Reflection on the GAME Plan and Technology

Reflection on the GAME Plan and Technology

Incorporating the GAME plan helped me to focus on exactly what the focus of my lesson is. It can a be a planning tool I use for personal goals and for teaching specific lessons to my students. Setting goals, taking action, monitoring, and evaluating are specific things I can do to stay on track. I will be using the GAME plan as I develop my daily lesson plans this school year. Planning lesson plans that start with the goal will be the first thing I do. What is it that I want my students to know once the lesson is complete? Although I always made solid lesson plans, I took the approach getting through content standards and not thinking specifically why I was teaching the standard. Now I will go through each step of the GAME plan.

After completing this course on integrating technology in my content area, I am more convinced that using classroom blogs is the way to go. Classroom discussions leave out many students. Those who do not like to speak in front of the entire room can respond to a blog more confidently without worrying about the others’ reaction. I used blogging a few times last school year but I plan to make it a regular part of my ELA class.

I will also continue to use digital storytelling. In the video from week seven, I was pleased to keep the list Dr. Arnie Abrams gave us to guide students in making their digital stories. Although I learned most of what he gave us during my first experience last year, I think giving my students a list of the steps would be beneficial to both them and me. I worked through the steps but the only thing my students knew was what the final product should look like, but if students see the path they must take, I think it will take much of the anxiety away.

Using the GAME plan and digital storytelling in my classroom will strengthen my instructional practices in ELA.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Mid-GAME Plan

This is the fourth week of GAME planning to prepare for the upcoming school year. As I transition into a new school there are many kinks to work out but at the same time, I feel I am better prepared as I bring resources from my old school and from my Walden classes. Adding the many technology tools to my Delicious account has provided a place to save all the new and old tools. I retrieved sources from my former school computer and placed them in the Delicious account and have also added to my Drop Box account. I like both of these because my former colleagues and I can continue to share resources.

My GAME plan focuses on teaching students the responsibility that comes with using sources they find online. Last year I shared Bibme.org with my students with success but this this year I will begin using it earlier in the year, making it a part of all our projects.  I will also create a “stack” in my Delicious account, making it public so that my students will have access to it.

During this week’s readings, I was reminded that one area of weakness for me is assessment. As I plan to Skype with my students, they will journal but in addition to journaling students will also have a checklist.  Our Skype time must be planned to limit wasting class time and the idea of creating checklist will be two-fold. One list could help students focus on the important questions they want to ask and want information they want to share. The second benefit will be for me in the area of assessment. I will use think-aloud the process to help students organize their thoughts. A checklist could be placed in the journal and used as a self-assessment. I will create a second checklist similar to the one in our text, Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use, on page 155 Figure 7.9 (Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. 2009). I like this one because I can customize it to fit each project.

So far I have learned that I already use many  of the sources presented to me but every week I see something I can tweak or add to what I am doing.  The only question I have so far concerns what technology I will have available at my new school. This may be a problem that I will tackle as I get to know my principal and my curriculum director. I do not expect problems but in this first year I will have many things to learn about my new state’s focus. My state of WV had a major focus on project-based learning so I feel I am prepared as I begin my new adventure.

Reference

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.

GAME Review Plan

As I review my GAME plan I made a list of resources and people I will need to line up to make it possible to Skype with students in another state. My biggest problem will be in my new school because I am unsure of available resources. I decided to make two “to-do lists.”

Former school  

Resources: Media specialist, geography and language arts teacher, computer access and potential technical problems.  

Additional information I need: Who is willing to complete this project? Specifically, which teachers are willing to invest the time and effort to complete this project with me?

Steps taken so far: The media specialist and geography teacher have agreed to work on the project. The language arts teacher is not so sure. I can go ahead without her but would like to have her onboard.

New School

Resources: Media specialist-meet with her and see what assistance she can give me. Curriculum specialist at the school will need to be in the loop-meet with her. Social studies teacher-ask for input.

Additional information I need: Computer availability, Student technology skill level.

Steps taken so far: I had a short meeting with the media specialist but will need to meet with her once school begins.

GAME Plan

My GAME  Plan

After reviewing the NETS for Teachers on the International Society for Technology in Education standards I have created a plan for the follow:

Goal:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

            d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

4.  Promote and Model Digital Citizenship

and Responsibility : Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.

a.    Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources

Action

#1  My lessons will include face-to-face and virtual environments such a Skype with students and teachers from a different state and set up a classroom blog. I hope to blog with the students from a different state also. 

#2 My lessons will include a focus on ethical use of digital information. Students will be required to provide documentation of all sources including images and music.

Monitor

Students will journal daily during units that include Skype, blogging, or any other digital activity or Internet work we do. The journal entries will include what he or she accomplished each day and what work still needs to be completed.

Evaluate

I will use a rubric created for blogging, planning questions students will use during Skype discussions, and require students to use a source such as bibme.org.

