Evaluating My GAME Plan Progress

So far my actions with regards to adjusting my GAME Plan have kept me moving forward. I have been able to complete a the lesson plan for two of the three lessons I plan to pitch, however since I have a student teacher finishing up within the next week, I have had very little time to devout to completing it until after the weekend.

There are a few things I have learned that I can apply to the instructional practice. One is when I am presenting the material to my students and my colleagues, that I am aware of their differentiating abilities. Not everyone is going to be as quick to pick up on the software, or the programs at first. However, I did select projects that are pretty easy to implement. They are more point and click in order to have my recipients gain confidence. Secondly, I will make sure I implement a checklist that walks everyone through the process step by step so they can have a reference if their wheels begin to fall off. Lastly, with regards to my peers, I plan to provide a list of resources for them to explore if they want to adapt more lessons using technology. I was going to provide each with possible ways to implement what I taught them in their content material, and had planned to make it a “learn by doing” activity.

There are still things that I have to learn, such as how to introduce a technical lesson to immediately reduce the stress level of having to sit through a working meeting. I also have to find a way to evaluate the different technical levels of my students without wasting too much time. Some of my students have trouble reading above the 6th grade level, yet they are more computer savvy than I (which may not be that sporty, but…), so the classes are differentiated along technical lines.

Currently I am trying to find an alternate way to introduce my presentation with my peers to address the stress issues that technology present to those who are intimidated. It is so important to keep it simple, yet boost morale in this type of setting. We as teachers are so busy with abstract material that it is easy to get discouraged by just another useless staff meeting that serves no purpose or use in the classroom. I guess that is my ultimate goal, to eliminate wasting time with activities that fail to facilitate teaching and learning.

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

Keeping with this week’s assignment I have spent some valuable time searching for different programs to implement with a project in order to meet special needs or just to enhance diversity in learning styles. I have also been searching for alternative means of assessment techniques and methods. I am finding that there are quite a few assessment techniques online when you search for projects, video guides, or lesson plans. It would seem the key goes back to the previous course where if you change a few terms when searching, you can find some very good information.

So far I have been able to find everything needed for my project. Since the student project is a mock MySpace, what I am doing is laying out the different publisher options for the students. Then I am providing a list of websites to research, along with a daily checklist for assessment. I am in the process of creating a rubric that has forty different items where the students will get 2 points apiece for a total of eighty points. Their presentation is broken into 4 parts each worth 5 points for a total of twenty and a grand total for the project at one-hundred.

As for my peer presentation, the first meeting has been scheduled and I have sent emails out for each teacher to give me some information of their favorite athlete, automobile, or motorcycle. I will have them search for photos and information to have them complete their project. I will use a similar checklist to model what I was doing with my students. I have gotten all the feedback from them and everyone is on-board. It seemed that was a natural step in the process.

So far I really didn’t have to modify my plan, but may have to adjust the peer presentations if we have our time adjusted by the administration. Some dates are only tentative because of other planning. The only questions I really have are will I be able to get everyone to learn the process as well as using the media and technology. It may be a lot to ask from a couple of my peers. For the most part they are eager, but have also warned they aren’t the most technical. I’m not sure why they are suspect; I am no digital native by any means. So I think I am ready to move forward. If anyone has any hints, questions, or comments, please feel free to let me have them. The last thing I want is a surprise while I am presenting and working with my students and peers.

Resources and Information to carry out my GAME plan.

The resources needed to teach, are computers, publisher program, the internet with predetermined reference sites, and an example of a MySpace. With that example, I will have to design a rubric for the students to address each individual area of the mock MySpace to create their project. The rubric will be augmented by daily assessment sheets where the students have the day’s activities and expectations to fulfill. Each day they will be provided with the websites to develop the project. Since the project will be in Russian History, they will have to do a biography on a Czar, a biography on a famous artist, musician, or writer and will have to provide information on three other areas such as products, wars, architecture or any cultural characteristic. I will have to provide a bank of websites for reference and use by the students and since it is a mock MySpace, the students will have to use a template from Microsoft Publisher in order to format their project. I have been able to design the template but am still in the process of building the web bank of sources. I also have been able to work up a rubric, but the daily assessments still have to be designed.

As for the professional development department meeting, the initial procedure has been taken. The first step was to set the time and dates. We will have three separate working meetings where I and five other colleagues will gather for a workshop on the first of my presentations. Since I am designing the mock MySpace for a project, I had planned to pitch that particular example first, but may have to adjust project presentations to range of difficulty due to time consideration.

Since we all teach Social Studies, my peers should easily be able to adapt any one of them to their content areas. I will have a power point presentation with a finished project to display. If I start with the mock MySpace, I can show each individual element as it follows the rubric and assessment sheets. Since they may not have the full understanding of what they look like, I can have them create a template in the publisher program as I go through it step by step. I would try to make the presentation a “learn by doing” activity. Since it is a small environment to work in, I can move to help with any questions or confusion.

Once I have been able to work through that presentation, we will schedule the next meeting for another small group workshop. It would be at the next where I would teach each individual to create a Glog from Glogster. Again it would be a “learn by doing” experience. It takes the internet, a mock subject, and a short period of time to find photos, text, links, video, and any other animations that may be interesting. Since Glogs are self contained, my peers would have to create an account and then just be guided through the creative process.

The last project to introduce would be an Animoto. We again are working in a website where we would need to establish an account, and then begin the process of learning how to download the photos, add text, and then add the music to complete the process. For this project, the internet would be needed and laptops for my colleagues which are not a problem as my classroom has everything available to run a workshop. I have established the times for the workshops, but the real challenge is that they had to be scheduled and are in the future toward the end of the school year. Our department members will only have time to introduce one or two of the projects, but not the third so I will survey my peers to get an understanding of what they would like to do first. Certainly the Glog would be easiest for them to learn, then the mock MySpace, with the Animoto to be the more difficult because of fear of the complexity and music management. However, it is not too difficult for them to learn in a one hour presentation.

Developing My Personal GAME Plan

In the National Education Standards for Teachers, I have chosen to strengthen my confidence and proficiency for seamless technology integration into my content area. One standard is to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments and the second is to engage in professional growth and leadership. For me and my style of learning, I tend to learn by doing, but am not always one to pick up a concept and run with it. I like to find examples, and I like to adapt what I find to fit my schema. I have never been an innovator, but then again, most aren’t. So I will set a few goals and take action, monitor my progress, and evaluate what develops. I find both goals enriching because they provide me with the opportunity to teach, which in turn reinforces my confidence and proficiency.

First to address proficiency for integration in my classroom, I will design (actually adapt) a project that students should be familiar with. MySpace and Facebook are both popular social network sites that students recognize immediately. I plan to have students create a mock MySpace that will have them cover a particular year in history in a particular country. I will create categories for their space, provide the students with a daily assessment sheet, give them examples of websites for research, and then provide them with the rubric to evaluate their project. Once the project is in progress, adjustments can be made and the end result will provide the feedback for future production. The project can be done entirely online and we can link the pages of the student project to our class site for view by the public.

The second goal to establish would be for me to engage in professional growth and leadership by leading a Social Studies department meeting with the agenda to provide three activities to integrate technology in a manner that works to diffuse the pressure of the technology itself. I would find the three activities that could easily be integrated by any of our department members to their content material. By introducing the small staff to the activities, we would have the time to work closely together and because there would only be five members and myself, the level of stress would be easily eliminated. I would teach them how to create and edit a slide presentation such as Animoto (or any of the many that are being promoted) to have their students research, select pictures, and add music and text for impact. The presentation would be hands on, using photos and music from their content area. Another activity to teach would be one that I just completed, a Glog, from Glogster. This is a very unique project that permits students to research a few categories, then embed text, add graphics, photos, videos and hyperlink websites. Surprisingly it is a very simple venue to create what I would describe as an online bulletin board. Lastly, I would show them examples of the aforementioned project that I would label as a MySpace or Facebook. By teaching the students how to generate the page, I would be prepared to show any adjustments that I would have to make, or what I liked and disliked about the project. To monitor and evaluate my goal I could ask that my colleagues pick a topic for the next staff meeting and try to select one of the activities to implement. If I am successful, they should be able to return with at least one activity to do. If I need to adjust, they will return to the next meeting with questions or complaints, but would probably see or email me before that deadline.

Both of these goals meet at least two indicators. Under indicator 2 a., design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity and under indicator 5 b, I would exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others. There are a few other indicators that would fit the plan as well but the previous seem to fit best.