GAME Plan Progress ~ Week 4

Progressing through my goals has been tough (with report cards due last week), but I have made some gains in reaching my goals. Each of my goals are very different from each other, therefore require a lot more time and thought than having similar goals. I do enjoy having extremely different goals though because it allows me to look at different areas to improve; one is directed more for my own personal growth, but the other is directed to allow more student growth.

As I look for information and resources on appropriate Internet etiquette, I have found a few that fit what I am trying to do. One resource is especially helpful. It is from Kids Domain. This site has a list of several different ways to be polite while using the Internet. As I read through them, I even learned a few new things, although most were review. One of those new things is called a "flame war." It is when someone floods another's email inbox with unnecessary messages until if fills up.

Resources about technologies to be used in the classroom have been easily come by. I have recently set up my class with pen pals in New Zealand through www.epals.com. So far, this has been a fantastic learning experience for my class because we have used new technology. They had the opportunity to Skype with our pals and it was fascinating to see and talk to them. From that we moved to digital cameras and creating a presentation about our school to send, via email, to our buddies. There are so many possibilities that I have found and that I am excited about.

At this point, I do not feel a need to modify my goals. I think that with a little time and effort, each of my goals is obtainable and would be valuable for me to reach.

I have learned that no matter how much time and effort is put into something, you are not always going to get what you want. With many of the resources I have found, it has been necessary to find out more because each resource has a snip it of what I am looking for. Because of this, research seems endless although very valuable.

Throughout this process, only one true question has come up; are these possibilities endless? It seems as though there is no true end to the amount of information and research I can come across. When do I need to tell myself to stop? Is there ever too much information to use? I am asking these questions because I feel that soon I will be bogged down with too much information, if that is possible.

Meeting my GAME Plan Goals

Now that I have created a couple goals to get me to the point I want to be at with meeting technology standards, now I need to figure out how to get there. The two goals that I have decided on are very different from each other. One is how to interact appropriately with technology, the other is teaching how to actually use the technology. In order to meet my goals, I will need to take very specific steps for each.

Goal 1: To promote and model digital etiquette and responsibility
To start, I need to figure out exactly what digital etiquette and responsibility is. To me, it means being able to appropriately interact with different technology that is introduced and used. I will need to start by researching what others think digital etiquette and responsibility is. I want to know what the "experts" say, but it is also important to get ideas from my colleagues. Getting their opinion is just as important as what the "experts" say because they are ones who are also interacting with students who are using technology.
Another step I need to take to reach my goal is to decide who to promote and model the etiquette and responsibility of using digital tools. This can be accomplished by simply using technology on a daily basis and making sure that students are able to see my interactions. However, after those two action steps, I am not sure where to go. It seems as though these are the only two things that I would need to commit to to reach my goal.

Goal 2: To use different technologies to teach to the different learning styles
The first action I would take to reach my goal would be to acquaint myself with different types of technology. To do this, I would find either classes focused around technology (whether it is connected to education or not) or do some online research. The Internet offers so many resources that it would be an excellent place to start looking for new technology that I would be interested in implementing. After that, I would need to figure out specific lessons where implementing technology would fit in. Once those lessons have been planned, I would love to test it out on my students. However, instead of being assessed by a colleague, I would set up a video camera so that I can use self-reflection.

From start to finish, research to reflection, there are going to be many components that work together to help me accomplish this goal. I think that if I create a timeline of events, including some of the action steps that I have chosen, it will be easier for me to focus on reaching these goals, instead of letting them just disappear.

My Personal Game Plan

Throughout the past several months, I have been learning about ways I can improve my teaching through the use of technology. Not only have I been introduced to new programs, but I have learned new ways to use old programs. As I read through the National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Teachers, I found a few things that I am not competent with yet; therefore a GAME plan is a must.

Goals:
1. To promote and model digital etiquette and responsibility
2. To use different technologies to teach to the different learning styles

Actions:
1. Teach the students about what digital etiquette is. Most students do not know the term etiquette, therefore would not know how to apply it to the digital world. I would share with them what appropriate and inappropriate actions online were and how to avoid those situations.
2. Digital responsibility is taught from the day they start using the Internet by teaching the kids not to share personal information. Not only will I reinforce this, but I will spend more time teaching the students what responsible use of technology is (ie. Internet searches).
3. Introduce and implement new technology to the students through instruction and through projects relating to curriculum.

Monitor:
1. Documentation through journaling.
2. Setting dates to have steps toward accomplishing my goals (milestones)

Evaluate:
1. After setting dates or milestones I would like to reach, I will evaluate how my progress is going. I feel that by evaluating myself throughout the whole process of reaching my goals, it will hold me more accountable for actually reaching those goals. At the end of the process, I plan on writing a reflection on my struggles and successes throughout the process.

Even though I have only chosen two goals, I know that there are other proficiencies that I have not mastered and will be working on those as well. However, these two standards are ones that I would like to focus more time on at this moment.

Literacy and Online Inquiry Reflection

This course has opened my eyes to a world of possibility with technology. I have never really forced myself to think about literacy and how it relates to the online world. The most striking revelation in my mind was the fact that I need to make sure that my students need to be taught how to effectively use the Internet and online resources. I have always believed that it would just "come naturally" and I would not need to directly teach those skills. I know that seems hard to believe, but there are so many other things that I am required to teach my students, this is one thing that has never come up. I believe a lot of people do not have a grasp on 21st century skills, therefore it is not important in their eyes.

