My GAME plan continued......

Quite honestly, I have had a difficult time this week with some aspects of my game plan. My week has been extremely unusual, but I am sure you don’t want to hear about my woes. So I am going to jump right into what has been going on as far as my GAME plan is concerned.

Information/Resources – Due to lack of time to research, finding videos to use in the classroom has been put on the back burner. I have concentrated on using real-world examples in the classroom. We have been dealing with scatter plots and linear regression equations. These activities have been plentiful and somewhat relevant to my students. We have enjoyed conversations and activities about minimum wage, humpback whales and the growing population in our county.

However, I am still looking for some videos and more interactive activities for my students. As far as projects are concerned, I am trying to fine tune a house construction project to use with my students.

Modifying my action plan – One thing I am going to add to my action plan is to utilize the computer labs as often as possible to help students prepare for the state-mandated End of Course Exams. Our district uses USA Test Prep for students to use. Some of my students do not have internet access at home which has made it difficult for them to practice. To give all students the opportunity, I will reserve the computer lab whenever it is available and whenever it will work into our schedule.

This week it has been particularly difficult to update my site. I realize the need to keep information current so it will be beneficial to students and parents. My goal is to be more diligent about this part of my plan. Our school is in the process of changing our computer system which has made it difficult to keep grades updated. I have decided to use my old grading system until the change so my students can view their grades online.

What I have learned so far? Carrying out my GAME plan is not going as smoothly as I would have originally hoped. I realize that some of my efforts may take a while to develop, and I need to be patient with myself. Although I would like for everything to fall into place with ease, research, development and modification are going to be the keys to success.

New Questions: One of my main questions deals with the timeline I have set for myself. For some reason I thought I could get things up and running for this semester….lofty goals for myself. I need to concentrate on the things I can accomplish, the website is a good start, but which elements are most important for me to focus on?

How can I truly use real-world situations when I start factoring with my lower level students? How can I make some of the concepts we cover important/relevant to them?

Carrying out my GAME plan.....

Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009) discuss is how a lesson may work for one group of students and not another. They stress the importance of monitoring the effectiveness of lessons and how technology can help the teacher organize, collect data, change and improve plans. Developing a GAME plan and following up on our progress and ideas seems like an effective method of improving our teaching skills through thought and reflection.

Resources/Additional Information –

In order to find real life scenarios, I realize I am going to have to take the time to do some research. There are a couple of sites that have videos that have been helpful (such as http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/). Virtual field trips about careers and other math related topics could be another resource to develop.

Colleagues with good ideas have been a resource that I have used for years. Most educators love to share when they find good ideas. