So far so good with my GAME plan. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have already attended Moodle training so I have access to Moodle and can create my own online classroom using this online course management software. Soon after my training we had a math teacher meeting at our school. In my district many of the math departments are in a program called Mission Possible and as part of that program each school hosts a math meeting on various topics. Our school was presenting on exponential functions and I suggested that we look at some online activities to share at our meeting since nobody had done that before. My fellow teachers liked the idea and I was in charge of preparing the online part of our meeting. I decided that I was going to take all of the different material that I found and create a webquest using Moodle for our meeting. During the meeting we only looked at two parts of the webquest, an applet and a flash game of the Towers of Hanoi which was used for an activity, but I created the whole webquest as if I was preparing to use it in class. Now when my class gets to this unit on exponential functions I will already have a webquest ready for them.
My second goal was to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. During the short week before thanksgiving I always do a lab about hovercrafts. Students have always enjoyed this lab and it really solidifies my students understanding of proportions and direct variations. This fun activity is one of my most successful at inspiring student learning. I am trying to work on student creativity by having students make word problems of their own for each topic that we cover. Often times creating problems in Algebra is challenging because you can’t pick any numbers you want if you plan to have an answer that makes sense. For each lesson I am spending a little time showing students how I come up with problems for that lesson and then guiding them through the creation of some of their own problems. It is hard for my students to figure out how to make problems and be creative in math class but they can be creative and if they understand how to make a problem, solving other problems becomes much easier.
The one thing I have not done is combine my two goals together and inspire creativity in response to some of the digital learning experiences I am creating. This is my next step in the implementation of my GAME plan.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
GAME Plan resources
The first goal of my game plan was to create online inquiry activities. The biggest resource I need for this goal is my school district’s Moodle account. I have recently gone to Moodle training to learn how Moodle works and to get my own Moodle pages for my classes. Now I need to choose a topic what I can create a Moodle page for and prepare my students to use Moodle in the lab. I can use help from one of my science colleagues who was with me at the Moodle training and who is very excited about using Moodle in a variety of ways in her class. Together we can brainstorm many different ways to use Moodle effectively in our classes.
The second goal of my game plan was to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. This goal went along with my first goal and I wanted to inspire creativity in students by having them create projects to display what they learned in their online inquiry activities. I have many ideas for ways that I can do this which include using tools such as PowerPoint, screencasts, blogs, podcasts, or videos. If anyone has other ideas for technology based projects I would love to hear them. The more tools I have available, the more options I can give my students when they are creating projects.
The second goal of my game plan was to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. This goal went along with my first goal and I wanted to inspire creativity in students by having them create projects to display what they learned in their online inquiry activities. I have many ideas for ways that I can do this which include using tools such as PowerPoint, screencasts, blogs, podcasts, or videos. If anyone has other ideas for technology based projects I would love to hear them. The more tools I have available, the more options I can give my students when they are creating projects.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
GAME Plan for Technology
When I was introduced to the GAME plan strategy (Goals, Actions, Monitor, Evaluate) it was given as a strategy a teacher could use to help students with self directed activities. Because many students rarely get the opportunity to be self directed in high school, without guidance students can often change self directed activities into do nothing activities. This often occurs, not because the student is lazy, but because the student does not have the tools to be self directed. Teaching students the GAME plan gives them steps to follow when they are engaged in a self directed activity so they will stay on task and succeed at enhancing their own learning.
Well, that was a longer introduction than I had planned on making but the point that I want to get at with this blog is that the GAME plan strategy can be used in all self directed activities, even those of a teacher. If you want to improve in an area of teaching, break out the GAME plan and determine a strategy to facilitate your improvement in that area.
I am going to look at my need to increase the integration of technology into my teaching. To help me I am going to use the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). You can view NETS-T at this website: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx.
First I want to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments. I have spent a lot of time in classes and at workshops learning about different technologies and even creating lessons or units that integrate technology but I am still hesitant to use many of these technologies in my classroom because I am concerned about time restrictions and the possibility that students will not stay on task in these situations. My first goal is to create online inquiry activities that students can use to learn a topic on their own. To achieve this goal I recently set up a Moodle account within my district. I want to take small steps to get to a full inquiry lesson with a product as an assessment. The first step I will take is to make a very structured investigation lesson using Moodle and spend some time talking with my students about the importance of staying on task during the Moodle session so they can get the most out of it. I will have predetermined different websites and activities (such as a class forum) that students will be required to participate in. For each website or activity students will be given a few specific tasks they need to perform to show that they completed the assignment. Once I have had a very structured lesson I can start removing some of the structure. I could give students choices of websites and eventually as them to find a website on their own. I will monitor my progress by comparing each of my Moodle sessions to see if I am allowing students more freedom with each session to be self directed. At the end of the year I will see how far I have come and evaluate to see if the lessons are actually self driven online inquiry or if I am still controlling too much of the activities. Once I have determined where my lessons are at I will see what I need to change. I will also spend some time looking at how I should start the next school year when I introduce students to inquiry activities.
Second I want to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. This goal will go hand in hand with the first one. As students are becoming more independent in my lessons I want to increase the amount of flexibility students have to showcase what they learned. I am going to start by giving students specific media with which they are going to present their knowledge. For the first online inquiry students might be required to make a PowerPoint. With subsequent online inquiry lessons I could introduce students to other project options like screencasts, blogs, podcasts, or videos. To begin with each lesson will have a specific project requirement like ‘you must make a screencast’ and once students have been introduced to several media they will be given projects where they can choose their own way to share what they learned. The monitoring and evaluation of this goal will be done in conjunction with the monitoring and evaluation of the first goal. I will make sure throughout the year that I have students do many different projects. One students have been introduced to all of these different options I will then be ready to give my students more creative freedom. I will evaluate how the projects went at the end of the year and think of ways that I might have to adjust the projects.
That’s all for now,
Ryan
Well, that was a longer introduction than I had planned on making but the point that I want to get at with this blog is that the GAME plan strategy can be used in all self directed activities, even those of a teacher. If you want to improve in an area of teaching, break out the GAME plan and determine a strategy to facilitate your improvement in that area.
I am going to look at my need to increase the integration of technology into my teaching. To help me I am going to use the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). You can view NETS-T at this website: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx.
First I want to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments. I have spent a lot of time in classes and at workshops learning about different technologies and even creating lessons or units that integrate technology but I am still hesitant to use many of these technologies in my classroom because I am concerned about time restrictions and the possibility that students will not stay on task in these situations. My first goal is to create online inquiry activities that students can use to learn a topic on their own. To achieve this goal I recently set up a Moodle account within my district. I want to take small steps to get to a full inquiry lesson with a product as an assessment. The first step I will take is to make a very structured investigation lesson using Moodle and spend some time talking with my students about the importance of staying on task during the Moodle session so they can get the most out of it. I will have predetermined different websites and activities (such as a class forum) that students will be required to participate in. For each website or activity students will be given a few specific tasks they need to perform to show that they completed the assignment. Once I have had a very structured lesson I can start removing some of the structure. I could give students choices of websites and eventually as them to find a website on their own. I will monitor my progress by comparing each of my Moodle sessions to see if I am allowing students more freedom with each session to be self directed. At the end of the year I will see how far I have come and evaluate to see if the lessons are actually self driven online inquiry or if I am still controlling too much of the activities. Once I have determined where my lessons are at I will see what I need to change. I will also spend some time looking at how I should start the next school year when I introduce students to inquiry activities.
Second I want to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. This goal will go hand in hand with the first one. As students are becoming more independent in my lessons I want to increase the amount of flexibility students have to showcase what they learned. I am going to start by giving students specific media with which they are going to present their knowledge. For the first online inquiry students might be required to make a PowerPoint. With subsequent online inquiry lessons I could introduce students to other project options like screencasts, blogs, podcasts, or videos. To begin with each lesson will have a specific project requirement like ‘you must make a screencast’ and once students have been introduced to several media they will be given projects where they can choose their own way to share what they learned. The monitoring and evaluation of this goal will be done in conjunction with the monitoring and evaluation of the first goal. I will make sure throughout the year that I have students do many different projects. One students have been introduced to all of these different options I will then be ready to give my students more creative freedom. I will evaluate how the projects went at the end of the year and think of ways that I might have to adjust the projects.
That’s all for now,
Ryan
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