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.
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I enjoyed reading your post and you have some very good ideas. I think as teachers we all have problems taking risks especially in areas that we may not feel we know to much about like the ever changing course of technology. IT seems to me once I learn how to do something dealing with technology, there is a new and better way to use that same technology. As a physical Education teacher I use rubrics everyday to help my students monitor their success and help me to monitor their success in performing and achieving the skills required to play team sports and other activities we do in P.E. I try to let my students put input into what they liked, didnt liked, and what they gained from the lesson of the day and that is another way that I evaluate my lesson for myself. Again good post!
ReplyDeleteSherry,
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you sound like you're really interested in bringing digital tools into your classroom! That's definitely a step in the right direction! :)
You also sound terrified to do it! What grade level/content area do you teach? Regardless, I would probably recommend starting with something fairly familiar, like a PowerPoint presentation, completed in pairs or groups. Most students are already at least slightly familiar with the application, so they're not going in blind.
The other piece of advice I would give is to know everything there is to know about that program before you assign the project. Go in and play with it. Check out every little button there is and see what happens. This way, when you're kids have a question, you have an idea about what to do!
Good luck to you and your students! Trust me, when you see the results, you'll become a tech-addict, too! :)
Deana
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteGood GAME plan! You sound nervous yet excited. It is a great feeling to learn how to use a new tool and then teach it to your students. What grade do you teach? There are many ways to integrate technology into your lessons as well as developing assessments. In my middle school classes, when my students do project, I use rubrics to assess them. Your assessments can be informal as well as formal. Collaborating with your colleagues is also a good way to get ideas for how to assess your students. Remember Dr. Ertmer stated we must have knowledge, belief, confidence, and a supportive culture to be effective, (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).
-Farena
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned that you want to model the technology for your students. I think that is the most interesting part about your goal. Students really need an example that they could use as scaffolding to help them out with their projects. You could also add into your assessment as to how well the students work together. Therefore you can evaluate how you can orchestrate the group work the following year such as maybe "giving each student a role in their group to hold them responsible"(Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010, p.90).
Bryan
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P, (2010). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteThe wonderful result of taking risks is becoming empowered by the successes experienced. I teach technology and I am somewhat nervous when presenting new materials, but I find the more I use it and become familiar with it the less nervous I am.
As I suggested to Jennifer remember (Keep it Simple for Success). You will have greater success if you start small and build upon that knowledge. Having support from your technology integrator will help you build confidence.
Good Luck!
Joy,
ReplyDeleteThat's good advice. I think part of my problem is I know what I want, but am sometimes overwhelmed with getting there. I will be keeping it simple this semester.
Thanks!
Coach McDaniel,
ReplyDeleteI like your comment on having the students give input. As a Spanish teacher, sometimes I don't do as well as that as when I taught English.
Thanks!
Bryan,
ReplyDeleteMy students do group and partner work all the time, so your quote definitely brought your point home.
Thanks!
Farina,
ReplyDeleteI have taught high school, but am currently a middle school Spanish teacher. I completely agree with what you said and am working on my "techno" confidence.
Deana,
ReplyDeleteWow! Does my terror really come across that loudly? :-) If you saw me a few years ago, you'd be very proud of how far I've come...Promethean Board, online quizzes, links etc. I completely agree with you about getting in there and just playing with it. One of the things that really makes me anxious, though, is the reality that I don't have the kind of time I'd like to put in to it. With two daughters, ages four and six, I'm often time-challenged. Once I get into something, I have a difficult time stopping, but I'm hoping that I'll get more confident as I explore the technology more.
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteDesigning lessons to integrate technology can be overwhelming and nervewrecking if you don't feel confident with the technology or the process. Kudos for taking on such challenging standards!
I know that when I began planning lessons with integrated technology, the technology coach for my building suggested that I start either with one content subject and choose the techcnology that would best match the unit or lesson being taught, or to choose one technology tool and then evaluate lessons to see if they could be augmented by the technology tool. I found that for the first few lessons, choosing one specific technology (the CPS clicker system), gave me the confidence to branch out to the other tools I had available to me. Very quickly, I found myself transitioning to choosing the content lesson and experimenting with different technology tools that would provide the students a more authentic learning experience.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI love the advice of taking it one step at a time, slowing integrating things. It doesn't seem so overwhelming that way.
Thanks.