Reflection of Game Plan: Week 8

As I reflect on the Game Plan that I have being implementing with my students, I am still excited about my students blogging and sending emails to each other about their work. My co-teacher and I have come to a conclusion that the blog post and the emailing can be used in our classroom as a summarizer of that day's lesson. I am so excited about that point. The students have been making power points, learning about doing digital story telling and having a ball emailing each other about their work. I really love the students' enthusiasm about their work and how they are really learning everyday about technology. My plan is to take my students to whatever level they need to function for a future 21st century technology life.

As I look at my instructional practices I am very inspired that I have been able to facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, because my students are very excited about learning more about blogging and they have already started. I still trying to get others in the school involved with the process of teaching our students how to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility when it comes to Internet practice. Our school now has a school wide letter about student email and Internet practice so we are all on the same page with that effort. My students are still set to present their blog site to our parents at our parent meeting in November. I am very excited about getting the parents involved and allowing the students to display their learning.

One area that I will definitely focus on more is the digital story telling. But, at this point, all of my Game Plan has been very effective. Since there are no immediate changes, I will follow my Game Plan as written. The students are well on their way to learning great things about technology.

Game Plan with My Students: Week 7

As I sit and think about how I will be able to use the game plan with my students, I can't help but remember what our text book tells us about implementing and following through with a successful game plan. According to Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) the GAME plan is a four step guide to help teachers and their students become better self-directed learner. The GAME plan requires you to think about and take steps to direct your learning process, specifically while learning about technology and how to integrate it into your curriculum each and everyday. I can't but think about the word proficiency, which forces us as educators to prepare them everyday and give them the opportunity to use technology daily so they can get better and better with it.

According to http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students: I will continue to work with my students in the following areas:
•Demonstrate creativity and innovation
•Communicate and collaborate
•Conduct research and use information
•Think critically, solve problems, and make decisions
•Use technology effectively and productively.

As I continue to prepare my students future which is going to be fully 21st century by the time they are adults, it is imperative that our students know how to function properly in each of these areas on a daily basis. My students must know how to work collaboratively and cooperatively in groups and at the same time remain proficient in these areas.

Lastly, the game plan is a great process for allowing you to stay consistent with a plan and see it completely through. Since it is such a great tool for teachers, it will allow me to continue using the process to prepare my students for future technology work.

Revising My Game Plan: Week #6

As I take a look at my Game Plan, I have not had to revise much at all, except again for the time effort of getting a lot done in such a short period of time. The aspect of Social Networking has played a very big part in the developing of my Game Plan as a whole. Again, I have already developed my student's Blog spot (www.mathsciencesandbox.blogspot.com). We are going to practice next week blogging about the past semester as practice of how to blog correctly. I will be able to manage this, because the students will be able to blog about their own progress.

1. What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?

As I look at my instructional practices I am very inspired that I have been able to facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, because my students are very excited about learning more about blogging and they are eager to get started. Another area in my instructional practice was to get others in the school involved with the process of teaching or students how to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility when it comes to Internet practice. Our school now have a school wide letter about student email and Internet practice so we are all on the same page with that effort. My students are set to present their blog site to our parents at our parent meeting in November. I am very excited about getting the parents involved and allowing the students to display their learning.

2. What goals are you still working toward? I am still working on trying to get all of my letters back from my students so they can all participate on the blog spot. I made a host of phone calls this past week to remind the parents to send those letters back so all students can be involved in such a great learning experience.

3. Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself? My new learning goals now would be for my students to use technology effectively and productively, also learn how to communicate and collaborate.

4. If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far? With our new blog spot, as a community we are ready now to extend our learning.

5. What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning? The next step that we will take as a learning community is to learn how to conduct research and use that information to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions.

Evaluation of My GAME Plan.............

I am so glad that I am finally finished setting up my blog page for my students. You will simply love the website (http://mathsciencesandbox.blogspot.com). It is taking me a little time to get my students started with the blogging, however, I hope to accomplish that some time this week. I am extremely excited that my epals letters went home, I am actually about to have all of them turned back in. YEAH!!!!!!!

I believe my effectiveness with meeting my goals started our moving a little slow, but it really has picked up a lot for me at this time. I would like to mention that my students are really excited about this adventure. As we speak to our students on a daily basis about not giving, up I have learned to apply to my instructional practices not to give up. Sometimes, things will move slow or even get held up, but the point to remember is always strive to stay productive and never give up. I definitely have learned that you have to keep everyone that you need involved up to notice, because if someone that is apart of you plan is not aware of what is going on, it will slow down your process. I have not had any questions to arise at this time, however, that does not mean questions will not come up in the future.