References

http://www.bibme.org/

 International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Virtual Field Trip: Caribbean

Let’s go to the caribbean!

View more PowerPoint from sseavy

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Digital Story "Jared's Big Adventure"

Teaching Students How to Evaluate a Website

As a part of my Walden University classes, I have learned to make a Screencast which is really pretty cool. I'm not good at it yet, but with a little practice, I can see this would be a great tool for the classroom. This little video discusses a bogus website about rennets

.http://www.screencast.com/t/cWrjiMlAjvJ

Holocaust Web Quest: SpiderScribe

Students created a concept map using www.spiderscribe.com after exploring the U.S National Holocaust Museum Web Site.


http://www.spiderscribe.net/app/?f0e0542611f6bd6c9165b3bf56c5939d

Student Created Voice Thread : News from Around the World

This is a Voice Threat my seventh grade students are creating on a current event from his or her country. The project began as a podcast but we decided to publish all the stories together. More will be added as the year progresses so that students will be ready to present at the end of the year. 


Just highlight the link, right mouse click, and choose go to .....
https://voicethread.com/share/2702732/

Student Work 2011-2012 School Year

These are a few student created Book Trailers my seventh grade reading students created after reading an independent novel. Students wrote a script, added images ( one student starred in his own video!), chose music,  peer edited, then used PhotoStory3 to create the book trailers. I hope you enjoy them as much as my students did! 

Final Thoughts on Bridging Learning Theories, Instruction, and Technology

At the beginning of the Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology course, I immediately identified with the Cognitive Learning Theories as discussed by Dr. Michael Orey explaining that information is processed through sensory input moves to short-term memory and finally settles in long-term memory (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011a). In my classroom, I have used technology and cooperative learning on a regular basis, but I am now focusing more on making sure the majority of activities are student-centered. What I mean by that is just putting my students on the computer is not enough. Using technology as a learning tool will aid my students in taking information from short-term to long-term memory. Technology as a learning tool will allow students to focus on the actual learning and not on the technology device (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011b). My understanding of technology as a learning tool versus technology as an instructional tool has become clearer. Using websites sites such as www.bbc.uk/skillswise.com to allow students to practice grammar skills is fine, but I must understand this is a practice tool. Homework and practice are important and technology is readily available (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 189). I add the links to the URLs on my school web page and encourage my students to “play” when they are at home.

After watching Dr. Patricia Wolfe discuss how the brain is the only organ that is changed by experience, I shifted my teaching approach to make sure my students have good, positive experiences in my class (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011c). I look for opportunities that allow students to socialize, have fun, and work together. Simple things like having students work in small groups to present information to the class create an experience. Using www.spiderscribe.net was one of my favorite technology tools in this course. It taught my students use an advance graphic organizer which helped them organize information from a web quest. Advanced graphic organizers help students to understand new content and make classifications (Pitzler et al, 2007, p. 73.) I also had great success with www.voicethread.com when I had my students create a newscast based on news around the world. Using power points for presentations have become ordinary for the students and they like the ease of recording and uploading each slide. The feature they liked best was adding comments to one another’s news story slides. Students could record the comment or write the comment. Both Spiderscribe and VT were great additions to the technology tools I use in my classroom.

Two long-term goals for my instructional practice would include the use of technology as a learning tool and to create more experiences.  I am good at finding fun web sites for the students to do “drill and practice,” but I will use www.voicethread.com  as a way for students to present and create artifacts together. With every unit or project my students complete, VT will be one of the choices students will have. Technology is an integral part of my language arts classroom. With every novel the students read, technology tools can be a piece of the puzzle, not the focus. Students can become proficient writers but use technology to showcase that writing. My instructional practices have changed in that all activities are student-centered experiences to help change those brains and allow students to think outside the box. I want them to dazzle the world with what they know, not just with what they can do on the computer.

References

 Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program thirteen: Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011c). Program two: Brain research and learning [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

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

My Voice Thread on Literature Circles

Literature circles are new to me. I created this VoiceThread to share what I have so far and to see if my classmates have any suggestions. Please be warned that I couldn't figure out how to go back and edit my voice. I even forgot to say my name! I know how my students feel when they record their voices. I deleted and rerecorded many times, but I decided I would probably never be happy with it. VoiceThread is a pretty neat site. My school tech specialist is working on unblocking for me so we can use it at school. After playing around with some family photos, I tried to make this one for class. I'd love to see what our students could create!

So be warned, this isn't perfect and I repeated myself....could not figure out how to edit the recording. Maybe I'll YouTube it! I will spend more time on the VoiceThread site and use it in my classroom.
Shelley

https://voicethread.com/share/2673937/

Social Learning Theories

Social learning theories link with the instructional strategies such as cooperative learning and problem-based learning through the key elements of actively engaging the learner and creating experiences for the learner. As I taught this week, Dr. Michael Orey’s comments on social constructivism stuck with me. He reminded us in the “Social Learning Theories” video that ours students learn through conversations and being actively engaged in constructing artifacts (Laureate, Inc., 2011).

