Sunday, October 21, 2012

Reflection-Week 7

My initial GAME plan focused on two indicators. Those indicators were promoting and modeling digital citizenship and designing digital learning experiences and assessments (ISTE, 2012).  Incorporating the GAME plan into my classroom has added “positive vibes” to my classroom environment. My students are having fun while learning. This not only encourages students to come to class, but also to participate and become involved in the learning process. My classroom has transformed from the traditional teacher lectures and assignments to an environment where students are becoming self-directed learners and have the opportunity to teach and learn from their classmates.
I believe that I was able to incorporate my GAME plan very well in my classroom. I designed these lesson plans for the new course I have this year, Principles of Business and Finance. All of these lesson plans worked well in class and I believe I was able to create an authentic learning experience for my students. I believe my lesson plans were successful for a number of reasons. First, I involved my students in deciding which forms of technology to use in their assessments. I was already familiar with Edmodo and Voicethread but my students actually suggested and taught me how to use Prezi. A second reason I believe my lessons were successful is because my lessons were designed to incorporate critical thinking and self-directed learning skills. In each lesson, students were given all of the information and materials they would need as well as a rubric that clearly outlined what was expected of them.
Overall, I am very pleased with my GAME plan.  Based on the products my students are creating, I can see that the desired learning outcomes and objective I outlined in my lesson plans are being met by my students. One adjustment I could make is researching new forms of technology to use in my classroom. My students have given me some great suggestions so far and I am sure they have more. For example, I am looking in spider scribe and epals.com. I can also discuss with my colleagues which forms of technology they are using in their classroom. This could provide an opportunity to design a cross-curriculum content assignment or project using technology.  One thing that I have learned is that technology can be used to enrich any lesson weather the lesson plan involves problem-based learning, online collaboration, or digital storytelling.
Using the GAME plan was a new way to assess student learning. With the “checkpoint” assignment this class provided I was able to reflect and make adjustment quickly. As a teacher it is my job to reflect on the instructional strategies I use and determine if they meet the learning needs of my students effectively (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009).  This class, the assignments I complete, and the advice and feedback I received from my classmates help me to accomplish the goals of my GAME plan. I am very excited about the future GAME plans I will design and incorporating these ideas into my classroom.
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). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

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