At the beginning of this course, I developed
a GAME plan. The GAME acronym stands for
goals, actions, monitor progress, and evaluate and extend. My goals were found in the International
Society for Technology in Education Standards (ISTE, 2008). One goal was to “[d]esign or adapt relevant learning
experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student
learning and creativity.” Another goal
was to “[p]romote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and
inventiveness.” I feel that these two
goals coincide. Thus, I have been
working on these two goals together. The
action I took in the last few weeks was to incorporate digital tools for the
students to express their creative thoughts.
I have monitored the progress by asking the students to reflect on if
they enjoyed the digital tools they used throughout a unit about reducing,
reusing, and recycling. After evaluation
of this goal, I have concluded that I have been using new digital tools for
students to create artifacts of learning.
This is a step in the right direction.
However, I will extend my learning by researching new ideas to
incorporate more digital tools into my lessons and units. Cennamo states that “[c]reativity is of
critical importance in today’s world” (Laureate Education Inc., 2009a). Thus, I need to allow as many opportunities
for students to use technology to be creative as possible.
Another
goal was to “[c]ommunicate relevant information and ideas effectively to
students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats” (ISTE,
2008). Over the past few weeks, I have
been looking for ways to take action to increase my communication using digital
media. A few days ago, our school has begun
to use Twitter as a method of parent communication. Students can also access Twitter via
parents. In addition, teachers are
beginning to follow each other in order to see what each classroom is doing. I will be inviting parents in the coming week
to follow me on Twitter. After a few
weeks of using Twitter, I will plan to monitor my communication methods using a
survey sent to parents. After some
feedback is collected, I will evaluate and extend my methods of
communication. This goal is in the early
stages because I was following the trends of the school as permissible from
administration. I plan to use digital communication to express how students
are using digital tools to express themselves creatively. I feel that showcasing the students’
creativity will hold me accountable as parents would begin to expect to see the
students’ artifacts posted to Twitter.
In revision of my GAME plan, I plan to focus on digital communication in
order to build relationships with parents.
As I have been working on my GAME
plan, I have realized that students can also develop their own GAME plan
regarding content in which they express interest. Students can select a topic they would like
to learn more about. The topic or
section of a topic may be a goal. The
student can decide on an action to help them learn more about the topic. Then, they can monitor the progress by
keeping a journal. Last, they can
evaluate and extend their goal as they reach goals.
There are some immediate
modifications I am making to my teaching practices. I did not used to focus on problem solving as
much as I feel like I need to. When
learning about problem solving, I have noticed that so many problems come up
during the school day that can be solved by my students if given the
opportunity. The problem and solution
can be showcased on our Twitter or blog.
I have realized that my students are able to blog using videos and video
responses. Uploading videos to a blog is
something that takes time to learn, but is possible for prekindergarten
students. Students can blog with each
other or students from other classrooms. Vicki Davis suggests using video blogs
as one way to blog (Laureate Education Inc., 2009b). Digital storytelling has been engaging for my
students. I would like to use more
digital stories during read aloud times.
I conclude by saying that I want my students to see me use “technology to
accomplish [my] goals” (Laureate Education Inc., 2009c). Thus, I need to use the technology that I
expect my students to use.
References
International
Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for
(NETS-T).
Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Integrating technology across
the
content
areas: Promoting creative thinking with technology. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Integrating technology across
the
content areas:
Spotlight on technology: Social networking and online collaboration, part 1. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009c). Integrating technology across
the
content areas:
Spotlight on technology: Digital storytelling, part 1. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
