lab at school, from the main station, I can use Apple Remote Desktop to have access to their screen while video chatting. That way they can show my what they are doing on their computer, what it looks like, and we can see each other. I can also take control of their desktop to guide them.

I will need some help in monitoring the progress of research. I will bring the technology professional learning team that I am part of in to help me. Together, we can share with each other what we find and put together any information that we have to better ourselves and make for a stronger support team.

Evaluate and Extend: I obviously need to show my children how motivated I am to use technology to help me in my life and during the school day. I also need to always have exemplars to show them all the fun things that we can do to be creative and actively engaged in what they are doing. By me researching everything that the City of New York has to offer my school, I can potentially keep the students of today and the future always aligned with technology and getting them prepared for their future.


References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf