After a well deserved week off from school (and a relaxing vacation to the west coast), I was able to look back and reflect on the work that I have been doing, especially my GAME plan. Things have been going great so far. I have successfully presented at numerous workshops on Student Response Systems and even have a few more that I am presenting at. In fact, Promethean has even asked me and my colleague to present for them at a huge conference in June. My students are also getting a lot of exposure to a lot of the resources we have in the computer lab. The digital storytelling lessons have even been working pretty smoothly.
The digital storytelling ideas are pretty new to me. I see that there are a lot of websites that I can use that do it differently than what I took it to be. They are having a lot of fun though, and working hard. It will be exciting to present them with new ideas.
I am one of two teachers that is the head of my school’s technology professional learning team. I have a lot of technology integrated into my classroom and I am always looking for new ideas. I explored some neat websites and got some ideas from fellow classmates on where I can do more with digital storytelling. This is something that I never thought of or used, so I am definitely excited to use it in my classroom in the future.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Using the GAME Plan Process With Students
After reading the NETS technology standards for students, I saw that there is a lot they have in common with the standards for teachers. Students are now expected to be able to do a lot with technology, being as it is considered the learning tools of the 21st century.
I teach in a 5th grade classroom, and a lot of the work that the students put in will be looked at by middle school administrators. The process for going to middle and high school in New York City is a lot different than most cities and towns. Here, students apply to different schools, just like they would to college. Putting together portfolios and writing essays and taking entrance exams is part of 5th grade in order to prepare to move on to 6th. If there was a standard that I would really want to address with my students, it would be the first standard. Obviously they need to be familiar with all of them in order to be successful, but it is one step at a time.
I have recently worked very closely with six students in my class who were preparing portfolios for Mott Hall and Columbia Prep (located at Columbia University). These are just a couple of the best ranked middle schools in the city. They worked hard writing a strong essay, preparing for an exam, as well as putting together a portfolio of all of their work. What makes them unique, however, is all the work they have done using their ePortfolio. It showed strong evidence that they are creating a strong background and confidence using technology. My school even released netbooks to them to take on their interviews (this is a serious process).
The world is changing and education and the standards are changing with it. I just want to make sure that I keep my students on the right path.
I teach in a 5th grade classroom, and a lot of the work that the students put in will be looked at by middle school administrators. The process for going to middle and high school in New York City is a lot different than most cities and towns. Here, students apply to different schools, just like they would to college. Putting together portfolios and writing essays and taking entrance exams is part of 5th grade in order to prepare to move on to 6th. If there was a standard that I would really want to address with my students, it would be the first standard. Obviously they need to be familiar with all of them in order to be successful, but it is one step at a time.
I have recently worked very closely with six students in my class who were preparing portfolios for Mott Hall and Columbia Prep (located at Columbia University). These are just a couple of the best ranked middle schools in the city. They worked hard writing a strong essay, preparing for an exam, as well as putting together a portfolio of all of their work. What makes them unique, however, is all the work they have done using their ePortfolio. It showed strong evidence that they are creating a strong background and confidence using technology. My school even released netbooks to them to take on their interviews (this is a serious process).
The world is changing and education and the standards are changing with it. I just want to make sure that I keep my students on the right path.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Revising My GAME Plan
A review of my NETS-T goals...
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.
Things are going very well with my first goal right now. I have recently been switching roles in my classroom. I have installed Promethean's Inspire as well as SMART's Notebook on all the desktops in my classroom. I have been showing students how to use the programs as guiding them on tutorials. A project that they are all working on in groups is going to require them to create their own SMART or Inspire lesson with questions for students to answer using their student response systems. I am moving along great and I do not plan on abandoning this goal. I actually don't think there is anything that needs to be modified either, since I have been pretty successful.
My second goal, as of late, has been coming along much better than I could have anticipated. Call it fate or luck, but a fellow colleague and I are currently "on tour." For the grant that we participate in, we have been involved so far in presenting to administrators at teachers that came on a walk through as well as a workshop that was hosted just today. We are also "booked" to present at another workshop on the 16th of this month as well as a Saturday in March. You can say our record sales are through the roof! All jokes aside, it feels great to present something that I am so passionate about. We show demonstrations and write tutorials about student response systems and encourage teachers to use them or to think about them for their schools. Maybe my underlying questions is am I supporting student learning? Although the workshops are not directly with children, I am promoting and encouraging fellow teachers about the benefits it will have in their classrooms and their students. It is something that I work with everyday in school with my students, so I see the results. And they're good... real good.
