The following goals come from the NETS-T and are areas in which I feel I need to improve upon.
1) Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
2) Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
The actions I need to take to meet my first goal are to research what real-world problems my students could research and begin to solve, based on our state standards and curriculum. If there are problems that would relate to these areas, it would be very easy to justify why my students were completing this task. As for resources and digital tools, I would like to talk with a media specialist in my district that has great ideas and a lot of knowledge about different technologies and new tools available to teachers. Once I have researched possibilities and ideas to meet this goal I will try several different things. I will monitor my progress towards this goal by continually reflecting on my progress and recording my actions. If I am directed toward using a certain type of technological tool, I will try to incorporate the use of it into my instruction and classroom. After a certain amount of time, I will evaluate the effectiveness of the technology that my students are using and determine if it is helping students to learn the content at a better level than if we were not using it.
The actions I need to take to meet my second goal are to research different methods, structures, and routines other educators have used to give students independence when setting goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress. I would like to know if there are certain computer programs that others may have used that helped them to incorporate this student directed assessment in their classroom. I have used the STAR program in the past, which allowed students to move at their own pace to meet math and reading goals. I no longer have access to this program, but am not quite sure that this sort of program would meet the NETS-T indicators. After I have found a tool that would help students gain this independence, the next step would be to incorporate it into my classroom. I would need to track my own and student’s progress to determine the effectiveness of the technology used in the classroom; this would ensure monitoring and evaluating use of this instructional device. For example, if I said that I was going to use podcasting once a week for students to record their learning and goal setting, I would need to prove that this tool and use of time was helping my students and my instruction in some way. If I could show evidence that there are positive outcomes, this would show that this method was worthwhile.
My biggest challenge in following this GAME plan is the action step. I need time to research which technologies would best suit my goals. If anyone has ideas of things they have tried in the past related to exploring real-world problems and/or student self monitoring and assessment using technology, I greatly appreciate your ideas and comments.
Thanks,
Tiffany Hall
References:
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Tiffany!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. I understand that technology can be a little overwhelming when trying to incorporate into lessons. I do hope that you are able to get some great advice from your media specialist at school as well as the ideas from your peers here at Walden. It is great when you can find someone at school to help support your skills. Our technology teacher has been a wonderful resource for me. With his help, I have been able to incorporate a lot of technology into my classroom. This has been both beneficial to me and my students. I believe that students learn when they are able to make connections and create background knowledge. By doing this, I give my students room to be creative and for their ideas to flow. I sometimes find that I have a hard time letting go and letting them explore, but I have found that the more I give them the expectations and create goals, as well as giving them the time to be creative, they really surprise me.
Through this year, my students have created Power Points, Voice Threads, and they have just finished working on a Famous Missourian project using Podcasts. Always keep trying to learn new and improved ways. If any of those technology tools sound like something you want to try and do with your class, let me know!
Elizabeth Brindley
I love your first goal! I think that is something that I could definitely use improvement on as well. Especially since I teach math, there are lots of real life concepts that I could have my students further learn about using technology. I recently learned about some neat Google Earth applications for students. That sounds as close to real life technology as it gets! I think that when you find some neat real-world problems, your students will have a blast trying to solve them. Good luck and great job with your Game Plan.
ReplyDeleteHey Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned as part of your first action plan something I think a lot of teachers often forget to do...try out their ideas and lessons! It seems like such an obvious idea, especially with technology. I think teachers often get wound up, however, in the development process and forget to experience their lesson plans from the users perspective.
Especially when we come up with elaborate ideas that we think will be exceptionally great, I think teachers not only run out of time to "try out" their lessons but I also think part is afraid of realizing they won't be what we imagined. I think this is where the evaluation of the GAME plan comes into play allowing us to see if our actions are truly leading us to our intended goals and if not, what modifications we can make to change our course and head in the right direction.