My current needs are most important to me. The way I am going to adjust my plan right now is time constraints. I have to adjust my time effort in order to meet all of the goals that are intended. If I am stay focus, I know I will meet all necessary deadlines and my GAME Plan will be effective.

Checking Back on the Game Plan..........

As I look back on my game plan, I am finding much of the information that is needed. My group has been very helpful with websites that I am not able to find. Also, I am getting my forms back in from my students very well. I think the students don't want to be left out of the fun with the website.

Modification:

I may need to look at the fact of whether or not I receive a permission form back or not per my game plan team. Thanks for their help.

What Have I Learned:

I have learned that this is a tedious process. I am trying to make sure everything is in place so my students can really benefit from this. However, I am trying to take a long look at everything and make sure every step is being followed through.

Questions that have arised:

What do I do when students don't bring their permission form back?
What happens when I have a student that violates the internet ethics?
What happens when my principal has a problem with the process?

Steps for Carrying Out My Game Plan

Resources Needed:
E-Pal Accounts (www.epalaccounts.com)
Use of Voice Thread (www.voicethread.com)
Laptops and Other Desk Top Computers
Smart Board and ELMO (Document Camera)
Blog Page (www.southeastsandbox.blogspot.com)
Principal, Colleagues, and Technology Teacher
Parental Support
Letter for Permission from Parents for students to have E-Pal Accounts

Additional Information:
Parent Letter for E-Pal Accounts
Technology Letter from School System
Set Up of My Portfolio Online and On Paper
Information on how to set up a Web Quest

Steps Taken so Far:

I have already set up my blog page and my E-Pal accounts for my student's email accounts. I have printed the letters for the parents to sign and I will send them home this week. Students have already been introduced to how to post comments on the blog website and we will continue our discussion this week.

PUTTING MY GAME FACE ON.............

As I sit and think about what two areas I will consider to concentrate on in my game plan, I had to consider what areas will better benefit me and most of all my students. According to Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) the GAME plan is a four step guide to help teachers and their students become better self-directed learner. The GAME plan requires you to think about and take steps to direct your learning process, specifically while learning about technology and how to integrate it into your curriculum. This week Peggy Ertmer, (DVD, 2009) encourages us as teachers to make sure you have knowledge, confidence, true beliefs and a supportive culture. While sitting and thinking, I do believe strongly that I have all of these areas surrounding me. As I think about all of these important things, all of the knowledge I continue to gain, it will help me as an educator to better prepare my students for the 21st century. I went and visited the ISTE website and have identified two NETS-T standards that I would like to see myself grow in. The two standards are:

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.

2. 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.

The Game Plan:

GOAL #1: I will set up a Blog spot for my students to collaborate and communicate with each other on assignments and projects in Science, Math and Writing. Students will be given their own E-pal account where they can communicate at school as well as at home about assignments, homework, problems, questions, etc. Students will also be exposed to the use of Voice Thread with their assignments, Skype with another class about their assignments, and students will participate in the Technology forum offered at our local college.

GOAL #2: When I set up each account for the students, the accounts will be set up where it has constant student monitoring. I will need to monitor each account in order to make sure students are displaying the proper etiquette for using the Internet. It is also my responsibility to make sure students are displaying proper legal and ethical behavior while using collaboration on the Internet. I will also make sure the students see daily comments from me where I am displaying proper behavior for our school accounts.

ACTION FOR #1: I will make the plans to go ahead and set up each account for the students and issue necessary materials to my principal and system technology department. Students will be given their passwords and log ins. Students will be given a set of rules and regulations for using the Internet at school and school accounts at home. The blog and skype accounts will be set up as well. The rules and regulations will also include teacher/student ethical behavior when using the Internet. Lastly, I will issue any paperwork to parents and/or guardians to sign for the student's participation in their classwork via the Internet.

ACTION FOR #2: Is to prepare lessons for the students that will help them to understand how to use the accounts, blog spaces and the skype account. The plans for the skype account is for the students to use as whole group. We will also discuss rules and regulations, and proper legal and ethical behavior during these lessons. As the leader of the group, I will continue to do my professional learning with my colleagues via our Ning website drawing suggestions and ideas from various topics that we carry on. Once lessons are complete we will use our classroom laptops to practice how to use the accounts and students will be allowed to send the teacher a message at that time. This allows the teacher to know who knows how to use the accounts and who needs further instruction.

MONITORING FOR #1: I will keep a classroom portfolio of all student work that will be printed from the Internet and all work that is done by the students using paper and pencil. Teacher will also be responsible for printing off student emails and keeping them in the portfolio as well.

MONITORING FOR #2: I will keep in touch with parents via emails (those that have them), letters and phone calls as we move towards such a great experience in the students learning. I will also keep my principal informed of our progress as well via email. Lastly, I will make sure all work in the portfolio is kept up to date just in case I have a parent conference or my principal would like to view it.

EVALUATION FOR #1: I will continue to update our portfolio for presentation at our local technology conference to be held at the University in May. I will continue to communicate with the students on how we can better improve our communication with each other and make changes in our portfolio as needed.

EVALUATION FOR #2: I will continue to communicate with my colleagues on our Ning website for suggestions and ideas. I will probably consider putting some type of form on their maybe a survey or poll to gather information from them to help our communication in the classroom. Lastly, I will develop a team that will help me evaluate our portfolio before we make our presentation at the Technology Conference at the University in May.

References:

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program three. Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1 Motion picture. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Any suggestions to my plan are greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot,
Amy

Transitioning from Knowledge to Synthesis - Reflection

As a result of my learning from this course, I have truly learned that students of the 21st century will definitely need a lot of learning theories, instructional practices and various technology tools to further enhance and enrich their overall learning experiences. I have learned that students will have to learn to collaborate with a team effort, also they will have to possess a wealth of knowledge about technology and they will definitely need to explore these skills everyday so they are able to function in such a different world than what we have become to know as students ourselves. I have really enjoyed exploring the different areas of technology that we were introduced to and it has been a joy learning how to integrate these foundations in my everyday classroom efforts and teaching. I truly do have a better understanding of how to apply these learning theories and instructional practices in the classroom and I will enjoy watching my students apply their efforts to this knowledge. As my students learn more, they will definitely grow and develop into better social and cognitive learners.
The knowledge I have gained will allow me to integrate this knowledge into my everyday teaching so my students can have a wealth of knowledge as they grow into lifelong learners. Students will learn how to blog, use wiki spaces, collaborate with other students in different parts of the world, etc. As an educator, I believe it is our responsibility to prepare our students for the future and make sure they are well prepared. Because I now have this wealth of knowledge myself, I am able to prepare my students with the proper technology skills and therefore overall, the needs of all my learners will be met. Because I am such a big fan of differentiation in the classroom, I know that technology plays a crucial role in instruction being differentiated for all learners.
One professional development goal is to introduce my students to communicating on a blog space. Students will learn how to communicate with each other as well as other students. Step one will be to introduce to my students how to blog. Next we will start out small by blogging to each other. I will then attempt to take my students to the next level by contacting perhaps maybe one of my classmates so we blog with their class about some math and science topics. Lastly, by introducing my students to this effort will definitely increase my knowledge as well. I also commit to keep up with the latest trends with technology so I can keep my students up on the latest technology skills as well. As a professional, I do have to make sure I have the approval of my administration before beginning any efforts. I also have to keep parents informed as well and I will do this by sending them a letter before we get started. As a last step, our local college host a technology fair each year, and I will plan to allow my students to participate in this effort so they are able to show off their work to the community.

Reflection on: “Personal Theory of Learning”

