Reflection: Game Plan & Integrating Technology

Game Plan

This game plan has been a blessing and a curse for me.  I love the use of the Wiki and the benefits it has to offer.  But, at the same time, the process is very time consuming.  In the future I would probably work ahead of time in order to get things done properly the first time.  I will not however reduce my ambition or vision for the site.  I believe the benefit is to great and although I have not been able to reap the benefits of the Wiki, the work I have put in so far ensures a promising solution for my classroom. I am definitely going to utilize this work with my instruction as a lecturing tool and resource for my students.  I had a lot of help on this project, but I have to give special notice to my students who were able to provide assistance and feedback.  Their input proved to be extremely beneficial as they are the major intended audience for the use of the Wiki.  I do plan on integrating more student assistance in the future for maintenance and future Wiki’s

Integrating Technology

The benefit of working on these lesson plans in this course was that I could immediately apply some parts of the lessons in my actual classroom.  My students had a blast with the collaboration project and I plan on incorporating more of these types of lessons in my classroom.  The students were completely engaged and empowered.  The technology allowed them to operate in their realm.  Therefore, it is my intention to incorporate the entire unit plan into my classroom in the future.  We have a unit on Microsoft Access  after the break and I plan on modifying the lesson to use for these projects.

Road to Implementing My Game Plan

Finding the information and resources I need

I have not had many problems finding the information I need for my game plan.  There are many examples of Wiki’s on the web, so there are many ideas out there for the grabs.  Actually, the only problem I have had is that there is so much information available.  It has been hard to sort through a lot of it and come to a decision on what I want to use.  I have changed things so many times.  I really need to settle down.

Modifying my action plan

So far I do not see a reason to make any modifications to my game plan.  I am enjoying the work and progress I am making.  I have added four students to my team which has enabled me to have support from administration, teachers, college personnel and students.  My circle is getting larger.  The only thing I am missing is a parent representative.  I may seek the advice of the parents of one of my students to complete the circle. Hopefully I won’t recreate the same issue I have had with the information overload I had in my first point.

What I have learned

I have re-learned a lot.  I have learned that one person can not think of everything.  I really appreciate the support I have received on this project.  I have also learned that having a lot of information can be overwhelming at times.  Too much info is not always a good thing, but a lot of meaningful information is always a joy!  I have also learned to tame down my perfectionism.  Just a tad though.  I fall in love when it comes to technology and I can tend to really get involved. 

New Questions

My main question is how far could I take this?  So far I do not see a limit is sight.  I have so many ideas.  I could run my classroom from the Wiki and my students will have access to my classroom on weekends, evenings, holidays, snow days, etc…  I know wishful thinking on my part that they would actually access it, but still!  Another burning question is how effective will my Wiki be?  I can dream up uses and purposes, but what will the actual outcome be?

Carrying Out My Personal Game Plan

I have gotten a lot of encouragement in starting my GAME Plan.  Many of my colleagues have agreed that this is a good way to help build up my confidence and gain the feedback I need to improve my instruction.  I am really excited about getting the work done.

Resources Needed

I have looked into the Tech Resources and found the link for Wikispaces.  The service is free and the set-up is very user friendly.   I have a laptop and it meets all of the required specifications. All of my files are organized and backed up in two spaces.  I will need this information and I have it ready to retrieve.

Additional Information

The only missing item is the student work.  I have some good example of student artifacts but some of them will have to be translated.  I will have to get my students to work on some of this as a project.  In addition I would also like some “fresh” work of the students to display in my wiki.  In addition since my Wiki is has representation of student work.  I may invite some of my high performing students to assist me in developing the Wiki.

Steps taken so far

I have already sought the advice of some of my colleagues at the school district as well as the college.  Many of them have agreed to help monitor and provide feedback on my Wiki.  Many have also agreed to go over the feedback with me as this is a project they may want to try out.  I feel as if I am sparking some very need interest in a school district that really needs the focus. Recently our school district was taken over by the state so of course moral is very low.  I would like to champion the project and show the teachers that learning is still the main purpose of the district and that our kids still need us to be the best teachers we can be.

The GAME Plan

The GAME Plan

I have really been thinking hard about my GAME Plan for strengthening my confidence and proficiency in two of the ISTE indicators:  Promote and Model Digital Citizenships and Responsibility and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. I am fair with these two indicators but feel as if I could really improve on some of the finer points of these two indicators.  The goal is to present the most beneficial opportunity and situation to my students in order to maximize their learning.  I am willing to do all I can in order to ensure that this happens.  My GAME plan will become a strategy that allows me to improve in the areas of Promoting and Modeling Digital Citizenship and Responsibility and Engaging in Professional Growth and Leadership.

The area I need to work on most is engaging in Professional Growth and Leadership.  There is a portion of this indicator which states:  Teachers should participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning (ISTE, 2008).  I feel like I could really use some more experience in this area.  In the next indicator; Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility it states that teachers should:  address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources (ISTE, 2008).  I really feel I can offer more strategies to include a more diverse learner centered experience. 

My goal to establish the work towards increasing my confidence in these areas is to integrate technologies to address my deficiencies with the use of a successful Wiki. I have planned the following actions.   I plan to start a Wiki which will allow me to post my entire curriculum and lesson plans in order to gain some constructive criticism. I also plan on using the translator option in word to have my students translate their work into different languages. I will also post examples of my student’s work in my Wiki. I will monitor my Wiki for feedback in order r to help me improve and know what works.  Finally I will evaluate this process to see if it is working and make revisions in order to streamline my experience into productive instruction.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Reflection

I do not believe my personal learning theory has changed but has been enhanced.  I still believe that a happy energetic classroom is the best possible learning environment and yields the best possible results.  I will remain the “life of the party” in my classroom and lead by example.  If I can take a big piece of the course along with me it would be the reinstatement of the behaviorist theory in my classroom.  I have a better view of this theory and its application and plan to use positive and negative reinforcement in my classroom to enhance learning.  I have absolutely felt in love with social constructivism.  Giving students the opportunity to apply what they have learned as well as socialize and learn from each other is the bee’s knees.

Thanks to this course I have discovered many new instructional technologies that I will incorporate into my classroom immediately.  I will definitely use Voice Threading in my classroom in order to enhance cognitive learning in the classroom.  It is the perfect technology to allow students to relate information to images.  Blogging is going to be my new best friend for the classroom.  It will allow me to type my lectures in a form that students can assess time and time again as well as ask questions and make comments.  Using these technologies allows for more time in the classroom to do hands on activities and projects to keep students engaged.  Why waste time lecturing or having students take notes when technology is present to cut out these minimal tasks to allow for immersive learning?  My classroom experience is going to totally change because of this course.

In the long run I would like to accomplish two goals which are a semi-automated classroom, and a fully operational tutoring system.  I believe I could accomplish this with Wiki.  I have taken a good look at this web based technology.  I will begin to transfer all of my lessons and notes into a wiki along with all other curriculum. And I hope that eventually I will have all the information  incorporated that is necessary   for me to conduct all of my instruction with the Wiki using links, videos and lessons to facilitate the classroom with minimal interference from me.  I would like to use this time to monitor, correct and praise student work.  I also believe that I would have more time to work with students who are struggling.  By incorporating my curriculum into the Wiki, it makes way for it to be used as a tutoring tool.  Students will have access to the same information they have in the class along with some modules and tutorials to either remediate or advance learning.

Social Connectivism

This theory is the mother of all methods in my book.  I am a huge fan of cooperative learning.  I believe that the social aspect to learning is a lost application.  Students learn from other students.  Students compete with other students.  Students learn from those they are comfortable with more so than people they cannot relate to.

Technology is the basis for examining and practicing the true value of this learning theory.  The object of the theory is to have the students to build an artifact from scratch concerning the content or skill set that needs to be learned.  What makes this process even more effective is the social aspect of learning.  Students are participating in group projects which not only allow them to learn from the teacher, but also from their peers.  PowerPoint is an extremely popular tool for teaching in the Social Connectivism theory.  Students can use it to build a visual model to present their findings.  Excel, which is spreadsheet software, can be used to facilitate projects that will aid students in learning using this theory.  You are really only limited by your creativity.

Exceptional educators will choose to use this theory as a strategy to maximize learning in the classroom.  Cooperative learning is already effective, but by applying this particular learning strategy children are not only building skills by constructing artifacts, they are building relationships with one another as well as the instructor.  Therefore learning is maximized.

VoiceThread

Check out my VoiceThread at:

http://voicethread.com/share/2126022/

Constructionism In The Classroom

If there is ever a skill that our students need in today’s society, it is the skill of problem solving.  Constructionism is the tool for achieving this notion.  I remember reading that you learn 90 % of what you teach; I would like to argue that learning by construction may add at least an additional 5 percent.

There are many ways to achieve constructionism in the classroom through technology.  The object of the theory is to have the students to build an artifact from scratch concerning the content or skill set that needs to be learned.  PowerPoint is an extremely popular tool for teaching in the constructionist theory.  Students can use it to build a visual model to present their findings.  Along with this software many of the other Microsoft products can aid in constructionism.  Excel which is spreadsheet software can be used to calculate facts and figures and can also display findings in the form of graphs and charts.  Publisher can be used to generate and create booklets, forms, flyers and other visual propaganda.

All of these technologies are extremely appropriate when you think of applying constructionism in the classroom through technology.  Giving the students an opportunity not only to assess knowledge but to apply it aids in the reinforcement of current and past knowledge.  If experience is the “best” teacher, then using constructionism in the classroom is a method that exceptional educators must use.

Cognitivist Approaches

Cognitive learning theories are extremely important in the classroom today.  Having the knowledge of how information is processed places a teacher several steps ahead in the battle to educate students.  With an understanding of how memory works, educators can modify and create lessons that ensure that student learning reaches its maximum level.

There are several methods for achieving learning in the classroom through cognitive methods using technology.  Since imagery is a very important element to cognitive learning, PowerPoint is a great tool for achieving a good learning experience.  Students then have an image to relate information to.  Excel is software that is good for cognitive learning.  Students are able to process data quickly as well as display what they process in the form for pie charts and ling graphs.  The most effective tool for cognitive learning theories is the notion of concept mapping, through software teachers and or students can present thoughts and correlations in a visual format which allows not only you but others to share in seeing the way things fit together.  Software such as Word and Publisher can also be used to do concept mapping.

Cognitive learning theories are extremely important in the classroom.  They may be even more important today than ever.  The good thing about this theory is that there are many technologies that also exist today to aid us in extracting all of the usefulness of this theory as we can.

Behaviorism’s Place in the Classroom

Behaviorism is not a dead learning theory; it has been proven to work in many classroom and life situations therefore it definitely has a place in the classroom.  The thing we need to pay more attention to is how this theory is applied in today’s classroom, as well as the other theories.  The most successful situation any teacher can be in is one where the right learning theories are used in their most appropriate situation.  Therefore it is whether you use the right mixture not just the right theory.  I am very much on a quest to achieve this mastery.

The online tutorial has been cited as one of the most widely used means of behaviorism technology in the classroom (Laureate, 2008).  I do believe that this technology can be used in a more effective manner that it is in the classroom.  I do not believe it is a justifiable means to snatch electives away from students who have to be remediated.  Elective courses teach valuable life skills which are applications of the coursework a student has learned over the years.  There is also a valuable skill that can be learned which helps a student find their ability thereby reinforcing the need to receive more instruction in the core subjects to perfect their crafts.  I am heartbroken when I see so many students in reading lab working on Accelerated Reader and Plato.  I believe our school district could adjust the schedule to provide all students with a modified homeroom period in which all students are required to receive computerized tutorials.  This not only allows a period for students to be remediated, but a program could also be offered to enrich or reinforce.  The technology utilization alone helps our student acclimate to how things are being done in and more advanced society.

Behaviorism definitely still has a place in classroom management.  These are definitely proven methods for modifying behavior, so why not put them in to practice.  Most of the behavior problems in the classroom exist because some teacher whether before, during, or after they have come through you did not implement a consequence for unacceptable behavior.  An even sadder notion is the lack of support you receive from the Administration sometimes when you have made an effort to modify a student’s behavior.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology [DVD]. Behaviorist Learning Theory. Baltimore, MD: Orey, Michael.