Reflection

 Many teachers see technology as a resource that enhances the classroom. However, in order to truly do our students justice, this mindset needs to change. We can no longer see technology as a fun enhancement, but it must be seen and used as an essential part of learning. This requires teachers to make a conscious effort to begin incorporating technology into the classroom. This involves careful and extensive planning, as well as the willingness to be a lifelong learner. By using a GAME plan, I learned a simple way to set professional development and teaching goals for myself, as well as monitor and achieve them. Furthermore, I have learned how simple it can be to begin to incorporate new technology into my classroom in order to address the various learning styles that are in my classroom.

 One of my biggest challenges as a teacher is planning ahead. This can be an incredibly detrimental weakness to have in a field that requires teachers and students to think about where they want to end their journey before it even begins. In the past, I had attempted to set goals for myself in an effort to change my approach to teaching and my classroom. However, I never set forth an organized plan with steps to follow to achieve my goals. Thus, in the end, these goals were hardly ever achieved. By creating and working in a GAME plan, I have learned that if I set achievable and workable goals, and consider where I want to end before I even begin, that I can change my methods (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). By setting a goal for myself to allow students more creative freedom in the classroom, I have begun to think about choice. The Choice Boards that I present to students enables them to choose how they want to demonstrate their knowledge for assessment or evaluation. I have already seen students' grades begin to improve. Even though I already knew it, using this goal in my GAME plan reminded me and proved to me that not all students learn the same. This does not just mean that I need to differentiate my instruction, but also that the products that I am asking students to create should be differentiated. By assigning a particular product, I was stifling the ability for students to act and become creative thinkers (Laureate Education, 2009a). I learned that some of my students were not succeeding because they were either not engaged in the assignments that I was giving them, or their learning styles did not allow them to fully understand what the product required.

 Throughout the GAME plan, I made some changes to my initial goal, as well as to the steps to achieving my goal. I have found that it is not practical or possible to always give students a full Choice Board to choose products from. Furthermore, regarding my second GAME plan, using cross-curricular activities, it is not always possible to create large cross-curricular projects. Both time and the curriculum need to be considered when using either of these strategies. One change that I made was that I do not have to use these methods all the time and I do not have to use them on such a large scale every time I use them. Often, rather than Choice Boards, I can give students the option of writing or typing. In a larger presentation, I can offer students the ability to create a visual using technology or print. Just by allowing students to make these smaller decisions regarding their work can make them more engaged and allow them to decide what choices fit their learning styles best. I have also begun to consider how I can use the GAME plan with my students. While I do not think it is an effective strategy to use for every unit of study, I think that it is important for students to set goals for themselves at the beginning of the year and monitor them throughout the course of the year. In my school, we have Student Data Binders that students are responsible for maintaining. In the binders, they track their standardized test scores and best writing for every semester. Next year, I would like for students to complete their own GAME plan for the year. Students will set their goals at the beginning of the year and then continue to work on and monitor each semester. This will allow students to take ownership for their own learning throughout the course of the year. In this way, we are creating self-directed learners (Laureate Education, 2009a). I will also make it a point to create and use my own GAME plan every semester to consistently and continuously improve my own teaching and classroom.

 Before I began this class, I openly admitted that I do not use the technologies that are available to me in a consistent or effective manner. One of the reasons is because I had never received the necessary training for how to incorporate technology into my classroom. Throughout this course, I have been exposed to various tools, resources, methods, and ideas as to how to use technology effectively in the classroom. A goal that I have been considering throughout this current school year is attempting to base my classroom around project- and problem-based learning next year. I have come to learn that due to the nature of my subject it is not necessarily the content of my teaching that matter but more the skills and strategies that I am teaching students. Therefore, by engaging students in authentic tasks and learning through PBL, they are connecting to the content while learning the skills and standards from the curriculum (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). Going forward, I would also like to create a more open classroom, or as stated in our resources, a flat classroom (Laureate Education, 2009b). I want my students to stop seeing the classroom and their learning as disconnected and isolated. Students need to understand how their learning in my classroom is connected to other subjects, as well as how it is connected to the real world. I would like to use social networking like e-Pals and Skype in order to continue to connect to other classrooms around the country and the world. I would also like for my own students to be able to collaborate in new ways by using technology such as Google documents to plan and work on group work. Furthermore, I will plan at least one collaborative project per year with another classroom in my school. Finally, digital storytelling will become a staple in my room, both for instruction and assessment. Digital storytelling allows students to demonstrate knowledge using various modalities (Laureate Education, 2009c). It allows both the students and I to represent and present information through words and visuals, making the information easier to understand.

 Technology, however, will not just teach itself. I have learned that it is also my responsibility to teach students the various technologies that I want to use in my classroom. As is often discussed when it comes to implementing new strategies and teaching methods, time management must be considered. In order to teach students new technologies while ensuring that I am teaching the curriculum and content, I am going to choose which technologies to present to which classrooms. Since I teach sixth through eighth grades, I have the ability to teach each grade various levels of technology. For example sixth graders will learn the more basic technologies, Internet and research, Word processing software, Power Point. Each year, I will add more technology into my teaching. Hopefully, by the time students leave me, they have had the ability and opportunity to work with various technologies in an authentic manner.

 It is important to make a planned effort to incorporate technology and new ways of learning for students. Possibly the most important idea that I have learned is that technology customizes learning (Laureate Education, 2009d). We can no longer assume that students know how to work with various technologies. We can no longer assume that students understand the role of technology without allowing it to play an integral role in our classrooms. A plan of action needs to be created and followed through so that educators continue to improve upon themselves and stay lifelong learners. If educators do this, students will begin to understand that this is the expectation for them as well.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Promoting self-directed learning [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Spotlight on technology: Social networking and online collaboration, Part I [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009c). Spotlighting on technology: Digital storytelling, Part I [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009d). Meeting students needs with technology, Part I [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.