Reflection

Creating my GAME plan forced me to take a closer look at the NET-S. Many of the learning indicators are already being covered in my classes, so writing my GAME plan helped me to focus on those that are not currently being covered.

The GAME plan has also encouraged me to make some changes in my current instructional practice. I have invited visitors in to speak to my classes about careers that involve using technology. My students are 8^th graders, so it is time for them to begin thinking about their future and what career path they might want to consider as they begin high school next year.

I have also invited someone in to talk to mu students about internet safety. Our students each have their own laptops, which they are allowed to take home if they have insurance coverage. Even though we try to do our best to monitor their behavior when they are on the computer at school, we do not know how much supervision they have when they take their computer home. Therefore, it is important for them to know of the dangers that are out there.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

I teach at a technology magnet school where each student has their own laptop. Technology is something we use on a daily basis. Creating the GAME Plan forced me to revisit the NETS-S and think about what I need to do to help my students develop proficiency in the technology standards and indicators.

As I continue to implement my GAME Plan at the beginning of the new year, I will continue to monitor and evaluate the progress made by me and my students. I look forward to increasing their knowledge in the area of technology related careers. I think students will be surprised at all the different ways technology can be used in a wide variety of careers. Students will also benefit from lessons on internet safety as well as application updates.

Revising My GAME Plan

Even though I do not plan to carry out my GAME plan until after the winter break, I have started to make contacts to arrange for visitors to come in and talk to my students. They will have a local police officer come in to talk about internet safety. They will also have local professionals come in to talk about various careers and what type of technology they use in their occupation. I am arranging for these visitors to visit our classroom in January.

I have learned that, technology will help to “level the playing field” for students with different abilities, needs, or preferences, (K. Cennamo, J. Ross, and P. Ertmer, 2009). Not only do students enjoy using technology, but it also helps those struggling students to have more of an advantage they would not otherwise have without technology. It can also provide extensions for those higher-level students who need and want something more challenging to do when they have completed the required assignment. The way I see it, technology has something for everyone!

One goal that I have not yet begun to work on is "Students will troubleshoot systems and applications." I have not yet approached our administration about the idea of forming a troubleshooting team consisting of students. Even though I think this is a great idea, I have a feeling they will not be very receptive to the idea.

One new goal I would like to set for myself and my students is number two on the NETS - Communication and Collaboration. Even though I have students communicate with classmates to discuss the novel, I would also like to have them "Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures." This is something I will try to incorporate into my next unit of study third quarter.

As I mentioned last week I am not doing much with my GAME plan at this time. I hope to get moving on it after the holidays. One thing that I am doing is having students hold their novel discussion online by using Gaggle. This is a site approved by our district for students to use. I have set up the chat rooms and they are only allowed to chat with the members in their discussion groups, so I know it is a safe environment. I am also printing out their discussions so I can make sure they are staying on track and discussing appropriately.

I do not feel the need to modify my action plan at this time. This plan is going to take some time to fully implement. At this time my students are in the middle of reading a lengthy novel and working on writing and revising their research paper on Illinois history. These activities will take us through December and into January. Hopefully, second semester I will find some time to invite our guest speakers in to talk about internet safety and careers that use technology. The only questions I have are about the implementation of the GAME plan. Are we expected to fully carry out this plan before this class is over? I hope not because my curriculum is jam packed right now. I want to carry out the plan, but feel that I can not move forward with it at this time. Is anyone else feeling this way?

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

Resources: I will need to make some phone calls to ask volunteers to come to my classroom to talk to students about careers that involve technology. I also need to contact someone from the police department to talk to the class on internet safety. I have seen them speak before and they do an excellent job. I will also be inviting district technology support staff into my classroom when we near the end of our novel unit to talk about the updates in iMovie and iPhoto. This will help them when they begin their technology project at the end of the novel.

Additional Information Needed: I do not know how to go about getting a team of students trained to do the troubleshooting. It sounds like a wonderful idea, but I’m not even sure that my principal or district administrators would go for this. This would mean they would be touching another student’s computer, which is currently against the technology rules for our building / district.

Steps taken so far: One of my goals is Students will exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity. We have already begun to work on this goal. Students are currently reading a novel called “Beyond the Western Sea” to support our immigration unit. All of the activities that go with the novel will be completed on their laptop. So far students have made predictions about the book and held a discussion over chapters 1-10 on their laptops. We are using a site that has been approved by our district called Gaggle. For each class I have set up five or six chat rooms. The students in the chat rooms make up their discussion group. Students only have access to chat with the students in their group. One thing that was bothering me was that I couldn’t figure out how to print out their conversation/discussion. I want to make sure that their conversation is appropriate and each group member is participating, so I could attach some points to the assignment. Through their conversation it is also obvious which students have kept up with the assigned reading. When I asked our district technology staff abut this they were unsure of how to do it. I found that when I printed it only printed what was in the window at the time instead of the entire conversation. It also would not let me copy and paste the entire conversation into a Word document. I ended up sending an email to the Gaggle staff asking them how to do this and they responded very promptly. Students definitely have a positive attitude about this unit, they are collaborating, and they are using technology.

My GAME Plan

The standards that I feel most comfortable with are Communication and Collaboration, and Research and Information Fluency. Students in my 8^th grade language arts class use digital media to communicate and work collaboratively through presentations and online discussion groups. They use applications such as iMovie, Garage Band, iPhoto, and Gaggle Students present information through the form of book reviews, newscasts, character monologues, etc. Recently, students have used Gaggle to chat about the immigration novels they are reading.

Our 8^th grade students also write a 5-7 page research paper about Illinois history. Through this assignment students use digital tools to gather, evaluate, synthesize, and use ideas from a variety of sources and media. Students create a formal research paper with note cards, thesis and outline, bibliography, and end notes. Students also use their research to create a visual display or a technology presentation.

One standard that I feel I need to work on is Digital Citizenship. Recently we conducted a school wide on internet safety. This is the first time I recall doing this in the four years our students have had their laptops. Another area I do not feel as proficient in is Technology Operations and Concepts. Even though our students are pretty good with the applications on their laptops, I feel that they could use work on some of the other indicators.

Since every student in my class has their own laptop, it makes coming up with a GAME plan quite easy.

Goals

• Students will practice safe, legal, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
• Students will exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
• Students will troubleshoot systems and applications.
• Students will transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.

Action

• Have a speaker come in to talk to the classes about internet safety.
• Have community mentors come in to talk about different careers in technology.
• Have students also do fun activities with technology such as chatting on Gaggle about different classroom assignments such as literature discussions.
• Train a team of students on troubleshooting techniques and have them work with students having technical problems.
• Have district technology support staff come into the classroom to teach lessons on new technologies and updated applications.

Monitor

• When using Gaggle to chat about their novel, are students practicing legal and ethical behavior?
• Can students discuss different careers that involve technology?
• Can students participate in appropriate conversations through chatting online?
• Can students learn different troubleshooting techniques and then use these techniques to help/teach others what to do when experiencing technical difficulty?
• Can students learn new applications and adapt to updates on previous applications?

Evaluate and Extend

• Are students attentive during presentations of visitors?
• Can students take the knowledge they have acquired and use it appropriately?
• Can students use Gaggle appropriately and effectively?

Transitioning from Knowledge to Synthesis

As I reflect over the past eight weeks, I realize that I have learned a great deal about the 21^st Century Fluency Skills, and the tools that are needed to be successful. As stated by Jukes and Macdonald, “The problem is that the world is not the stable, static place it once was. The world has changed and continues to change.” With this in mind, teachers must familiarize themselves with the list of 21^st Century Fluency Skills if they are to prepare their students for what awaits them after school in life and the workplace.

The most striking revelation I’ve had during this course is that we are focusing on the 21st Century Fluency Skills in my district, even though this isn’t what we call them. I was quite overwhelmed when I read through the huge list of literacy skills, which included the Professional Skills and Teacher Skills. Many of these skills are things we do with our students on a daily basis, such as the ability to read fiction and non-fiction for meaning, and the ability to apply Bloom’s hierarchy of skills. On the other hand, there are skills that we are not teaching our students, such as having the ability to look critically at the content of various media formats and be able to determine how that medium is used to communicate with the users and shape their thinking.

Having the knowledge of the 21^st Century Fluency Skills will help me to prepare my students to be successful in the future. I can use this list to ensure my students are getting the skills they need to be successful in life and in the workplace. The resource “Reading the Web Strategies for Internet Inquiry” taught me a great deal about the QUEST model of internet inquiry. This book also has many great resources that can be used with students in the classroom, such as Handout E-7 Middle School Website Evaluation and Handout S-9 Synthesis Map.

One goal I would like to pursue is to identify the 21^st Century Fluency Skills that we do not work on in my district and incorporate them into my curriculum. Being a technology magnet school where every student has their own laptop, I would like to focus on the Information Skills, Technical Skills, and Media Skills. For example, one of the media skills is the ability to identify the most appropriate media format to use to complete a media product. Although students use a wide variety of tools and software, we usually tell them which program or tools we want them to use to complete an assignment. I will begin to give students choices when they use technology. When an assignment is introduced, students will be given several options of different media they can use to complete the project. Having the freedom to choose will hopefully give students confidence when working with new media, which is another of the 21^st Century Fluency Skills.

Critical Evaluation of a Website

In my master's class we were asked to evaluate a website and use screen shots as we narrated our way through the evaluation. I have created my evaluation in iMovie and exported it as a Quick Time movie.

Reflection

My personal learning theory has not changed throughout this course. However, there are adjustments that I plan to make to my instructional practice regarding technology integration. My students each have their own laptop. Although I integrate technology into my lessons, it is usually through some type of project, such as an iMovie or a podcast. I need to find more ways for my students to use technology in their daily lessons.

  One new technology tool I plan to use is Concept Maps. As long as you have an essential question, mind maps can be used to organize any type of information. In language arts, this would be helpful to use as a character map or to organize information when reading a novel.

  As I mentioned above, I would like my students to use technology in my language arts class more regularly, and not just for projects. One of my goals is to have them use the online textbook to read stories on their computer.  There are also homework assignments that can be done online. This is something that has been available that I have not yet utilized. This goal will not be hard to achieve since they used their computers in this manner as 7^th graders.  I will simply need to talk to our building technician to make sure the online textbook is put on the 8^th grade laptops when they are re-imaged.

  Another long-term goal is for students to collaborate with other students globally. I would like to learn more about programs such as Skype and ePals. Again, this is something I will have to learn more about before utilizing it in my classroom. I will have to check with our district technology staff to make sure it is acceptable for our students to use these programs on their laptops.

Voice Thread

I am new to Voice Threads, and like most people, I do not like listening to the sound of my own voice. Anyway, I have a problem with students completing their work in my class and would love any suggestions you may have!

http://voicethread.com/share/530854/

Social Learning Theory

I do not think social learning should be the primary method used in the classroom. In the experiences I have had with cooperative groups, at times there is too much playing around by some of the team members. In some groups it seems that one or two people are doing all the work. Social learning is important, and it definitely has its place in today’s classroom, but it should be used in conjunction with other methods of learning.

 Now more than ever, technology allows students to collaborate on projects without the constraints of time or geography, (Pittler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007). There are many different ways students can use technology to work in cooperative groups.

Students in my language arts class often work in cooperative groups. Sometimes they work together to problem solve or simply discuss their assignments. Other times they work in cooperative groups to create a project. When working together to create projects, they are shown exemplar projects and given organizers and rubrics before they begin the project. This ensures they understand what is expected of them, and there are no surprises when the assignment is graded.

One of the benefits of social constructivism is that conversation with others helps students to understand things. At times the learner needs a more knowledgeable person to help them understand, and this can be a parent, teacher, peer, or even a computer. Having students explain things to others also helps them to get a better understanding of the text. One activity that helps with this is the Jigsaw Activity. This is where each student is responsible for reading a certain section and then teaching the class about that section. After everyone has taught the group about what they read they have heard about the entire selection.

Having students work together is a powerful strategy, but students need a balance of teacher instruction, cooperative learning, and independent learning.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Laureate Education Inc. (2008). “Social Learning Theories.” Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education Inc.

Constructivist/Constructionist Learning Theories

Constructivism is a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). There are countless ways students can build or construct things using technology, and these creations can easily be shared with others.

For example, programs such as Power Point or Keynote can be used for just about any type of lesson. It is an easy way for students to use their knowledge to build something that can be shared with others. Most students enjoy sharing their creations, and students in the audience can learn by watching the presentations. Students can use these programs to make their presentations unique with the many choices that are available to them.

Another way that we can correlate technology with the principles of constructivist/constructionist learning theories, is by using teacher-created interactive spreadsheets. There are several programs that can be used for this, such as Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheets, and wikiCalc. When we think of spreadsheets, math and science usually come to mind. However, spreadsheets can be used for a variety of purposes in just about any subject. 

One way that I try to make technology projects more accessible is by posting all of the components on my school website. There is a project category on my website that contains all of the projects for the school year. Under each project heading students will find directions, standards and benchmarks, rubrics, graphic organizers, and exemplar examples.  When we begin a project students are instructed to go to my website and view all of the components as well as the examples. I give them printed copies of everything they need, but if they need another copy it is up to them to visit the website and print another one. Parents utilize this feature as well. They can view examples from home, which helps them to guide their child in the right direction if needed. Also, if a student forgets to bring home the directions, organizers, etc., then they can also be viewed or printed from home.

I enjoyed exploring the project-based learning resources. The Ali site is one that I have visited before, and even had one of my projects posted on their site several years ago. Our district uses Apple computers, so it is a site that we are encouraged to visit regularly. I plan to spend more time exploring all the other project-based sites. 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). “Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories”. Baltimore: Dr. Orey

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cognitivism in Practice

Advance organizers help students focus their learning. Teachers and students can use a variety of technology tools to create welll-organized, visually appealing organizers, (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, 2007). 

Some types of advance organizers that can be useful are expository, narrative, and graphic. These organizers can be used to help students focus on the essential question for the lesson they are about to learn. They help them to organize their thoughts around the essential information and gets them thinking about what they know about the topic even before the teacher begins the lesson. In my 8th grade language arts classroom these types of organizers would be helpful before beginning an integrated unit. The US History teacher and I work together to integrate our units throughout the year. Together we could have students create an advance organizer to be used in both classes as we begin our units. For example, if students have created an advance organizer on immigration, then they can continue to fill in the information they acquire in both classes. Since we teach at a technology magnet school, where every student has their own laptop, the obvious way for our students to create an advance organizer would be to use a multimedia tool such as a PowerPoint advance organizer. Studies show that students who use multimedia to create advance organizers retained more information than those who dod not use this type of multimedia advance organzier, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenosdi, 2007).

Notetaking and summarizing are strategies that have been used in the classroom for many years. I think teachers assume that students come to their class already knowing how to summarize and take notes. As stated in chapter six in Using Technology With Classroom Instruction That Works, teachers rarely teach notetaking as a skill in itself. They recommend that we give them teacher-prepared notes, and that we teach students a variety of notetaking formats. 

Instructional strategies such as concept mapping, help students organize their ideas and make connections. Dr. Orey also states, “People can remember images easier than just text, therefore, images are powerful tools to use in the classroom.” Another strategy that is a valuable learning tool is virtual field trips. This web based tool can create rich learning experiences for students. It gives them an opportunity to witness history and engage in critical thinking activities.

Behaviorism in Practice

Reinforcing effort can lead to greater student success. I teach eighth grade language arts and I create a class chart, which shows students the correlation between the number of zeros on homework assignments and the number of students failing at midterm and the end of the quarter. This is a great tool to show middle school students the relationship between failing grades and a lack of effort. While this is effective, having students track their individual effort in relationship to their successes and failures might be even more beneficial.

Our school is part of a one to one initiative, which allows each students access to their own laptop throughout the school year. Students would easily be able to use their laptop to track their progress. This would enable them to see their hard work really does pay off, or that their lack of hard work does indeed affect their grades.

I strongly feel that homework is an effective assessment tool.  My homework policy is clearly communicated to my students at the beginning of the year. I give a wide variety of different types of assignments. This allows for all students to use their strengths at various times throughout the year. The majority of the time the homework is graded, but occasionally students are given a completion grade only and the assignment is discussed in cooperative groups.

Over the years our district has used several different word processing programs, and this summer we are being trained in yet another new program. The reading for this week provided me with several new strategies that I would like to try in the near future.

