Managing My GAME Plan

I am well on my way to meeting my goals of teaching my students how to ethically use information from the Internet as well as being a leader for technology integration in our school. Over the past couple of weeks, I have evaluated the information and resources needed to carry out my plan. I have found much of the information I was looking for and have developed additional questions to be answered.

The first goal I set is to teach my students how to ethically use the information of others by paraphrasing and giving credit to their sources. I began an inquiry project with my students requiring them to find information from a variety of sources and put it into their own words. I am happy to report that all is going well. I have learned that this is a skill I will have to teach my students in a series of stages. As my students become better able to paraphrase information, I will then begin teaching them how to formally cite their sources. My students are at the point that they understand the rationale behind this process.

My second goal was to become a leader in my building for integrating technology. I have found that there are a handful of teachers who are willing and eager to start using technology. I shared a technology rich project that I developed with several teachers at my grade level. They seemed excited about using it. I am continuing to develop my own skills with technology so that I am better able to help others.

While striving to meet this goal, I have come across a few roadblocks. I have found teachers who are simply uninterested in using technology in their classrooms. These teachers are set in their ways and approach the concept as making their jobs more difficult. I know this is because they are uncomfortable with or unknowledgeable about technology. I think I need to start small with these teachers showing them simple yet meaningful ways to integrate technology so as not to overwhelm them.

I have also done some searching into sites that are and are not blocked by our school filters. I need to do some additional research here because the results were somewhat surprising. I need to understand why certain sites are blocked while there is open access to others. This has been a long-standing problem at my school for the past few years. The administration is really pushing for teachers in my building to use new technology and Internet-based application in their classrooms. However, many Internet sites that can be used very affectively for education are blocked, and many for not just reason in the minds of many teachers.

Some additional questions that have started to form for my GAME are dealing mostly with my second goal of becoming the technology “go to” person in my school. The first question that I have is, what types of technologies are my colleagues currently using and would like to learn how to use? I think that by answering this question it will help me better prepare for answering a questions that might arise with fellow teachers. The second question is, How is the staff using technology in their classrooms? If I am going to be the person to come to help integrate technology in other teachers classrooms, I need to be able to have a long list of what people are doing and what they can be doing with technology.

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

Carrying Out My Game Plan

Recently I developed a GAME plan to help me improve as a teacher in meeting two indicators set forth by ISTE regarding technology. I chose to focus on teaching and modeling for my students how to ethically use technology while respecting the work of others. I want my students to give credit to the sources of their information. The second goal I created was to become a leader in my school for technology integration in the classroom. I want to model how technology can be used effectively in the classroom while helping other staff members to become more effective users of it. In order to carry out my plan, I have certain considerations to take.

One thing I must consider to follow my GAME plan is that there are certain resources I will need to make it possible. First, I must have the obvious, which is access to technology and the Internet. I have four student computers and one teacher computer in my classroom and access to the computer lab on Fridays. I also have access to 25 iPads, an Apple TV, and a SMART board. I will need access to download appropriate software and application, as well as access to the Internet.

To achieve my educational goals, I will need more information. First, I need to know exactly which technologies I am permitted to use in my school. I need to find out what sites may be restricted and if there is a process I must go through to make them accessible to the students and myself. I need to know which teachers are interested in learning about different technologies and their level of confidence and ability regarding them. Finally, I need access to educational articles or journals talking about ways in which technology can be used in the classroom to further my own abilities and understanding.

I have taken several steps toward achieving my goals already. For a current project I am working on with my students, I have developed a list of resources that the students may use. I am familiarizing myself with the content on these different websites so that I can best help my students to use the work of others without plagiarizing. This will also help me when teaching my students how to make a reference page. I have introduced the concept of plagiarism with my students and begun modeling and practicing proper ways of paraphrasing. One step I have taken toward my second goal, was accepting the job of being the “go to guy” when any of the teachers need assistance or suggestions on their SMART boards and iPads. While I do not feel overly qualified to do this, I will become better prepared through continual practice and further educational experiences.

References:

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

My Technology GAME Plan

Technology is advancing at an extremely fast pace all around me. I have begun to understand the impact it has on our culture. People are more connected today than ever before, and the trend is not stopping. The Internet provides access to just about any information imaginable and much more quickly than looking it up in a book. Because of the convenience and immediacy provided by the Internet, it is often the source turned to for information. The Internet provides access to reference materials, experts, and other students, all of which can be valuable throughout the learning process.

With technology becoming such an integral part of society, teachers have an obligation to prepare themselves and our students to use it in a responsible manner. ISTE has developed technology standards and performance indicators aimed at helping teachers to become effective users of technology. One particular indicator I would like to improve upon is teaching my students to respect the work of others by giving credit where credit is due. With information so readily available, I want my students to learn to respect the thoughts and work of others by documenting their sources.

 In order to achieve this goal, I plan on teaching my students about copyright and plagiarism. I will practice with my students how to use the thoughts of someone else to build upon their learning. I will work through the process of taking information and synthesizing to create a unique and original thought. I will monitor my students to ensure they are providing the sources they used in supporting their thoughts and ideas and will continue to model this behavior myself. As the students become more skilled at giving credit to the source of information, I plan to extend their learning by including the information in a formal reference list. I will practice this skill with my students until they are ethical users of technology.

A second goal I have for myself is to become a leader in my school for technology integration in the classroom. As I get more accustomed to using a variety of technologies in my classroom, I want to promote its usage by showing my colleagues how it can be used as an effective teaching and learning tool. I will help to develop the skills of others by modeling technology integration and acting as a personal resource for them. I will make sure that I am achieving my goal by continually trying new technologies and sharing my discoveries with others. I am committed to trying new technologies and using them to further my students’ content learning.

References:

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