Week 4 G.A.M.E. plan Progress Update

What a day! Today was our last day with students for this school year, and man; what a doozie! This year, I was a team member of a staff of teachers that opened a new school. I never imagined that it would have been so much work! We report to work to finish tying up loose ends until this Friday, and then we get a much needed, deserved break! Looking back over the year brings back memories, both good and bad, that seem to be from a lifetime ago, yet I didn't have the last-day excitement like I've had in years past. In many respects I felt (and still feel) like we've got another quarter to go. Boy, this will make Monday morning sweeter, when I'm still in bed when my first period class would have been beginning!

As for my G.A.M.E. plan goals, I cannot say that I've progressed much from last week. One major point of my plan was to get help in gaining a foundational understanding of many Microsoft software programs from a fellow teacher, but with the end of the year rush, neither of us had the spare minute to stop and get together. Because of this, I am going to have to change my G.A.M.E. plan to not include my teaching buddy, as I won't see him outside of the school setting. Instead, I'll have to use some of my newly freed time to run intel ops on these programs myself in order to learn how to use them proficiently.

Despite the setback, I still plan to go ahead with furthering my understanding of technological tools that can aid in the self-directed, authentic learning experiences of my students. One troubling question that I continue to find myself facing is how in the world, minding the rigorous academic schedule that my curriculum calls for, can I ever sufficiently teach my students how to use any software program in a responsible fashion without overtaking the focus of the lesson? This past year, I found that it took nearly three days of lab time for my students to understand Microsoft Publisher enough to create a pamphlet. This took three days that I did not have to give! My hopes are that the students will enjoy the prospect of some of the new software (namely Movie Maker) and learn it quicker because of their personal excitement about the technology, allowing for a more meaningful standard-based lesson.

G.A.M.E. Plan- Implentation Necessities

Now that I've got a G.A.M.E. plan set up to help design quality digital-age learning experiences, I need to get my ducks in a row before I jump into it half-cocked. In order to carry out my G.A.M.E. plan explained in my previous blog post, I will need to organzie some resources. Firstly, to achieve my goal of using technology to teach authentic learning experiences I will need some free time to spend working with the various Microsoft programs that would so greatly aid my students in their learning. I think that I am strong in PowerPoint and Publisher, so my time would be best spent working with MovieMaker and Excel. It would be a great help to have the computers teacher here at the school, my friend Tom De Bra give me a basic tutorial of these programs so I have a foundation to work from. I would also need to book time for my students in the computer lab here at school, so they could do self-directed research and build their products. To help the students understand how to efficiently use the 'net in searches, I would need a list of reliable student websites and the video "Web Search Strategies in Plain English" (http://www.commoncraft.com/search) to give students a better approach to searching the internet. Lastly I need to take the time to review social studies curricula for earlier grades in order to have an idea of what the students should already know.

To this point, I have been able to get a foundational lesson on MovieMaker and have set up a time to learn more about Excel.

"Web Strategies in Plain English" retrieved from http://www.commoncraft.com/search on 19 May 2010.

A G.A.M.E. Plan for Better Teaching NETS

Dr. Katherine Cennamo has offered up the idea of a G.A.M.E. plan in order to help teachers better promote self-directed, authentic teaching and learning. To utilize this G.A.M.E. plan to help achieve proficiency in National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)I will focus on NETS standards' 1 and 2: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity (1), and Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments (2). My hope is that by focusing on these two standards (which I find to be weak areas in my instructional repertoire)I can aid students in becoming self-directed learners and combat the ever dreadful student boredom and motivation monster.

G.A.M.E. plan 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Goal:
I want to learn how to effectively teach students how to be innovative thinkers and self-directed learners while using technology.

Action:
Teach students the components of creativity as described by Dr. Cennamo. Students will be taught to identify a goal, think about what they already know, brainstorm ideas, identify alternative options, seek additional perspectives, and engage in the process of reflective judgment.

Monitor:
I will monitor the students progress through observations, behavior problems, and overall grades. If done correctly, students will be more driven to complete their work, which would be easily noted through the observation of time spent in class on assignments and questions asked. Also, when students are showing more on-task behavior, I expect the negative behaviors in the classroom to decrease while seeing student understanding and overall grades rise.

Evaluate:
I will know if I have accomplished my goal if student achievement and understanding increases, and negative behaviors decrease. This would be reflected in the number of missing assignments going down, grades going up, more intelligent conversation and questioning about curriculum standards, and a decrease in the amount of time spent disciplining students.

G.A.M.E. plan 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Goal:
I want to learn how to effectively build quality curriculum-based authentic learning experiences utilizing technology as a means of instructing.

Action:
Learn how to effectively, and expertly use Windows programs Microsoft Excel, Windows MovieMaker, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Publisher. These programs can extensively be used in student self-directed learning experiences. In addition, I plan to teach effective search methods and tips so students can be effective in internet searches.

Monitor:
After understanding what my students will need to know in order to use the computer applications mentioned above, I will find out what the students already know. I will then use each of the programs until I have gained a level of confidence that would allow me to direct students to use the software as an implement of education, not the focus of education.

