Week 8

I have learned a lot about technology from the use of my GAME plan. I have learned how to add different technology to my lessons and make the learning concrete for my students. I have also learned about the way I learn technology best and it helped me understand that I need to think of different ways to teach the same technology skill so all my students can understand the process.

I have been adjusting my teaching style to add technology to as many lessons as I can. This is really helping my students and I try to add new technology when I begin a new topic.

Using the GAME plan process with students

Goals
Actions
Monitor
Evaluate and Extend Learning

When I looked at the NETS*S and thinking about how I can use the GAME process to help my students become proficient with the standards, I thought that maybe taking one of the six sections at a time. Instead of students reading over all six standards and then choosing which one they would like to do a plan with, I thought it would be better focused for my students to all work on the same standard this way they can compare and work together on their plans. With teaching special education I have learn that a more direct expectations and focused learning gets better results.

So I would start with working with my students on making goals in the creativity and innovation section. I think this would be a good starting place because of the digital storytelling lesson. Learning how to make digital stories will help them think about what they want to learn and how these goals fit into the standards. Some of my students will need direct teacher assistance with making goals and planning out their actions.

If we start on the first standard we would have enough time during the school year to explore each standard and set focus goals.

Revising Your GAME Plan

I have learned how to add technology to my lessons more then just finding a short video on the web to show my kids or having them play a math game the goes with our learning. My students have been introduced to finding research, power points lessons, how to video tape their own presentation and how to upload them as well as how a blog works and what they can be used for. I have been trying out different kinds of technology tools and websites and discussing these ideas with co-workers.

I believe I am still working on trying to integrate technology into my daily lessons as well as getting others in my building to collaborate and discuss about how we can add more technology to our school.

I do not feel that I am ready to make a new goal at this time. I do not feel I have mastered the ones that I am working on. There are so many different programs that I can be using with my students that I have not explored yet. I also feel that I am having to think to long and hard about how I am going to integrate technology in my lessons it should just be automatic.

Something that I need to do to help me refocus my goals is to make a list of the programs that I have not explored yet and make sure I am looking at a new one each week to understand what it is about and find a way to use it with my students in an upcoming lesson.

Evaluating your Game plan progress

This has been a very busy non learning week in my classroom.

How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
I have been working hard to incorporate different technology into my current lesson plans. I had plan on starting a blog journal with my students this week but because of intense behavior problems that did not happen. I have been talking with a co-worker about how I could use blogs in my my classroom. But the classes we had plan on taking are not really happening at this time. So I have only been collaborating with one other teacher about ideas for different lessons and what I am doing in this class.

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I have learned that it is pretty easy to add technology to all lessons. Thinking outside the box of what has already been done makes my lessons interesting and my students retain the information better. I am excited to add the new lessons that we will be writing in the next few weeks to my current plans.

What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I think the learning will be on going. There are always programs and activities that will be coming up that I will need to practice with so I can use them successfully with my students. One of the biggest questions that plays on my mind is how to continue with the elaborate technology plans when the behavior in my classroom stops us from finishing any activity and at some points stops all teaching for hours on in.

How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
I feel that I need to focus more on adding technology to my curriculum and continue talking with the one co-worker. I don't believe focusing on the classes that I had plan to take is a realistic goal at this time. There are just so many things going on and the amount of focus I need to put into this class and the behavior of my students is to great.