I guess there is nothing I really want to change just yet. I feel that things are going so well and that I am on a roll. I really want to see where it takes me.
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.
Things are going very well with my first goal right now. I have recently been switching roles in my classroom. I have installed Promethean's Inspire as well as SMART's Notebook on all the desktops in my classroom. I have been showing students how to use the programs as guiding them on tutorials. A project that they are all working on in groups is going to require them to create their own SMART or Inspire lesson with questions for students to answer using their student response systems. I am moving along great and I do not plan on abandoning this goal. I actually don't think there is anything that needs to be modified either, since I have been pretty successful.
My second goal, as of late, has been coming along much better than I could have anticipated. Call it fate or luck, but a fellow colleague and I are currently "on tour." For the grant that we participate in, we have been involved so far in presenting to administrators at teachers that came on a walk through as well as a workshop that was hosted just today. We are also "booked" to present at another workshop on the 16th of this month as well as a Saturday in March. You can say our record sales are through the roof! All jokes aside, it feels great to present something that I am so passionate about. We show demonstrations and write tutorials about student response systems and encourage teachers to use them or to think about them for their schools. Maybe my underlying questions is am I supporting student learning? Although the workshops are not directly with children, I am promoting and encouraging fellow teachers about the benefits it will have in their classrooms and their students. It is something that I work with everyday in school with my students, so I see the results. And they're good... real good.
I guess there is nothing I really want to change just yet. I feel that things are going so well and that I am on a roll. I really want to see where it takes me.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Evaluating my GAME plan progress
A recap of what my GAME plan goals were:
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.
My evaluation on the matter:
My first goal was to make sure I get my students into the computer lab as often as possible (of course at appropriate times where it doesn’t interfere with other instructional time). I have been able to get two addition 42 minute periods. We have been doing a lot of work with Power Point and Microsoft Word. Today in the lab, my students started an assignment for their ballroom dance instructor. Without directions, they were all able to open up Word and create some fantastic and creative templates for their work. I was actually really impressed. They even knew exactly how and where to save their files and how to properly print. I guess without me even realizing it, things are coming along. Of course, there is so much I want to show them as well. It is, however, very beneficial for them to be so familiar with Microsoft Word.
As for my second goal, I wanted to make sure I was keeping up-to-date with technology outside the school and trying to bring things in. I have been doing some research. I fellow colleague and I are actually part of a grant and we are well trained and pretty skilled in using Promethean’s Student Response Systems. We gave a demo lesson to administrators and teachers from various schools back in December and we were just asked to lead two workshops in the next two weeks. We are currently writing a step-by-step manual for everyone that participates on all of the key features. Not exactly bringing new technology to my school but I am certainly helping bring it and the knowledge I have to other schools. This will definitely benefit these teachers in enhancing and promoting student learning. I think that definitely counts towards my goal.
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.
My evaluation on the matter:
My first goal was to make sure I get my students into the computer lab as often as possible (of course at appropriate times where it doesn’t interfere with other instructional time). I have been able to get two addition 42 minute periods. We have been doing a lot of work with Power Point and Microsoft Word. Today in the lab, my students started an assignment for their ballroom dance instructor. Without directions, they were all able to open up Word and create some fantastic and creative templates for their work. I was actually really impressed. They even knew exactly how and where to save their files and how to properly print. I guess without me even realizing it, things are coming along. Of course, there is so much I want to show them as well. It is, however, very beneficial for them to be so familiar with Microsoft Word.
As for my second goal, I wanted to make sure I was keeping up-to-date with technology outside the school and trying to bring things in. I have been doing some research. I fellow colleague and I are actually part of a grant and we are well trained and pretty skilled in using Promethean’s Student Response Systems. We gave a demo lesson to administrators and teachers from various schools back in December and we were just asked to lead two workshops in the next two weeks. We are currently writing a step-by-step manual for everyone that participates on all of the key features. Not exactly bringing new technology to my school but I am certainly helping bring it and the knowledge I have to other schools. This will definitely benefit these teachers in enhancing and promoting student learning. I think that definitely counts towards my goal.
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