I am finding the information and resources I need for implementing my goal of promoting and modeling digital citizenship and responsibility. I use my teacher computer and LCD frequently throughout the day to teach new skills, show examples, or research answers. I make it a point to cite whatever website or software I use as soon as the information comes on the screen. My class began Power Point presentations to demonstrate their knowledge of endangered animals they have studied through different websites this week. They are required to post a reference for each slide that reflects any information they recorded from one of these sites. They will also be required to make a copyright slide so they will gain ownership of their own work before publishing it to our shares drive.
I do need to practice and model verifying URL's and valid websites more often througout the day when I use my computer and LCD for instruction. I need to post a sticky note on my computer to remind me of this! This is an important step in helping my students learn how to evaluate websites for reliability, and frequent modeling and reminders will facilitate this learning.
I continue to engage in professional growth and leadership through taking my courses with Walden, particularly this course of Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. I collaborate with my fellow teachers frequently. We share lesson plans, ideas, websites, software, and new hardware and use them them throughout all content areas.
My biggest problem area for this goal continues to be finding the time to train and implement all of the new technology I am learning. I have learned that creating a portfolio on my computer has helped me organize my lessons, handouts, assessments, websites, etc. Now I am working on finding the time to make folders for each unit and transfer files. I am looking forward to trashing all of my stacks of multi-copies of papers on my bookshelves once I complete this - I am the classic 'hoarder' of a teacher. I look forward to taking advantage of technology to clean up my classroom!
A modification of engaging in more of a leadership goal would be for me to provide our district with qualified explanations of why our students should be able to network and give guidelines we could use to monitor this. If our students could collaborate more with each other and me through wikis, blogs, and emails, they would be even more motivated and engaged in their learning.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Carrying Out My GAME Plan
My actions to reach my goal of promoting and modeling digital citizenship and responsibility will include teaching my students the importance of ownership for their work as well as recognizing others’ work. I will use what I have learned in my previous course through Walden to demonstrate how to recognize reliable websites (the importance of breaking down URL’s, qualifiers for authenticity, and how to validate information). The majority of my students are frequent users of the internet for entertainment, skills practice, and research at home and school. However, they do not know how to decide if a website is valid, and they are dependent on a given list of websites to choose from for their learning. Utilizing rubrics, charts, and mock websites, I will guide my students to become better qualified with choosing search engines, reliable websites, and valid information. I will also guide them on how to cite their sources. I try to remember to model this every time I show them something through my teacher computer, and I point out the URL and explain why the site I chose is valid and reliable. When my students create a project based learning production, they will be required to copyright their production, claiming their ownership. This should help them to recognize the importance of producing reliable work and recognizing the work of others from which they choose to learn.
My actions to reach my goal of engaging in professional growth and leadership will include using what I learn through my Walden courses, utilizing my peers, accessing the webinars offered through my state’s DOE, and spending more time to training “to go out and find the technology” and “know how to use the technology” (Ross, J., Presenter, 2009). I am required to attend training on new software and hardware through my school, but I have discovered that finding the time to implement all of it in the classroom is very difficult. My peers are a valuable resource to help me with the hands-on experience I prefer when using technology, and with sharing how they find the time to implement the myriad of different uses of technology daily throughout the curriculum. I have used much more technology to facilitate my students’ learning since starting my courses at Walden, and I can see a dramatic increase in motivation and effort when my students are involved with 21st Century Tools. I have also become very dependent on our DOE site for planning, teaching, and assessing. My biggest obstacle to overcome for my action plan is spending more time finding and using the technology that would best meet my students’ differentiated needs. This is an area which will require more collaboration with my peers and organizing all of my findings into an easily accessed portfolio that will grow as my technology skills for teaching grow.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Ross, J. (Presenter). (2009). Meeting Students’ Needs with Technology, Part 2. [DVD]. Laureate Education, Inc.