Theory of Instruction and Theory of Learning are probably two entities that can be placed together and developed together. I understand that theory of instruction is how the teacher presents the information to the students and theory of learning is how the students receive the information from the teacher and I have not changed from that thought. Teachers are held to providing as many different ways to present information to students so that learning is meaningful, memorable and students can use it throughout their life. There are many people who have provided many studies toward this thinking, however, every student does not learn the same, and therefore, the teacher’s duty is to provide students with what is needed in order for learning to be all it can be for the student.
As we move toward an era where teachers will recognize more about differentiated instructional strategies, all the needs of students can and will be met.
I believe that theory of learning is most important but cannot function completely without the help of the theory of instruction. Again, it is how the teacher presents the information to the student that will become more meaningful to them. As we began to move into an era where technology is very important, students must have the knowledge of how and when to use technology. This is where the classroom comes in to play a vital role in this strategy. Students are very interested in technology and will probably display more knowledge that what we realize they will. The goal is to prepare the student for future use of technology in the classroom and in the real world. Technology will probably be the most important part of the world in about 5-10 years; therefore students need to be prepared for this transition.
My personal theory of learning is strongly linked to Differentiated Instructional teaching. Teachers can differentiate the content, the process, or the product. It matters how you present the information to the students because all students learn differently. Through this process, teachers must incorporate technology, because this is a strong area of differentiation. Technology can go in the area of content, process and product. I use technology a lot in my classroom. Some examples of technology usage in my classroom is individual laptops, my Smart Board, my Document Camera (The Elmo), in Science we use the video cameras and digital cameras. Students are allowed to work on different activities, video games, create projects and work with the teacher in small groups with the Smart Board.
Because I believe that all students learn differently, it is very important to me that I create lessons that are meaningful to the students. Howard Garner’s multiple intelligences play a great part in differentiated instruction, because we need to know each student, so as teachers we can meet their needs. Lever-Duffy & McDonald states, “The act of teaching requires an understanding of learning and an understanding of the individual and environmental factors that affect the learner. It also requires an understanding of yourself and the individual and environmental factors that affect you as a teacher.” So in conclusion, when I design lessons, I make sure I am meeting the needs of everyone of my students. I take time to learn my students and know their likes and dislikes. Mostly all of my students love technology, but I take into consideration their needs and I apply technology according to their needs. I am logical-mathematical, musical, bodily kinesthetic and interpersonal. This comes largely because I am a teacher, I was involved in music for the larger part of my life, I am the dance line coach at my school presently, I love to solve problems, I am a basketball coach during the school year and during the summer and I am a tactile and visual learner. Also, while working on my papers, I use music on my computer and listen to the television at the same time. So I am able to notice what my students like and do not like, therefore, I am able to meet their needs in the classroom.

My two personal goals are to integrate blogging for the means of assessment and thought from my students on what they are studying. Another long term goal is to allow technology play a higher role in my classroom as I realize that my students do indeed enjoy technology very much and look forward to learning from it. I have made a pact to with my Principal's approval to implement a Learning Cafe' at our school, therefore students are able to blog, collaborate with their classmates outside of school time, etc..... We will work hard to make plans to meet the needs of all students where ever needed. My outline is to strive to stick to my plan and meet the students where they are in their learning.

References:
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Connectivism and Social Learning in the Classroom

The instructional strategy of Cooperative Learning focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning ((Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Technology can definitely play a great part in this area of learning. I use this strategy quite often in my classroom, because I love seeing my students working cooperatively in groups, learning from each other. I rarely have more than four students in my groups and they are usually based on ability levels. All my students do believe they can work on the same level as the next person, however sometimes it is hard for me to see that in their work, but I never allow them to think any different.

Social networking in the classroom is a great tool. Students learning to work in a social setting where they are allowed to talk to each other and bounce ideas off of each other. My students work from Math Menus and they are always given a choice of what they want topic the group wants to work on. Dr. Orey, (Orey, 2009) states that Collaborative Learning is allowing students to be engaged in the learning while constructing projects and assignments through conversation. I really like the Math Forum website for my students to get ideas for Math Projects. Students love being able to work in a social setting and having a choice on what their thought patterns will be for the day.

Lastly, technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Students love seeing their work posted and viewed after taking extra care to complete it.

Students Performing Below Grade Level

Constructivism in Practice

Dr. Orey state that "Constructivism is a theory of knowledge stating that each individual actively constructs his/her own meaning of various topics". Also, it is a theory of learning that states students learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others.

As I think about the 21st century students, technology definitely plays and will play a great role in their future. Therefore, incorporating technology into their lessons on a daily basis is essential for greater learning. As Dr. Orey (DVD, 2009) explains about the constructivism/constructionist theory, this will allow students to share examples and models of their learning and allows the student to display or show their understanding of a topic using technology. Teachers should always allow students to work on projects and tasks that allows the student to show their thinking, understandings and beliefs of a certain topic.

Dr. Orey (DVD, 2009) states that constructivism and constructionism is no absolute thing, because it is a theory of knowledge that allows individuals to actively construct his/her own meaning of a subject. Therefore, because I teach Math and Science this becomes very valuable in my classroom. Students will be able to use technology to display their own way of thinking about a certain activity or topic. For instance, in ecology, students will be able to use technology to develop their own food chain or food web and after doing that, the students can create a website showing their work or create their own project using every aspect of technology like a Power Point.

In Math, the students can use a topic or lesson like Geometry to create their own Geometry Map or city using technology. Students can obtain whatever is needed from the Internet and create a book that will show their Geometry Map or City. Students can create a explanation of their city or map to share with other students.

My students have used technology to do project-based assignments in Science before with Weather, however my goal would be to use project-based assignments more in Math. My students created Weather Maps using the laptops. Students entered Weather symbols, temperatures, storm clouds, sunny skies, etc on their maps. Students then wrote a short report on their map and turned it in for a grade. This was their culminating activity for their unit in Science on Weather.

Therefore, "Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) state that the strategy for generating and testing hypotheses is often thought of in the context of science concepts, it is applicable in all content areas. Students and be asked to test their hypotheses in all concept areas, especially in Math and Reading. Not that they cannot do it in Language Arts and Social Studies, those are two areas that are very evident. As a teacher we can use higher order questioning that will allow the students to use this type level of thinking that will be very useful to them.

Cognitive Learning Theories

As we think about cognitive learning theories, it is heavily associated with the thinking and application of students in the classroom. As we apply technology, students are able to apply technology to concept maps, graphic organizers, blogs, and other different learning tools online. We were asked to apply “Summarizing and Note Taking.” along with “Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers”. These areas are awesome thoughts when dealing with cognitive learning because it forces the students to be in thought process and recalling relevant information that will be needed for the future.

As I think about "Summarizing and Note Taking, I think about what is happening in my own classroom. I utilize graphic organizers a great deal in conjunction with summarizing and note taking in my classroom. These areas are a key and central part of the learning in my classroom. Students are able to use graphic organizers for note taking, study material and summarizing at the end of a unit. I believe that summarizing, note taking, cues, questions, and advance organizers are all intertwined to make the learning atmosphere greater. Which brings me to cues, questions and advanced organizers: Teachers should be able to utilize each of these areas in the classroom while at the same time allowing students to think through different areas of study.

As we think about technology and cognitive learning theories, "Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007)states "When cues, questions, and advance organizers focuses on enhancing students' ability to retrieve, use and organize information about a topic, they are most effective. Also, Cues are explicit reminders or hints about what students are about to experience, Questions perform the same function as cues by triggering students' memories and helping them to access prior knowledge and Advance Organizers, is a concept originally developed by David Ausubel (1960), and they are structures that teachers provide to students before a learning activity to help them classify and make sense of the content they will encounter, particularly new content that is not well organized in its original format".

Lastly, cognitive learning theories goes with summarizing and note taking as well. "Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007)states that summarizing and note taking is a strategy that focuses on enhancing students' ability to synthesize information and distill separate important information from extraneous information and state the information in their own words. As I think about concept mapping, this will play a great part in the learning tool of cognitive theories in technology because students are able to create their learning online. Therefore, all aspects of cognitive learning is beneficial to the learning process for the student. Incorporating technology will allow the student to use these same tools online, therefore these tools can be recall in the future when needed.

BEHAVIORISM IN PRACTICE

This week in our reading, we explored two different instructional strategies that embed technology which is "Reinforcing Effort" and "Homework and Practice". While exploring these two different examples of Behaviorism-Based Technology, "Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) states that "Reinforcing Effort" enhances students understanding of their effort and achievement while at the same time helping the student to address their beliefs about their learning. Also, "Homework and Practice" allows the student to review and practice what has been taught in the classroom and display what they have learned through practice and homework." The behaviorist learning theory focuses on reinforcement and punishment. Therefore, I believe homework and practice should be used as reinforcement for the student but should never be used as punishment for any student. Students should be allowed to work with homework and practice at their own pace and should never be overwhelming to the student. Dr. Orey (2009) mentions that teachers should reinforce the behavior they want to see through reward and punish the behaviors they don't want to see. Therefore, the environment should accommodate the behaviors the teacher wants to see.

In our classrooms as I mentioned before, I students practice math facts on a daily basis. After practicing the math facts, they are given a certain group of facts they should know each week. The students are given a pre-test over the math facts and they they can practice for a week and then they take the post test over those same facts. Students are encouraged to create flashcards so they can work on the ones they don't know until the post test is given. Therefore, the website: http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/math.html would be very beneficial to my students because it has several websites list that will help the students practice their facts and also students could use these same website at home for reinforcement of those facts they have studied already in the classroom. We also use graphs were the students keep track of their performance from pre-test to post-test. Students are able to look at the graph and see their improvement and downfalls if any. Likewise the teacher can use view the graphs and keep track of student performance as well, so we can know how to help the student make improvements if needed. Pitler, Hubball, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) mentions as an extension of the classroom, homework provides opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills.

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. [DVD]. In Designing curriculum and instruction. Baltimore: Author.