Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

After only a week, I have made some progress on carrying out my GAME plan.  The following are the ISTE standards that I am working on gaining confidence and proficiency in:
1)      ISTE NETS-T Standard 2:  Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
2)      ISTE NETS-T Standard 4:  Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
What resources will I need to carry out my plan?
1)     I will begin by using the resources I have at my disposal within my school building.  My colleagues and technology coordinator can help me find resources to enhance my curriculum.  I will also get on the internet and search for lesson plans that other teachers have already developed to enrich their lessons.  In addition, I will go back through some of my class resources that can help me.

2)    I will once again use my technology coordinator as he continues to help all the staff to not only integrate technology but to do so responsibly.  He has held several staff developments on how to properly cite internet sources. 
What steps have I been able to take so far?
1)    *I have already begun talking to my colleagues and my technology coordinator about resources they have used to enrich their lessons.  I have also taken a small amount of time to do some internet researches.  Within this research, my teaching partner and I found a Continent Adventure WebQuest to use for our social studies unit on continents.  The WebQuest takes them on a trip to a continent of their choice to meet the people, experience the local culture, and see the sights.  After their research, they will create a travel brochure to present to their class.  The class will then compare the continents and vote on the class destination.  
*Just this week I have been in contact with a third grade teacher in Orange County, CA. We are working together to develop a collaborative project for our two classes via the internet (wikis or blogs) and through Skype.  We are also looking into setting our classes up to be pen pals.

2)      *The last several weeks I have had students posting to our classroom blog.  I have already been talking about how to stay safe when posting to the blog. 
*During our Continent Adventure WebQuest, some students have asked to Google    other sites to find the information they are seeking.  Therefore, I have had the opportunity to talk about what to do if they find themselves on an inappropriate site.  I have also had the opportunity to talk about not copying “word by word” unless they are going to cite their source. 
*Today during our novel study, I used some pictures on the Smartboard to talk about the setting of our story.  I cited the source and explained to my students why and how I did this.

What additional information do I need?
1)    *I feel that I have an abundant amount of resources and have learned a lot about using authentic learning experiences throughout my master program.  At this point, I feel I need to work on developing and implementing authentic lessons.  As I am implementing the lessons, I will monitor that my students are engaged and the lessons are effective.  Gathering this additional information will help me to adapt my lessons as needed.  My principal has also volunteered to come critique any of my lessons as I implement them.
*The teacher in Orange County, CA and I need to brainstorm and research projects that we can work collaboratively on.   
*I need to research different technology tools to use for the pen pal project.  I have heard of people using epals, wikis, and blogs for such projects.  I need to gather information to see which would be best for us.  Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?  I would love any input you have.

2)    At this point, I do not need any additional information.  I need to continue to stress how important it is to be safe on the internet, even at home, and model how to reflect legal and ethical behavior.


    


8 comments:

  1. Hi Daneen,

    In reviewing your blog entry this week in relation to your implement GAME plan I enjoyed the fact that you keep your actions and resource expectations grounded in reality. Far too often people will have the greatest of intentions but when it comes time to implement the much needed actions they run into the barrier of fact not meeting the criteria of fiction. In choosing to use the resources which you have readily at hand, namely your “colleagues and technology coordinator” (Hanson, 2012), you allow your actions a better chance at becoming reality because you are not having to scramble to locate the tools you need but can instead utilize their expertise to identify and locate the needed resources which can “enhance [your] curriculum” (Hanson,2012).

    Additionally I wholeheartedly agree with your plan to “get on the internet and search for lesson plans that other teachers have already developed to enrich their lessons” (Hanson, 2012). I have always been a firm believer in not recreating the wheel every time if it is not needed. In being able to find useful resources that can form a framework for your instruction you can then work to adapt the features of the resource to better suited the abilities, attitudes, and interests of your students. This where you can integrate the needed technology and make the allotments for differentiation and areas of special focus.

    Good luck in pursuing your goals this year.

    Trevor

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    1. Trevor,
      Thank you for your reply. There are definitely many internet resources, sometime so many it can be overwhelming. Having the time to narrow it down to what will work best for my classroom is time consuming but usually well worth it.

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  2. Daneen,
    A travel brochure is a wonderful idea. Students will be able to show what they learned and then choose the main features of their continent to showcase in a brochure. I am not sure what type of computers you use at your school, but Microsoft Office has brochure templates that work great with students. Students can easily type their information in to the text areas. There are also picture boxes already in place for easy use.

    Collaborating with another class will be a great experience for your students. I hope the pen pal aspect works out. You could also try ePals which gives your students e-mail accounts. You would still be able to work with the same teacher if she signed up too. Also, don’t forget with KidBlog, you can give access to another class. That would be another way to collaborate with a different class.

    Christina

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    1. Thank you for the pen pal suggestions. My goal this week is to talk to the teacher in California and see which technology tool she would prefer or has access too. I am really looking forward to getting started and expanding to a collaborate project or two.
      Thank you also for the suggestion of using the brochure templates in Microsoft for our travel brochure. I know there are templates but have not used them before. I will have to explore this option.

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  3. Daneen,
    I just found this website as I was looking for lessons for my own unit. I thought it would be a great addition for your continent unit. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WorldTour/

    Christina

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    1. Super! Thank you I will have to check this out. Thank you for thinking of me!

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  4. Daneen,
    Collaborating with another class, especially one not close to you can be difficult. Kudos to you for giving it a try. I would love to connect with a classroom somewhere that is very different from here. It is definitely on my to do list! At my school, one teacher who has connected with other classes have chosen to do novel studies at the same time. Then, you can have children post about the actions of the characters, how the setting effected the story, and so many other things. The options for it are endless. Just a suggestion for you. Good luck!
    Jill

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  5. Jill,

    Thank you for the suggestions. You are right the possibilities are endless. After talking further with the teacher in CA I will have a better idea of her desires and technology capabilities so we can figure out how much and what we can do. I figure I will take it one step at a time and then let it grow from there! I am excited to get started, just need to find the time this week to get it all set up.

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