Welcome to my blog! Here you will find a variety of assignments that I have completed for my graduate work at Walden University.
RSS

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Monitoring GAME Plan Progress

















This week's assignment is having me take a look at the progress of my game plan.


• Are you finding the information and resources you need?

I have been successful in finding the resources that I need. I have found some great websites to use with my students to help them with citing the resources that they are using with digital information. http://www.brainpop.com/ has a great video on citing sources that helps the explain to kids the importance of citing sources and how to do that. I have also found http://www.easybib.com/ which quickly helps students generate a citation from the sources that they are using. I have also been on several blogs and discussion boards that have information on safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology. I have also familiarized myself with the Promethean Planet website and am comfortable navigating the website. I am quickly able to locate lessons, resource packs, tutorials, and help forum.

*Do you need to modify your plan?

I do not feel that my plan needs to be modified at this time.

What have you learned so far?

I have learned that getting students to cite sources and become familiar with safe and ethical use of technology isn't as complicated as I first thought. It all starts with my comfort level and the students will feed off of that. I have learned that setting up guidelines and expectations in the beginning of the year is key to setting the tone for the school year.

What new questions have arisen?

No new questions at this time, however I am sure that after I attend the training session next week I will have several questions that need to be answered.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Carrying Out My Game Plan


















In last week's blog I identified my GAME plan for strengthening my confidence in two of the indicators in the NETS-T. This week I am going to be addressing the following points

* What resources will you need to carry out my plan?
To carry out my plan I will need to locate information on the safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. I need to make sure I am fully aware of this information so that I can appropriately teach it to my students and embed it into my everyday curriculum. My plan is to research those topics on the Internet and become fully aware of the laws and rules that are associated with using digital information in the classroom.

*What additional information will I need?
Some additional information that I will need will be to find more about the copyright laws that are associate with the Promethean Board. I will need this information so that the teachers in my building are also aware of the usage rules that accompany the boards. They will need to know how sharing of the flip charts work and how to cite the sources that they are using when creating flip charts.

* What steps have I taken so far?
The steps that I have taken so far are that I have signed up for attend the Promethean Train-the-Trainer conference the first week in June. In this training I will learn the ins and outs of using the Promethean Board within the classroom while also learning about the rules and regulations that go along with using the Promethean Board. The training that I will be attending will help to build my confidence as a leader, as I will be taking my knowledge back to my school and training the teachers in my building. I had began this task long before given this assignment so I am proud of the fact that I already had a GAME plan in place and now I am adding additional areas to that GAME plan.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Developing My Personal GAME Plan

On the ISTE website (http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf)
There are 5 performance indicators listed for teachers to consider when designing, implementing , and assessing learning in the classroom. Our assignment this week is to reflect on the standards and indicators to determine which indicators I feel most comfortable with and those with which I do not feel as confident or proficient as I would like to be.

Step #1 Set goals for strengthening your confidence and proficiency in at least two indicators in the NETS-T.
The two standards in which I feel that I need to work on building and strengthening my confidence are Standard#4-Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility and Standard#5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. I chose these two standards because there were areas within those indicators that I do not feel that I am proficient in.
Step #2 Decide what actions you will take to achieve those goals
In order to become more proficient with standard#4 I plan to work on familiarizing myself safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright,
intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. This is listed in indicator A on the ISTE website. After I have done extensive research in this area I will then familiarize my students with this information. My goal here is make sure that not only my students are correctly documenting their sources, but also as their teacher I need to make sure to do the same when creating my lessons. I feel that by modeling for my students the ethical use of digital information it will encourage them to do the same.
In order to become proficient with standard #5 I plan on continuing my education through attending a series of professional developments. The indicator that I will be concentrating on is Indicator B,exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others. I plan on doing this by becoming an official Promethean Trainer for my school district. The first week in June I will be attending a train-the-trainer series of work shops so that I can take that knowledge back to my school and help to support my fellow co-workers in working with their Promethean Activ-Board. My goal is to help teachers become more comfortable incorporating technology into their curriculum through the use of their Promethean Board and the Activ-Studio software.

Step#3 Determine how you will monitor your progress.

In order to monitor my progress for standard 4 my plan is to design rubrics for my students to utilize when creating digital projects. This rubric will include ethical use of digital information and documenting sources. By embedding this into my projects I will be holding students accountable for this standard and not making it an option. When grading the different digital projects I will be able to see first hand if the students are able to accomplish this task and reflect on my teaching of this skill.

To monitor my progress for standard 5 my plan is create a survey that my fellow co-workers can complete after attending my trainings which will allow them to give feed back on my progress. I also plan to create polls and send them out to the faculty so that teachers can indicate which areas they need more help in so that I can modify my trainings to meet their needs.

Step#4 Decide how you will evaluate and extend your learning.

To evaluate and extend my learning I plan to participate in the Promethean Forum and Blogs so that I can stay on top of current trends and problems that are occurring. I will collaborate with the other teacher in my building who will also be a certified Promethean trainer so that we can make plans to extend our learning together.

I have always considered myself to be a tech-savvy teacher and know that in order to maintain this status I must continually develop GAME plans that not only focuses on my growth but also the growth of my students and my fellow teachers.
References:
ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) (2008). The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and PErformance Indicatiors for TEachers. retrieved from http://www.iste.o-Trg/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/For Teachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf