Monitoring My GAME Plan: Progress in Week 4.
This week, due to some work I have been doing "unpacking standards" and generally working towards writing Common Formative Assessments, I have not been in my classroom very much. However, the information for the CFAs is very much in line with the resources for this week, so I have been trying to meld the two concepts together as I continue my search for great resources that use technology in a way that allows me to differentiate for my varied group of learners.
One idea that really struck me as important is the concept that assessments, particularly formative ones, need to be as varied as the instruction that leads to them. Technology can assist in this regard; apart from anything else, it can allow me to vary the assessment in terms of numbers of questions per page, size of print, etc. I also can search for variations on tasks if I am planning performance assessments. As Cennamo et al state, "the technologies you choose... will depend most on making good choices for supporting your instruction and assessment" (2009, p. 163).
Information and Resources I Need.
I am, so far, finding resources and information fairly easy to locate. My biggest problem is sifting through the available options to pick out what is the best fit for my class.
This week I tried out several resources. My three favourite were:
1) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/essential-skeleton/id623811668?mt=8
This resource allow manipulation of a skeleton and would provide excellent review for several Health/Science topics. As teacher leader for Science at my school, I have to assist other levels with resources and this one got the thumbs-up from my colleague at that level.
2) https://classtechtips.com/2012/09/13/haiku-deck-for-small-presentations/
This resource helps students (or adults) prepare for presentations by adding timing. It also only allows limited text so that the students are forced to edit what they are saying. I can use this as a performance assessment.
3) http://www.edutopia.org/blog/national-poetry-month-poetry-technology-mary-beth-hertz
Throughout the year, we work on our poetry anthologies. I love this resource which suggests tips for including more technology alongside the poetry. There are suggested options for assessment as well as teaching and learning.
Modifying the Plan.
So far, I have not really felt that I need to modify this plan. I am enjoying the impetus it is giving me to explore varying resorces and to try out ones that seem to match well with what I am doing.
What I Have Learned So Far.
So far, besides various exciting options using technology that I can (and in some cases have) used with my class, I have really just learned that the ease of locating resources is even greater than I had thought. Using the RSS feed and also using various sites that pick out technology tips has also been helpful.
Regarding assessments and technology specifically, this week I really thought a great deal about how an electronic portfolio can be used as an assessment piece. "...portfolios contain examples of work that can be compared to competencies or standards" (Cennamo et al, 2009, p. 151).
New Questions.
I am looking forward to continuing to use my memberships - I got a great activity off of the NCTM website this week - to explore resources. I need to decide how I will evaluate each one as to its relative worth; there are so many free resources out there too. I also need to figure out a way to streamline my RSS information so that I am getting the tips and pieces I really want.
On the other hand, how will I know what's out there if I never look at new things?
Does my Walden cohort have any suggestions about how to balance this?
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Carrying Out My GAME Plan
This week
I have been looking at strategies for seamlessly integrating technology into my
content area instruction by developing, implementing, monitoring, and
evaluating my personal GAME plan. Exposing myself to the technology that is out
there will enable me to make more specific decisions that will work with
student strengths rather than against their weaknesses. As you can see, I have
tried to intertwine my GAME plans A and B in order to maximize the benefit to
my learners.
Resources Needed
I looked
at several resources this week. Links to them are listed below. I have visited
each site and am trying something from each with my learners this week in order
to evaluate the site as it relates to my particular group.
http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=4649682 I am looking at
this site to help me generate good spelling lists based on content vocabulary;
that is what we are working on at the moment in Spelling. I need to generate
lists that contain a wide variety of words as my students self-select words to
study that best match their levels. I liked the various options attached to the
upgrade version and will consider using it with my class next year; I do not
think it is worthwhile to join at this point in the year as membership runs
yearly. Using this site will be beneficial because I can easily email lists to
my learners who have organizational issues (often leaving study lists at
school/home- wherever they are not), and because I can change the size of the
text as I put it up on the Smartboard which may help some of my learners to
both better attend and be better able to see.
http://www.funbrain.com/comics/lostsideofsuburbia/index.html?pubdate=101211
We have been working on fantasy in reading, and as we bring this unit to a
close, I thought it would be fun to read a comic together. This particular one
supports the diverse needs of my learners with large text, reduced amount of
text on a page, and great illustrations. While reading it, we are selecting
words for our Word of the Day (one word for every two students) and reporting
back to the class on the words we have selected. I love this story because it
is highly entertaining and also because it has great (challenging) vocabulary.
Reading it together may provide the impetus and motivation needed to get some
of my readers, who are on the cusp of becoming more independent in their
reading selections, to pick more challenging material. My class enjoyed this
today and all seemed to be engaged not just by the story but by the words we
selected.
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/fractions/simplest-form.htm
We are about to wrap up a unit on fractions, and I was delighted to discover
this Scholastic site to help us review. From videos to step-by-step
instructions, this engaging site looks wonderful for this purpose. My class
enjoyed the “jam” we used today and several said it clarified the topic
(simplest form/lowest terms fractions).
Additional Information
I also looked at http://www.wested.org/cs/tdl/view/tdl_topic/1
which provided a link to information about ADD/ADHD students, based on the PBS
series Misunderstood Minds. This was helpful to me as I thought about the
characteristics of my diverse group of learners. I think I also need to
continue exploring possible sites for useful resources. I have added http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
to my RSS feed in order to update me when new information comes out; I have
found this site helpful in the past in both stimulating me to look for
resources and alerting me to what is available.
Steps
Taken
I am pleased with the
resources I have located this week, and thrilled that I have actually used all
three of them already this week. As you can see from my notes, I have used one
in planning (spelling) and the other two with my students.
Feedback from my Walden Community Requested
I would love it if I could hear from
my Walden cohort, or indeed anyone else who might be interested in this topic,
with suggestions for building more resources that are useful to learners who
need extra support in maintaining focus on a task. I should mention that I
teach Grade 5.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
My Personal GAME Plan
My Personal GAME Plan
This week, we were asked to explore ways in which we could enrich content learning for our students using technology. We were then asked to look at the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012) , identifying indicators of the NETS-T standards we would like to become more proficient in. Finally, we used the GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 4) to outline our strategies for increasing proficiency in those areas.
Here is my “A” GAME plan:
1) Goal. NETS-T 2.c. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning “Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012) I already know that it is important to use technology to engage students as well as to allow for various learning styles. I want to become more proficient at matching technologies to those specific diversities. I will know if I have become more proficient in this endeavor because my students will be more motivated, and there will be more even retention and results in assessments despite the variety of learners in my class.
2) Actions. I need to become more aware of the technology that is out there in order to try to access it for all my learners. For example, several of my students are very weak spellers, and I would like to access voice software in order to help them become more successful. I can look this information up on the internet and then seek support from both the I.T. technicians at the Ministry and the Learning Support teacher at my school. The learning strategy I will use is constructivist because I already possess some background knowledge which I will need to build on, in order to develop my understanding and awareness.
3) Monitoring. As I access the information, I will monitor it carefully to see if it is really applicable to my situation. I need to look at patterns such as cost, ease of application, and availability. I will evaluate to see if there are other avenues I can explore to meet my goal.
4) Evaluating & Extending. Once I have identified several possible digital tools and resources that may help me meet my goal, I will need to evaluate them carefully. I will then need to decide if it possible to implement them, and how to achieve this. Finally, once implemented, I will evaluate again to see if they have truly made a difference to student motivation and retention of content information as demonstrated by results.
Here is my “B” GAME plan:
1) Goal. NETS-T 5.a. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership “Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012) .
I have joined several professional groups as part of a previous course, and this last weekend I joined the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). My goal is to participate actively in this membership as well as the various science ones I already have, in order to explore new and creative ways to use technology in order to improve the learning of my students. I will know if I have become successful in this regard, because I will have added to the “bank” of technical resources with which I am familiar, and will have used at least three new items with my students before the end of the month.
2) Actions. I need to visit the sites of which I am a member more frequently, exploring the information that is there. I can subscribe to interesting looking blogs and if there are appropriate newsletters offered, I can subscribe to them. The learning strategy I will use is constructivist because I already possess some background knowledge which I will need to build on, in order to develop my understanding and awareness. In addition, I will be looking for activities that, in the main, are inquiry/constructivist based.
3) Monitoring. As I access the information, I will monitor it carefully to see if it is really useful for my students and the content I teach. I need to balance the time I spend exploring resources with the time I need to attach them to my lesson plans.
4) Evaluating & Extending. According to NET 5 (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012) , “Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources”. By setting increased participation in my professional memberships (online) as a goal, I hope to really “walk the walk” for this NET. As checking in with the sites become a habit, and as enable additional RSS feed links to help stay on top of my explorations, I should be able to continually extend my abilities in this area.
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/standards/nets-for-teachers
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