My actions to reach my goal of engaging in professional growth and leadership will include using what I learn through my Walden courses, utilizing my peers, accessing the webinars offered through my state’s DOE, and spending more time to training “to go out and find the technology” and “know how to use the technology” (Ross, J., Presenter, 2009). I am required to attend training on new software and hardware through my school, but I have discovered that finding the time to implement all of it in the classroom is very difficult. My peers are a valuable resource to help me with the hands-on experience I prefer when using technology, and with sharing how they find the time to implement the myriad of different uses of technology daily throughout the curriculum. I have used much more technology to facilitate my students’ learning since starting my courses at Walden, and I can see a dramatic increase in motivation and effort when my students are involved with 21st Century Tools. I have also become very dependent on our DOE site for planning, teaching, and assessing. My biggest obstacle to overcome for my action plan is spending more time finding and using the technology that would best meet my students’ differentiated needs. This is an area which will require more collaboration with my peers and organizing all of my findings into an easily accessed portfolio that will grow as my technology skills for teaching grow.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Ross, J. (Presenter). (2009). Meeting Students’ Needs with Technology, Part 2. [DVD]. Laureate Education, Inc.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
GAME Plan
My GAME Plan
I feel I really need to strengthen my confidence and proficiency with integrating technology into all content areas. I have set goals from the following two indicators from the National Education Standards for Teachers:
1. 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. Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
2. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit
leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. Teachers:
a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
According to Cennamo (2009), “self-directed learners plan, monitor, and evaluate their actions.” As I do this through the GAME plan, I realize I need to facilitate this process with my fourth graders. They need to be taught how to evaluate websites for their reliability and useful content, instead of depending on me to list websites that they can choose from on our local shares drive. They also need to be responsible with citing their sources. To be true 21st Century learners, they must develop these skills to use in all areas for their future.
Since technology is continuously changing and improving, I also need to continue to stay updated with new technology and evaluate it to support student learning. I feel staying modernized and becoming proficient with using the newest technology resources is my biggest struggle.
My actions to reach the goal for my first indicator are to demonstrate to my students how to evaluate websites. Utilizing the computer lab and portable lab, I will also require them to follow charts and rubrics to determine the reliability and content of a variety of websites and to cite any that they use in their final productions.
My actions to reach the goal for my second indicator is to utilize my peers, which Cennamo (2009) suggests and find people that will help funnel information. Through collaborative networking (Davis, 2009) and professional development courses, I will become more aware of new technology suggestions to enrich my students’ learning.
I will monitor and evaluate my students’ progress with becoming responsible digital citizenship by providing rubrics for them to follow, and I will observe and evaluate their chosen websites and citations.
I will monitor and evaluate my progress with improving my professional practice through using digital tools and resources by creating a portfolio that I can store and continually reflect upon my well-known and used technology resources, while adding new emerging tools and resources. By continuously networking and collaborating with other teachers, I will also stay updated with this goal.
Resources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use. (M. Staudt, & M. Stranz, Eds.) Mason, OH, USA: Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009).Integrating technology across the content areas.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_ T_Standards
I feel I really need to strengthen my confidence and proficiency with integrating technology into all content areas. I have set goals from the following two indicators from the National Education Standards for Teachers:
1. 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. Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.
2. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit
leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources. Teachers:
a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
According to Cennamo (2009), “self-directed learners plan, monitor, and evaluate their actions.” As I do this through the GAME plan, I realize I need to facilitate this process with my fourth graders. They need to be taught how to evaluate websites for their reliability and useful content, instead of depending on me to list websites that they can choose from on our local shares drive. They also need to be responsible with citing their sources. To be true 21st Century learners, they must develop these skills to use in all areas for their future.
Since technology is continuously changing and improving, I also need to continue to stay updated with new technology and evaluate it to support student learning. I feel staying modernized and becoming proficient with using the newest technology resources is my biggest struggle.
My actions to reach the goal for my first indicator are to demonstrate to my students how to evaluate websites. Utilizing the computer lab and portable lab, I will also require them to follow charts and rubrics to determine the reliability and content of a variety of websites and to cite any that they use in their final productions.
My actions to reach the goal for my second indicator is to utilize my peers, which Cennamo (2009) suggests and find people that will help funnel information. Through collaborative networking (Davis, 2009) and professional development courses, I will become more aware of new technology suggestions to enrich my students’ learning.
I will monitor and evaluate my students’ progress with becoming responsible digital citizenship by providing rubrics for them to follow, and I will observe and evaluate their chosen websites and citations.
I will monitor and evaluate my progress with improving my professional practice through using digital tools and resources by creating a portfolio that I can store and continually reflect upon my well-known and used technology resources, while adding new emerging tools and resources. By continuously networking and collaborating with other teachers, I will also stay updated with this goal.
Resources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use. (M. Staudt, & M. Stranz, Eds.) Mason, OH, USA: Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009).Integrating technology across the content areas.
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_ T_Standards
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