Evaluating My GAME Plan: Week 5

This week’s blog asks me to evaluate my personal GAME plan. The goals that I established were to participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning and to engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

In the Modeling of Digital Citizenship and Responsibility strand, I have been very successful. I have developed technological folders on our district’s server for all teachers to view and utilize. I continue to update and to add to these tools and I am sure that I will continue to do so in the future. I have also developed a site for students and parents for collaboration. This site is very easy to use and has improved my communication with my students in a dramatic fashion. I have learned that collaborating with my peers, students, and parents is a positive experience that is just beginning to pay off for everyone involved. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the next few years.

My second goal, Facilitating and Inspiring Student Learning and Creativity, is a work in progress. Much of this strand contains characteristics of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). This teaching philosophy utilizes real-world problems to develop higher-level thinking skills. It also promotes self-directed learning and student reflection. I must admit that I have been progressing very slowly within this strand. I agree with it, philosophically, but I do not know where to start when it comes to using it as a teaching strategy. Like everyone else, I am on a tight schedule to get my students ready for state achievement tests in May, so I cannot take the time to incorporate a new, untested strategy in my classroom. It will have to wait until after testing is complete. I am hopeful that I can attempt PBL strategies at that time.

Overall, I have been satisfied with my GAME plan. I have had successes and I have met with a few “road blocks”, but I am learning about new teaching strategies and technological tools that I can utilize in my classroom.

Resources:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

The ISTE NETS and performance indicators for teachers. (2008). International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved November 8, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx