As I reflect upon my goals for this week, I must say that I am a little behind. I guess my excuse is that I have a week off to finally catch up on my sleep and all of my grading that I have put off until this point. No matter, I will answer the following questions to the best of my ability.
For the most part, I have had a good start on finding some resources available that I can utilize in my classroom. Since I am on break, I do have an opportunity to email some of my colleagues and pick their brains for technological resources they utilize in the classroom. Also, I have received some good ideas and information by collaborating with my colleagues in this class.
Secondly, I do not think I need to modify my plan of action, but I do need to spend more time on my goals and the necessary actions to complete them. This modification could come further down the road, but for now, I need to just simply put some more time and effort into coming up with reasonable resources to use in my classroom.
Thirdly, I have learned that many of my colleagues are in the same boat as me. Many are trying to figure out ways to really improve the use of technology within their own classrooms for the benefit of their students. Again, I think that I simply need to spend more time on "picking" the brains of my colleagues to develop reasonable technological resources that can be used in my own classroom.
Finally, I do not have any new questions as of right now simply because I have not done a ton of work on completing these goals. I realize that this is the point of this class, and I will be honest, I need to do a better job of finding resources to use in my classroom.
I am open to any suggestions that you might have and will welcome your ideas with an open mind. Thanks.
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Mike,
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think you are in the same place as the majority of the professionals in this class in regards to your GAME plan. After reading through the majority of the posts it seems as though many of us know what we have to do for our GAME plan to succeed, we need only to continue to find resources and find ways to modify them for out classrooms. I know that I am in the same boat, having identified many resources and ideas but still have not brought many of them into the classroom. Personally, I think this puts us in a good place as we are taking our time, doing the work carefully and looking at the ideas for many different angles. After looking at my own goals and my strategies for the last few weeks I now fully understand why it is essential to create strong goals in the beginning of the plan and then continue to monitor and check your goals throughout the work (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). There is so much that goes into a successful GAME plan and when spread out over time it is easy to lose pieces and ideas throughout your work.
As you have identified, talking to my colleagues has yielded many great strategies for technology use as well as some strategies that I want to stay away from for my particular needs. They are often the first people I turn to when I have questions or concerns as they provide insight into solutions I may have missed. As you continue your research, I might also suggest a simple Internet search using Google or Yahoo. Whenever, I am stuck and I do not have another colleague to ask I often run a search on whatever technology I wish to use or the topic itself. Often the results are surprising and I am able to use bits and pieces of what I find to create my own lesson. Lastly, I find when I am really stuck it usually is beneficial to ask my students to help plan the lesson or the assessment (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). They will show you the best way to use each tool and lead the teacher in the direction that they learn best. This has helped me in the past to put together activities that the students like while teaching them skills useful in the future.
Randy
HS Social Studies
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful
classroom use: A standards-based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteMust like Randy's comments, I believe you are actually on track with your goals. Honestly, from the professional training I have had, I know that real systems change takes three years...in order to make meaningful alterations in the system known as your classroom, it takes time and perseverance. Repeatedly in meetings, I am the voice for slowing down and not rushing into "fixes". That being said, I must admit I am the FIRST to stumble across a new technology and want to give it a try! I guess my point is that there is great value to slow change and progress.
I think what would benefit you is to keep an eye on your goals and then find a platform that brings the information to you. For example, I subscribe to daily updates from diigo.com. Although I do not fully utilize their offerings as much as I could, I love my daily emails that provide a sample of what other educators have bookmarked as valuable information. On more than one occasion, I have picked up a great tip, site, technology, and have even stumbled across things that are not relevant to my curriculum, but I can forward on to others. With a service like diigo, you can keep an eye on your GAME plan goals while inviting the information to come to you...you never know which day you'll open that email and see a link that will be of use!
If time spent looking for resources is your challenge, trying signing up for diigo and other knowledge sharing sites that show up on your "doorstep" and bring their insight and experience with them.
Good luck!
Melissa
7th grade English/language arts
First of all, I appreciate all of your suggestions. Randy, I have done simple searches on Google, and I guess I just have to be a bit more patient in order to find exactly what it is I am looking for. Also, asking my students is an excellent resource that I could utilize that I really have not thought of doing. It seems so simple.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I greatly appreciate your comforting words. I am definitely trying to implement new strategies involving and utilizing technology in my classroom. I need to be patient and realize that these changes will not happen overnight. Thanks for the tip regarding diigo. This is something that has caught my curiousity, and I will definitely look more into this.
Thank you both for your suggestions and comments.