Week 8: Towards Self-Directed Learning and Creative Problem Solving - Reflection

G - My goal is to take a risk by developing lessons that incorporate digital-age learning experiences and model the technology and process for my students.
A - The actions I will take are as follows: I will work with the technology integrator at my school to help in my lesson planning and learning about any technology that is involved.
M - I will monitor my lessons and planning according to student involvement and enthusiasm and the completion of the task. They will have rubrics to help them chunk the tasks.
E - The evaluation will be the assessment of the students' work/project(s). If they were successful, I will know that I am on the right track. I can assess them with quizzes and tests also to see if they learned what was intended. I will extend my learning by sitting down again with the technology integrator and evaluating the lessons and the students' end product.

New learning that resulted from following my GAME plan: I learned that even at my age and 22 years of teaching behind me, I don't need to be intimidated by all the new technology that's out there. I learned that there are so many people who are willing to share and that there are an abundant number of resources out there. Finally, I learned that technology can be used to enhance learning in ways that would be impossible without it. Using technology for the sake of learning technology is not what I want to happen in my classroom (I'm a Spanish teacher) and I'm glad to know that it does have to. My students loved what we have done since I started this class and I am very excited about what we will continue to learn and do.


The impact my new learning will have on my instructional practice: I will continue using the technology that I started with my students and will not shy away from trying new things like I used to. I will look for programs, sites, ideas etc that will help enhance what my students should be learning. Finally, I will not hesitate to ask for help when I'm not sure how to help my students. I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be and do right by my students.

Immediate adjustments I will make to my instructional practice regarding technology integration in your content area(s) as a result of your learning from this course: I have already started using things I never have - digital story telling, for example. What my technology integrator and I will be working on at the beginning of February is moving making. I am really excited about that!

Week 7 - Update

G - My goal is to take a risk by developing lessons that incorporate digital-age learning experiences and model the technology and process for my students.
A - The actions I will take are as follows: I will work with the technology integrator at my school to help in my lesson planning and learning about any technology that is involved.
M - I will monitor my lessons and planning according to student involvement and enthusiasm and the completion of the task. They will have rubrics to help them chunk the tasks.
E - The evaluation will be the assessment of the students' work/project(s). If they were successful, I will know that I am on the right track. I can assess them with quizzes and tests also to see if they learned what was intended. I will extend my learning by sitting down again with the technology integrator and evaluating the lessons and the students' end product.

I am finally feeling comfortable with the progress I am making on my GAME plan. I have started working more closely with my technology integrator. She has me using Photo Story for the first time and I'm really liking it! I am taking more risks with my students and they are very enthusiastic about what we are doing and that energizes me to keep going. I have found that they are not as technology savvy as I assumed and that takes away some of my stress. I try to stay one step ahead of them, but the truth is we are learning together in many ways and that has created an interesting bond I did not anticipate. We have a wonderful rapport, but this technology dimension has just added to it. It is turning out to be a risk I am so glad I took! :-)

Week 6 - GAME update

G - My goal is to take a risk by developing lessons that incorporate digital-age learning experiences and model the technology and process for my students.
A - The actions I will take are as follows: I will work with the technology integrator at my school to help in my lesson planning and learning about any technology that is involved.
M - I will monitor my lessons and planning according to student involvement and enthusiasm and the completion of the task. They will have rubrics to help them chunk the tasks.
E - The evaluation will be the assessment of the students' work/project(s). If they were successful, I will know that I am on the right track. I can assess them with quizzes and tests also to see if they learned what was intended. I will extend my learning by sitting down again with the technology integrator and evaluating the lessons and the students' end product.


•What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I have learned about ePals and am planning on trying them with my students.
•What goals are you still working toward?
I am still working working with my technology integrator. She is so busy. Often,
we have to have conversations on the phone instead of in person. It's slower, but
it's better than nothing. She is so wonderful!
•Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself?
I'm not sure I'm ready for anything else new at this point. I'm really trying to
get down what I'm doing here before going on to the next phase. I'm already over-
whelmed as it is and I don't want to add to that.
•If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far?
I want to get more comfortable with what I am already using - wiki, blogs etc.
•What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
At this time, I really can't think of anything I would do differently.

Week 5 - GAME update

Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the progress I was hoping to this coming week as the three-hour training I was signed up for has been postponed. Our superintendent will be coming to our school to address our faculty and that of a neighboring school. I was really bummed. I've also been bumped out of the computer lab I signed up for due to a change in the state testing schedule. So, I won't be able to get my students in there until after Winter Break. I'm going to have to take a deep breath and regroup.

Week 4: Assessing Content Area Learning

My GAME plan is coming together, slowly, but surely. In addressing this week's questions...

Are you finding the information and resources you need? Yes. I found a three-hour technology training the week after Thanksgiving that will (hopefully) really help me in my meeting my goals. I'm so excited! The timing was perfect.


Do you need to modify your action plan? I guess I won't really know until after my training.


What have you learned so far? I have learned that I don't need to be so intimidated by this process. There are so many people who are willing to help and the resources are there in my district if I just look for and ask for them.


What new questions have arisen? I will ask my technology integrator what is available to me and how state testing of core subjects might limit me in my "dreaming" of all this amazing technology. Unfortunately, my reality has been that math, social studies, English and science get first dibs in everything and the rest of us (I'm Spanish) get the left overs. I supposed another thing I'm learning is that there are things out there...even for me and my students. :-)

Week 3 - Carrying out my GAME Plan

G - My goal is to take a risk by developing lessons that incorporate digital-age learning experiences and model the technology and process for my students.
A - The actions I will take are as follows: I will work with the technology integrator at my school to help in my lesson planning and learning about any technology that is involved.
M - I will monitor my lessons and planning according to student involvement and enthusiasm and the completion of the task. They will have rubrics to help them chunk the tasks.
E - The evaluation will be the assessment of the students' work/project(s). If they were successful, I will know that I am on the right track. I can assess them with quizzes and tests also to see if they learned what was intended. I will extend my learning by sitting down again with the technology integrator and evaluating the lessons and the students' end product.

What resources will I need to carry this out?
I will need the expertise and experience of my technology integrator. I will get ideas from the course readings and videos. I will use the resources from the Promethean Board to get World Languages ideas. Finally, I will e-mail my colleagues to see what they have done and have had success with.

What additional information will I need?
I will get feedback from my students as to what they already know, what their interests are and have them reflect on their learning styles. In addition to this, I will need to find out when the technology is available and if my students will be able to complete technology-related projects if need be.

What steps have I been able to take so far?
I have e-mailed our school's technology integrator and created a reflective questionaire for my students that I will administer after the Thanksgiving break. I have also started perusing existing resources to see how I can incorporate this into my classroom.

GAME Plan for NETS

While I am anxious about all the new and ever-changing technology that's out there, there were two standards that I do not feel as competent about. The first is "Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments." The second is "Model Digital-Age Work and Learning."

Here is my GAME plan:

G - My goal is to take a risk by developing lessons that incorporate digital-age learning experiences and model the technology and process for my students.
A - The actions I will take are as follows: I will work with the technology integrator at my school to help in my lesson planning and learning about any technology that is involved.
M - I will monitor my lessons and planning according to student involvement and enthusiasm and the completion of the task. They will have rubrics to help them chunk the tasks.
E - The evaluation will be the assessment of the students' work/project(s). If they were successful, I will know that I am on the right track. I can assess them with quizzes and tests also to see if they learned what was intended. I will extend my learning by sitting down again with the technology integrator and evaluating the lessons and the students' end product.

Hi, from Sherry

I have blogged with my administrator and teachers at my school, but this is the first time I'll be blogging with colleagues outside my building. I'm really excited about it.