Now that I know and understand that there are more skills to help students become more literate using the Internet, I will be able to implement those skills into my teaching. One thing that I plan on doing more instruction on is teaching the students how to validate a website. In fourth grade, they are doing research projects and using many different resources. Being able to distinguish which resources have good, valid information is an important skill. I will also be able to teach the students how to use other important resources online to help further their knowledge. For example, having a narrowed down, specific search topic will be useful for students in finding specific resources.

My personal goal is to get into our computer lab once a week so that I have an opportunity to teach these skills. As of right now, I have a scheduled time, but rarely visit the lab unless there is a writing project that is due. Now that I know there are other skills (besides word processing), I have more of a reason to make it to the lab weekly. Half the battle is implementing the resources that are available. Once I have figured out a plan, and stick to it, teaching these skills will come easy.

Reflection of my Personal Learning Theory

As I reflect on my own personal learning theory, I still feel that my teaching techniques align most closely with social cognitivism, but touch the other learning theories as well. I enjoy using a lot of social interaction between students to teach and learn concepts because students have their prior learning experiences and can contribute to our learning environment. Too many times a learning opportunity is passed because the students did not have time to process the information with a neighbor. I enjoy hearing conversations between students about topics because more often than not, a new idea is introduced between the students and I can take that idea and share it with the rest of the class.

If I were to make one modification to my own personal learning theory, I think that I would include more constructionism in my classroom. As of right now, I have a hard time including activities that allow the students to explore a new concept. Even though I do use some constructionism in my instruction, I think I can include more. I just cannot think of where I would be able to fit it in.

One immediate change I am going to make in my instruction is the use of a Voice Thread. On my weekly blog, I have the students write to a weekly prompt. This past week, they wrote their responses and I had them record their answers into a Voice Thread I created for them. I could not believe how much excitement they had to record their voices. After we had completed it, I sent the thread home to their parents and have gotten great responses.

Another change I am going to make is by trying to incorporate the creation of more artifacts. With the curriculum that I teach, there is not much opportunity to have student created artifacts, so I am going to have to pull out my creative side and build in the chance to do something new. I feel that this is going to be a challenge, but I am up for it.

One long-term goal that I have for integrating technology is to be able to use it for student centered learning, rather than as a teaching tool. I would like my students to be able to explore different technology pieces, such as Webspiration, or creating their own Voice Thread. I think I can accomplish this by showing them the tools, and having them investigate themselves. After that, I will be able to create assignments for them to use the tools.

Another long-term goal is to find new ways to use technology to get students excited about learning. I have seen first hand in the past couple weeks that students do get excited about the opportunity to use a new technology, but how can I keep that excitement up? I want to find a way to keep the students engaged at all times when using technology. I feel that the newness might wear off after awhile and I want to avoid that. I think to avoid having it wear off, I need to remain excited about using technology. At times I see that the students feed off of the teacher's attitude and if I keep a positive attitude, they will keep it too.

I have learned so much about myself throughout this course and a lot about the different teaching theories. I am happy to have had the opportunity to evaluate my own teaching techniques and have the chance to develop new ones.

My Voice Thread

Here is my voice thread link:
http://voicethread.com/share/661178/

Enjoy!

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

Connectivism and Social Learning are two learning theories that can be found in many classrooms. With Connectivism, Dr. Siemens describes it as "knowledge residing in the patters of how different concepts are networked." This means that knowledge is gained based on making connections from prior knowledge and new information. Those concepts then create a network of their own to help an individual fully understand its meaning. Social learning is a theory a theory that bases learning on collaboration between peers. They are able to share ideas and help each other come to a complete understanding of a concept.

I have always used collaboration in my classroom, this year more than others. I feel that because everyone comes from different upbringings and different backgrounds, their views on topics are going to be different. I like for my students to be able to discuss their ideas and come up with one common idea. By doing this, they are all using their prior knowledge to construct new knowledge.

One strategy that I really liked from this weeks readings in the book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, was the strategy of having a website that the kids create. I think that this is a fun idea because they are building something together, but learning at the same time. I feel that at times students really need to learn to turn to each other for help when learning something new. Creating a website will most likely be new to a lot of 4th grade students, so therefore they are going to be learning together. Dr. Orey said that by using social learning students are able to "bounce ideas off one another, validate their answers, and build confidence." I agree with this because I have seen that this is what comes out of cooperative learning.

A strategy that I use in my classroom for cooperative learning is called Expert Groups. This is very similar to the Jigsaw method of learning. One student from each table group becomes an expert on one topic, then it is up to them to teach their teammates about their one topic. After we have gone through all of the experts, we play a game where I call on random individuals to answer questions. The experts have their notes in hand, and the notes are not allowed to leave their hands. Therefore, if someone in their group, who is not the expert, gets called on, that person needs to turn to the expert for help. It is a great strategy because not only does it teach them how to collaborate with each other, but it allows for the expert to gain confidence because he or she knows the information and gets to teach it to others. This can be very powerful, especially for those students who do not have a lot of confidence in themselves.

Connectivism and Social Learning are two theories that cannot be left out of a learning environment. They work well with the other learning theories, but there is something more powerful to these. They allow students to rely on each other for help and for sharing knowledge. They allow students to have conversations to come up with solutions. Most importantly, they allow students to be actively engaged in conversations while constructing their own knowledge.