Evaluate:
I will know if I have accomplished my goal if when put to use, students are able to proficiently use the software after a brief tutorial. The ability to quickly solve technical problems for students would also be an evaluative tool used.

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). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Revelations in New Literacies

Over the span of the last two months I have been looking into the new literacy skills that students need to be taught in conjunction with the regularly scheduled barrage of information deemed important by persons more influential than myself. My gut reaction, when looking at the compiled list of "New Literacies" by Ian Jukes and Bruce Macdonald (2007) was that the sheer number of new technological information that students needed to be taught was simply too much for anyone to tackle at once. Once, though I took the time to scan through the lengthy list, I found that many of the literacies are easily taught, and the students already know. I also realized that for students to effectively use the 21st century literacy skills, they have to be consistently taught them, and they need to become a coinciding part of school house curricula.

Now knowing that students need to be continuously taught the new literacies, I will plan future coursework with these skills in mind. I have already began taking my classes to the computer labs with more confidence in my own teaching of the skills. and have already taken students through a crash course in basic internet searching skills for them to be able to research for a social studies essay. I'll continue to look back at the new literacies and add in new components within the classroom, so that students will begin leaving my classroom with a larger assortment of new literacy skills in their educational arsenals.

One place I would like to continue to do to hone my own new literacy skills is in the realm of copyright law and intellectual property laws in order to teach students how to more ethically (and legally!) be able to use the information they find on the internet. I have already contacted the school media specialists to discuss the matter, and have also spoken with a fellow teacher who specifically teaches this subject at a local high school. I have, and will continue to, look for a community school class that I can take to help further my understanding of intellectual property rights and copyright laws to further gain insight that can be passed onto students.

Jukes, I. (2007). 21st century fluency skills: Attributes of a 21st century learner. Retrieved from http://www.committedsardine.com/handouts/twea.pdf

Reflection: My Personal Theory of Learning

After studying the many different academically accepted learning styles, I find that my personal theory of learning has undergone small procedural changes, but has basically remained the same: In order to effectively teach a classroom of students, a teacher must be able to utilize as many different learning styles as possible. No two students react to a prescribed teaching style in the same way, so why should teachers pigeon-hole themselves into one or two two variants of teaching? On the opposite end of the spectrum, students should be challenged by learning to cope with and overcoming learning styles that might not particularly fit their own learning pattern. Students need situations in which the behaviorist learning style applies, just as they need to be versed in cognitivist, social, and constructivist theories of learning. Helping students become more well rounded as students will prepare them to be well-rounded functioning parts of society, which in my view is one of the main goals of the public education system. The small changes that would accompany my newly understood theory of learning would be simple ones that reflect the use of technology in instructional strategies.

Prior to taking this course, I have used technology in my classroom as a teaching tool, and not as a learning one. The students rarely ever interacted with technology, which is a reflection of my understanding of the power of technology in daily activities. My assumption was that technology used as a learning tool had to be a web-quest or word processing. Now I know that technology can be used to help students in routine daily activities, and that technology can be used without the technology itself becoming the focus of the lesson. One tool that I have started working on in my classroom is the interactive white board. Our school does not have the funds to buy them, however in conjunction with the technology staff we have created a make-shift white board that will be available for student use. Just as children always want to push the buttons in the elevator, students always seem to want to operate the technology, no matter how mundane the task is. While this activity would not generate any brain-busting educational advances for the students, it's technological hook would serve as an attention getter. A second tool I would like to begin working with in the classroom is greater use of virtual field trips. Again, with the economy in such a low, the educational budget has become next to nil, which makes field trips out of the question. As a history teacher, there are plenty of great accessible online tours and field trips to supplement the material and help make history "real" for the students.

In the long term, it is my goal to not only have students be in control of manipulating technology more often, but to also take the time to understand which learning theory each lesson employs so I know that I will not fall back on simply using one theory. In order to achieve this, I will have to plan out technology lessons well in advance for each teaching unit.

Voice Thread: Lack of Student Effort

Computer Games as a Learning Tool? Get Out!

How cool is this idea? Kids get to learn about ancient civilizations, politics, international relation, exploration, development of technology, mercantilism, and international strife through a collaborative multi-player online honest-to-goodness competitive computer game? I've got to say, that the idea of having students play "Civilizations III", as suggested by Pitler et al (2007) as a learning tool is one of the most fun uses of technology in the classroom that I've come across! Older computer games were designed as learning tools, however they lacked a the social learning theory hallmark of having collaboration between students. The old Apple IIe's taught millions of school children that Mary or Billy might die from Typhoid or Cholera along the long, arduous Oregon Trail. It even taught basic problem solving skills with its simple mathematical war game Cannon Fodder. These programs did not combine students in groups, forcing co-operation or annihilation! When the students work together, they are able to construct learning in a safe learning environment that encourages actively engaging construction and conversation of curricula specific content. Students work together and can be in Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and not be overwhelmed or under challenged, and learn how to apply the knowledge given to them in applicable, real life situations.

Is there any way I can sign up for the Civilizations III world history class?

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.