Monitoring the Process

This week in my current course, I am taking a look back at the GAME plan process thus far.  After being a part of it for three week and some change, I can say that I am making some progress in the goals I set for myself.  Specifically, I am showing growth in the area of modeling digital age work with the students.  The other goal I set for myself was to create more digital age learning experiences and assessments.  

The first question posed to me this week asked whether I was finding the information and resources I need to reach my goals.  To that, I say absolutely.  When I chose both of the goals, in the back of my mind I kept the idea of basing both around taking advantage of the learning tool MOODLE.  This has been very successful with this so far.  Last year, I was able to take a quick crash course on the use of the tool, and I got the basics down.  This year, I have re-thrust myself back into learning more about it.  In the past, I have found the best way I learn any new tools or methods is to just jump into them.  Two weeks ago I told my students that I was in the midst of moving more of our classroom online.  Within a few days, we were doing our book discussion wall online in a forum.  We immediately included our reading discussions in the same way.  The students now know that when we have a warm up question that they log in to MOODLE and hit up the discussion board.  A simple search for “MOODLE tips” on Google opens a wealth of information to be used to reach my goals.  The one resource that I wanted to make use of was a course offered by our ISD on MOODLE.  I had signed up for it, not even realizing that it fell on the same day as our parent/teacher conferences.  So that one fell by the wayside, but I am keeping an eye out for it to be offered again.

The second question asked if I needed to modify my action plan.  So far, nothing has come up to throw a major wrench in the process.  I think the one bump in the road was the scheduling mishap for the MOODLE course.  However, like I mentioned, there is a wealth of knowledge available for free online.

So far, I have learned that I am truly enjoying this shift to a more heavy focus on the use of technology.  The students have really taken to the increase in technology, and it is much nicer to walk into a classroom where the students are asking to use new tools and really desire to take part in the learning.  It makes my job more enjoyable.  I am becoming much more proficient in using MOODLE with the students.  Every day I find myself on there, poking around, trying to find new ways to present information to the students, and new tools to help with their learning.  For instance, on the page, as I worked out some things for our upcoming unit, I posted some assignments as well as some youtube videos for enrichment purposes.  This process has been much less painful than I expected, and I think it may be just that I was marginally out of practice with webpage creation technology.  

As far as new questions arising, I think there is only one.  I keep asking myself, how can I make this better?  I want to know how I can continue to model digital age learning and be even more effective.  One thing I am trying to work on is how to present assignment in an online format.  A forum is a great tool, but when it comes to a room full of students, you know you will always have the ones who wait, look at other answers, and then copy.  It is a wonderful tool when opening things up for discussion though. 

Strengthening the GAME plan

This week, my goal is to take a look at my GAME plan, and take an opportunity to add to it and strengthen the overall framework that builds to my goal.  Specifically, answer a few questions about the process that, by answering, will give me a better understanding of what I need to achieve my goal, and where I stand right now.

The first question is “What resources will I need to carry out my plan (video, reading, experts, colleagues, etc)?”  For my goal of becoming more proficient in modeling digital age work and learning, as well as creating digital age learning experiences, I think the backbone of what I need is a group of other teachers to bounce ideas off of.  Luckily enough, I work in a grade level group with two other fifth grade teachers, and they are always plenty of help in helping me shape ideas for things that I want to implement in my classroom.  Also, I plan on attending a class to become more proficient in the use of MOODLE, so the class, as well as the group of other educators in the course will be helpful resources.  The internet itself is usually a valuable resource when looking for useful information on new methods to use in the classroom.  As for specifically working on modeling digital age learning and working, I need to incorporate technology into as much of my daily routine and lessons as possible.  Making further use of available tools like net books, data projectors and cameras, or the computer labs to type up work would be good tools to start with.

The second question was to see what additional information I would need.  I think that some of the best information I could start with would be for me to take a look at my practices, and start to journal on them.  What am I doing that is working towards that goal?  What should I change?  This would give me a base “measurement” of how far I am from achieving the goal, and also give me a good idea of strengths and weaknesses that I should focus on more or less.  As I move through the process, this journal will help me to refocus as I get better in some areas.  Another piece of information I feel would be helpful would be to look at some studies done in scholarly resources on the topic of modeling digital age work in the classroom.  The ideas found in those resources could be useful in the process as I implement new strategies in my own classroom.

The final question asked dealt with the steps I have taken thus far.  So far, I have signed up for my course on how to better use MOODLE, and have begun looking online for some new strategies on bringing technology into my normal classroom tasks.  I plan on first creating a discussion board on MOODLE for the students to discuss books they are reading with others in the class, and they can take suggestions from others on the books they will read next.   

Setting up a GAME plan for a more technology filled classroom.

     This week for my current course on integrating technology to teach content, I was shown the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers, or the NETS-T.  These offered up a framework for how the classroom should look, and what teachers should be offering, as schools move forward in updating classroom tools and better preparing students for both education and the workforce outside of a k-12 school system.  These included things such as preparing students by showing them proper online etiquette, modeling ethical use of technology and digital information, and using the technology to facilitate creativity.

Goals

 There were some points of the NETS-T where I feel like I could be a better educator and facilitator for my students.  One that initially popped out to me was number three that points out that I should “Model Digital Age Work as well as Learning.”  Now, in my own building, I feel like I do a better job than many of the other educators at this.  This may be because I am one of the youngest teachers in the district and that I am more comfortable with it.  But I know that I could do a better job than I currently am.  I don’t take advantage of the technological resources that we have at our disposal.  The students could be doing more with their everyday tasks on those resources.  Another area where the NETS-T points to where I could do better is where it states that teachers need to “Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.”  Specifically, I’d like to create learning experiences that focus on the content, but also base it around strong use of technology. 

Actions

To make myself become more proficient in these areas, I am going to make sure that I focus some extra time to these areas each week.  At the end of each day and in the mornings before school, I typically find myself with some extra time.  My first action is to set aside about thirty minutes to an hour each week for working on injecting more use of technology into my lesson plans.  I will spend that time working with MOODLE and other online resources and use them to set up a more technology based learning experience. 

Another action I plan on taking towards bettering myself as an educator in the way of technology is that I plan on attending a professional development course on how to make better use of the MOODLE web based learning tool.  I had a brief crash course in the program from our district IT department, but I think with some more learning and with a new group of people, I can get more ideas on how to best use it to optimize student learning.

Monitor

To monitor my progress throughout the process, I will set up checkpoints at the end of each month.  On the last day of each month I will put a star in my plan book so I remember to look back at the prior month’s lesson plans to ask myself if I made progress in my goals.  Have I been injecting more useful technological tools into my lessons?  Have I done all that I can to best teach both the content and foster strong use of tech tools?  Have I used them to develop relevant learning experiences?  Are my students more fluent in their tech usage?  I can ask myself these questions and reflect upon them in my lesson plan books as I move forward.

Evaluate

In the end, I will be able to look back upon my monthly reflections to see if I have achieved my goals of improvement in the NETS-T areas.  Should I not reach those goals, it will give me a good starting point in restructuring those goals in moving forward for the upcoming summer and eventual school year.

NETS-T Standards - http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Mike