First Entry!

First Entry!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Developing my GAME plan

There are two National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) indicators that I feel that I could use more confidence in. They are: 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity and 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. In creating my GAME plan I need to be more aware of what my goals are for my students and take the necessary steps to help them develop the potential to reach the goal.

To help me reach my goals I need to monitor student progress as well as my own (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I think it would be great to teach my students the proper ways of evaluating a website and walk them through what I do when I encounter a new site. This would help to foster creativity among them and create a desire to want to find more sites to use during the school day and at home. To help reach the goal of design and developing digital learning experiences I am going to sit down with my students at the beginning of each school year and ask them what they would like to learn and then match that up standards. My students would serve as a constant reminder as the list that we make would be posted in the room and most students have wonderful memories when it comes to things like that.

The one area that I need some assistance in is with evaluating and extending my learning. I am at a loss as to plan for that or what would even be a good place to start. I would appreciate any assistance in that area.


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

6 comments:

  1. Shelby,
    It seems all the teachers' postings that I've read exposed my weaknesses and your indicators are doing the same to me. :)
    I think that you've brought up two of the most significant factors we need in integrating technology. I like that you have included helping students to develope evaluating websites skill that will help tremendously in determining the proper and authentic resources among the many websites on the internet.
    To me, my successes depend on students' successes. That will be my tool to gauge the effectiveness of the technology tools I've implemented and make adjustments as needed. Professional development opportunities and trying new technology in my area of teaching are a few ways I can extend my learning.

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    1. Thank you for your feedback! You are correct, student success is a teachers success. When something is not working it needs to be re-evaluated to see where the problem occured and start over with the students.

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  2. Shelby-
    I commend you on your honest assessment of your areas of need. You mentioned you needed some assistance in evaluating and extending your learning. I have found that the most practical professional development came when my district allowed us to choose from several teacher-led workshops over a variety of topics. It really helped me to open my eyes to how many expert opinions were around me on a daily basis. After that, I used my fellow teachers a lot more for advice. I also even presented at one workshop this year over a topic that I learned while enrolled at Walden.

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    1. Professional development is so important for teachers to be aware of and to be a part of. As educators we are lifelong learners and we need to share that daily with our students. I am going to add that to my GAME plan, students need to know that they are not the only ones with homework. Awareness is probably the most important component of teaching, be aware of your students and be aware of yourself.

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  3. Shelby,

    Like you, I feel that I am weak in the same areas. I do not assess myself as a teacher as often as I should. If I want to improve and be more effective as a teacher it is essential that I start to reflect more and do more to improve. I am extremely weak when it comes to evaluating websites and showing my students how to cite information. For me personally, it is because citing information is difficult for me. If I can begin to walk through the process more and more and make this process a learning experience for not only myself but for my students as well, I am sure it will be more effective and become easier. I think you are very brave to be honest with your weaknesses and share them with us all. It is the right step and first step in getting better.

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    1. Thank you for your comments. By exposing my weaknesses I have put everything out there for all to see and I can no longer convince myself otherwise. Evaluation is a hard topic for many teachers, we all believe that we are doing the best job we can and it is hard to receive constructive critism. By putting it on the line, I have no other choice but to look up and correct my weaknesses and turn them into strengths.

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