 I had to spend valuable class time this week reviewing benchmark questions with my students. As soon as I had out the tests, groans emit from across the room. I completely understand. Dr. Orey’s words were echoing in my head. I had to figure out a way to make this boring activity an experience. Number one, my principal is breathing down my neck begging us to review the questions and number two; I want my students to understand how to use a direct quote. I could have, very mundanely, read through the question, explain why B, C, and D were incorrect and why students should have chosen A. But I thought; make an experience to get this information into their long term memory. I handed out index cards, gave the students five minutes to work together to find the correct answer and be ready to explain why they choose that answer. Next, I had them move to four corners of the room labeled A, B, C, and D. I joked with them and said I’d start with the corner with the most kids. As each group told us why they choose the answer, we talked about the problems with their answer. If students thought another corner had the right answer, they could change corners. It was fun as we discussed each groups reasons and students moved from corner to corner, arguing over who was right and wrong. The class ended up with all the kids in corner A and everyone could explain why this answer was correct. I had them sit down; happy with myself for making an “experience” to help them remember, but what was great is that they asked to do another question! Another question from the boring test? Of course I teased them and said only two a week! We laughed about it today but they remembered how to use the type of direct quote we practiced.

George Siemens explained connectivism to combine socialization, technology, and information (Laureate, Inc., 2011).  Students learn through conversation. Technology helps them to find information, connect to information in broad way, and to learn through constructing an artifact. Connectivism brings it all together.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program nine: Connectivism as a learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Technology and Constructionism

Technology most definitely has a place among learning theories. This week, I have revisited the learning theory of the constructivist and was convinced now, more than ever that my personal learning theory is that of the constructivist/constructionist. Actively engaging students in a real word problem, hooks students. It can create excitement in learning that students crave. “The basic premise of constructivist theories is that people create their own meaning through experience” (Innovative Learning). For example, I see this happen when I have my students teach a poetry term. The terms are chosen at random, and then each student must decide how to teach it. Because this lesson is directed by the students, an experience is created which helps them store away the poetry terms into their long-term memory.

 Using a variety of strategies, that most definitely include Microsoft Excel, as mentioned in the text, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007.), help students make hypothesis, and test them. Technology presents ways for students to learn to strategize in an exciting way which includes games, software, and web resources. One interactive web resource is Thinkfinity (Thinkfinity.org.). This site is chalked full of interactive, strategic games for students along with lesson plans for teachers.  West Virginia’s Mark Moore from the WVDE has put together a “Hot List” of teacher recommended activities (wvde.state.wv.us).  One interactive game that allows students to make a hypothesis and test that hypothesis is called “Power Up” from ScienceNetLinks. (http://sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/powerup.html). I have played this interactive game with adults and students as they test what energy resource is the cleanest, safest and most cost efficient. 

Project-based learning is another is another strategy that correlates with constructivist/constructionist learning theories. This strategy engages the learner with a real world problem.  As students work together, they brainstorm, plan, build and present a solution to a given problem. Last year my students were having a difficult time choosing a book in our school library in his or her reading level. The real world problem was that our students had to find a book in their Lexile (www.lexile.com) range and it must be an Accelerated Reader Book (Renaissance Learning). I asked the students what would help them. They currently had to wait in line to use one of the two computers in the library to look up the Lexile measure and to look on the Accelerated Reader quiz list to see if a test was available.  Students said it would be easier if the books were labeled. After discussing the problem with our media specialist, she allowed the students to label all the fiction books in the library.

 Students first brainstormed how to label the books, who would pay for the supplies, and what equipment would be needed. With the help of our media specialist, we set up a workspace that included two lap tops for each group of four to five students. One student would gather the book, one student would look up the book’s Lexile measure and record it on paper, one student would look to see if the book was an AR book, and one student would add it to the spreadsheet. All the spreadsheets would be put together to create a master list so that students would have easy access the Lexile measure and AR availability of all the books. Each book was also labeled by a student with a red dot to show it was an AR book along with a colored label with the Lexile measure. A key was created and placed at various locations around the library to help all the students in the school to understand the color coding of the books. The response was so great that we received a thank you poster from the eighth grade students because we had made their lives easier. This was a great experience for the seventh grade students because they learned that when faced with a problem, they could find solutions.

Constructionist learning theory will have a place in my classroom for years to come (Innovative Learning). We can integrate technology with learning experiences that will create memories for our students. These memories are what good teaching is all about.