I agree with the statement, "In addition to learning from multimedia such as educational games and interactive simulations, students can learn with multimedia by creating their own projects at home or at school to develop their understanding and practice skills" (Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K., 2007). Since our school is a technology magnet school, we try very hard to integrate technology into our daily lessons and provide students with a variety of ways to demonstrate their learning. In my language arts classroom, students respond to blogs, create podcasts, design iMovies, and create iPhoto books. They also use many websites to engage in learning activities, such as Read, Write, Think and United Streaming.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Reflection

Two new skills that I have learned through the course, Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, is posting to a Wiki, and creating a blog on a site other than my school website. I plan to incorporate Wikis into an existing project that my students do in collaborative groups.

Even though I consider myself a Digital Immigrant, I take pride in the technology skills I have acquired over the years. This course helped me to become more aware of the term 21st century skills and how urgent it is for educators to teach these skills to their students. I now realize that if students do not learn these skills the success of their future could be in jeopardy.

My perspective before taking this course was already more learner-centered than teacher-centered. The knowledge gained through this course helped to confirm that I am headed in the right direction with teaching my students the 21st century skills they so desperately need to be successful in the future. My hope is that throughout the remainder of this program I will gain even more knowledge that will help me create activities that fulfill the needs of my students.

I will continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology during the time I am enrolled in the other courses of this master's program. I have one hour a day that is used for technology support where I am available to go into other classrooms to assist with projects. I will continue to encourage my colleagues to integrate technology into their curriculum and to offer assistance when needed.

My last goal is to build better relationships with my students. Since all of my students have their own laptops, the most logical way would be to communicate through technology. I currently use blogs on my classroom website which some students respond to, but right now it is optional. A couple of options would be to make the response mandatory for all students, or to communicate with students through their school Gaggle accounts. This would help to build better relationships with the students, which usually means better results in the classroom.

Technology Podcast

For my masters class I had to interview three students from my class about their use of technology. The podcast at the site listed below includes the demographics of our school and the student responses.

http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/teachers/tdevlin/projects/2507/?b=15&mod=8384

Partnership for the 21st Century Skills

I found the site of the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills to be very interesting. It is a great site that has useful information and I encourage all educators to use it. 

What surprised me is that only 9 out of 50 states gave a commitment to revise their standards, create assessments, and implement the 21st century skills in their classrooms. If we want our students to be able to use these skills to be successful in college and in the work place, then we need to begin training our students now. If these skills are not viewed as important enough to even be on the standards, then had do we expect students, parents, and even educators to take it seriously?

One quote that I do not entirely agree with is "The paper notes that the greatest challenge to incorporating technology into learning environments is not finding time and money, but finding ways to adequately support the use of these tools. Technology can only make a difference when students, teachers, and administrators are provided the necessary supports to proficiently integrate it into daily routines." The part of this I disagree with is that the greatest challenge is not finding time and money. Money is one of the biggest challenges of all. If you don't have money, then you probably won't have technology or the money to pay for the teacher training. Without these two necessary elements you have nothing to build on.

The implications for my students and myself as an educator are that we have quite a bit of work ahead of us. I am fortunate enough to have the technology in my classroom and the training is at my fingertips. Finding the time, on the other hand, is another issue.

Using Blogs in the Classroom

I teach 8th grade Language Arts. In the district where I teach every teacher has their own classroom website. One of the features we have on our website is to create blogs for our students to respond to. When I post a blog it is usually with the purpose of students responding to an assignment we have already completed. For example, in my class every 8th grader is required to write a 5-7 page research paper on Illinois history. It is a huge assignment for students this age. Recently, upon the completion of the final copy, I posted a blog asking students how they felt about the assignment - how much value they thought the assignment had, how they thought they did on the assignment, and how it will help them in the future. This was valuable to me as a teacher because I now know that the students found the assignment very worthwhile and they are sure it will help them when they get to high school.

My 8th grade students are required to read independently every day. They spend the first 10-15 minutes of every class period reading their self-selected novels, and of course they are also encouraged to read outside of class. Throughout the quarter they have reader response prompts that they respond to, and at least once per quarter they are required to write a book review and record it as a podcast. These assignments not only encourage them to reflect on their reading, but will also enable them to use the technology skills they have acquired over the past three years and share their book with others when their podcasts are presented. This is the first year I have approached independent reading this way, and I have to admit that my students really seem to be enjoying it. It is a great way to enhance our independent reading program and show off the students' technology skills at the same time!

Read, Write, Podcast!