As this course comes to an end, I am
thinking of all the new knowledge I have learned about technology and how I can
utilize it effectively in my classroom. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) urge
teachers to teach technology with purpose and not just for the sake of using
technology. I believe only using technology for the sake of using it would be a
disservice to my students. My job is to create purposeful instruction with
clear goals. This is where the GAME plan model is effective.
The GAME plan model is an easy way
to have students monitor their own actions toward a goal. I am going to have my students set reading
goals for the new nine weeks. I plan to
use the GAME plan model. The students
and I will decide upon at least two actions that can help them meet their own
goal. The monitoring will happen at week
five to see if they are on track. This
will be a way for the students to show ownership of their actions toward a
goal. I often set goals for my students,
but for some reason neglect to tell them to the students. What I am learning is that students need to
have a purpose for their actions and goal setting creates that purpose.
I have made some adjustments to my
class based on my learning in this course.
For my unit plan, I incorporated wikis into my class. I will also be incorporating digital storytelling
as the last piece to my unit plan. These
are both ways to solve the problem as given in my problem based learning
unit. I would like to incorporate at
least one problem based learning unit each nine weeks. My student's engagement and learning through
this one will help me determine if that
is attainable.
My students are taking to these
technologies very well. It has been a
frustrating learning experience for me though.
I have spent a great deal of time teaching students how to use the
technology which then puts us behind schedule.
I did not take into account the amount of time it would take me to teach
the students. Ertmer and Simmons (2006)
said that teachers need to have knowledge, beliefs, confidence, and a
supportive culture to integrate technology into their curriculum. My biggest pitfall has been the supportive
culture. Our school recently went
"virtual" and this has caused
so many problems with our networked computers.
I have had students lose information that was saved. We have not had access to the internet when
we were suppose too. Not all computers
on our mobile cart worked correctly so we borrowed net books from other classes
only to find out that students cannot save to their own folders from net books. The list actually goes on. I found that I was weary of pursuing technology
because of these issues, not to mention the time that I was giving up in
instruction trying to fix these problems.
We are getting ipads soon so I hope these issues will be resolved
quickly.
My own GAME plan is still coming
along. My first goal was to be a leader
in technology by this coursework, learning from seminars and webinars, and
blogs. I must say this class has taught
me a lot about technology. I am continually
sharing with my peers so this is an ongoing action that I am meeting. Seminars and webinars have not come as easily
as I liked. I thought I was going to be
able to attend one in November, but that feel through. I need to continue to browse the web in hopes
of finding free webinars. It seems there
is not money for this type of professional
development right now. I am still
viewing blogs. I will admit that I do
not contribute as much as I should. I
just think that my situation right now does not allow for me to contribute
effectively with trying to do graduate work and all my other duties as a mom,
teacher, student, and wife.
My second goal was to utilize an
Edmodo site for my students and parents.
This is also ongoing. The site is
up and running, but has lost momentum with the students. I know this is my fault and I am working to remedy
that. Last week, I began using the
calendar on the site. I am going to
begin using the site with my reading groups to have the students blog and
respond about their reading. I will
share my expectations about this at parent teacher conferences this week. It is my hope that since parents will have
direct contact with me about the site they will begin using it as well.
The most important thing I have
learned in this course is that baby steps are still steps. For my own sanity with instruction and technology,
I must begin small and allow students time to practice and learn through
technology then when they are ready add another piece. I think I have been excited about my own
learning and trying to incorporate too much at one time.
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.
Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (2006). Jumping the PBL
implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K–12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of
Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40–54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.