 These are a few great sites I go to for ideas and activities.

http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learningt http://wvde.state.wv.us/technology/resources/thinkfinity/hot.php

Resources

AAAS. ScienceNetLinks. http://sciencenetlinks.com/

Innovative Learning: Constructivist theories of learning  retrieved from http://www.innovativelearning.com/educational_psychology/constructivism/
index.htm.

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

Lexile. The lexile framework for reading. www.lexile.com.

Renaissance Learning. www.renlearn.com/ar.

West Virginia Department of Education. http://wvde.state.wv.us/index.html.

Instructional Strategies for Understanding

Cognitive learning theories aides our teaching to help our students get involved in the lesson. In the text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction the Works (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007.), the two instructional strategies I use are advanced organizers and note taking. These two strategies allow the learner to take information, and see it visually, and then connect it to prior knowledge which helps them remember it. My goal is to use strategies that involve my students, strategies that are student-centered, not just copying information because I told them they had to remember it.

An advanced organizer allows the student to focus on an essential question then make connections as information is gathered. As I learned to use concept mapping in the unit I am teaching, I was excited to finally find a way to help students link together events and ideas to support the essential question. For example, my students have a difficult time understanding why the Jews did not fight back during the Holocaust. By using a virtual field trip, students gain a deeper understanding as the see photographs, watch videos, and read true stories of survivors. Once students take a virtual field trip, an advanced organizer, like a concept map, can be used to connect all the information they have gathered.

PowerPoint can be a tool used in note taking instead of just copying notes from a text and writing them in a notebook. With keeping my Holocaust unit in mind, students could create a slide or slides with an image that supports the notes students gather focused on concentration camps or a ghetto. For seventh graders, the image of the camp with a bulleted list that describes life in a concentration camp could be a powerful way to organize and comprehend the life for the Jewish people.

Creating experiences for our students will help them remember the information. (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011.) Using concept maps and PowerPoint to help organize the overwhelming amount of material covered during a Holocaust study would be of great benefit. Cognitive learning theories are the core of good teaching. Creating experiences, connecting information, and analyzing material is essential to good instruction.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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

Behaviorism in the 21st-Century Classroo

Teachers have observed a student and made judgments of the likelihood of the student’s success based on the environment from which the student comes.  John B. Watson believed that “the environment shapes one’s behavior; what one learns is determined by the elements in the environment, not by the individual learner” (Smith, K., 1999).  As an educator, one must understand that technology plays a critical role shaping the student’s environment. From spreadsheets, data collections tool, and word processing, a student can track effort, practice, and learning to shape his or her environment. The use of technology demands the student’s emersion in the learning process.

As a teacher who believes in project-based learning, I was surprised by the level of behaviorism-based instruction I use every week in my classroom. As a way to put some of the responsibility for learning on our students, my school issued every student a binder to keep track of benchmark tests, grades, progress reports, absences and among other progress monitoring techniques.  The purpose was to demonstrate to the students that the effort they put into their own learning, would show growth. From the text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, H., Hubbell, .E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. 2007), many examples of using technology to show effort are given. The use of spreadsheet software could be set up to give the students immediate feedback. My school could replace the binders with spreadsheets. By giving the students the tools to track their effort, we are changing their behavior. A group of students, who may feel they could never improve, could watch their grades improve as a result of benchmark tests and instructional resource practice.

Technology and behaviorism are linked in many of the resources students use weekly. “Reinforcement is the cardinal motivator” (Smith, K., 1999).  Students in West Virginia are using software to improve writing that gives the students immediate feedback. A prompt is given, students write the essay, and submit for scoring. The score is sent back with a rubric that details each item.  Strengths are noted and weaknesses are given with tips to improve in each specific area.  Students may edit the essay and resubmit. The rubric scores students from one to six.  This software has improved writing for our students with the immediate feedback being a key component.

One final example of “drill and practice” in behaviorism-based technology is the use of instructional resources. Students in my classes have the opportunity to work in class or from home on instructional computer games and skill-based practices linked to my class web page.  These resources help to reinforce classroom instruction. (See the links below.)

Now that I have taken a closer look behaviorism, I see that there is definitely a place for this theory in the 21^st-Century classroom. As a classroom teacher, my job is to use the technology tools to enhance learning.  I first learned of behaviorism in the 20^th-Century but I linked it to training students to memorize facts and behaving in class. As an educator, I always hope I remember to encourage creativity in my students. Behaviorism has its place, but I hope to never kill the creativity. B. F. Skinner once said, “The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do” (Skinner, B.) I wonder what he would think of our 21^st-Century technology.

Links

http://www.softschools.com/

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills-7th-langbuilders.htm

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/punctuation/index_pre.html

Resources

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

B.F. SKINNER, works and life. (n.d.).WEBRINGS--the directory to over 1000 articles by California Skeptics. Retrieved January 11, 2012, from http://www.skeptically.org/skinner/index

Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm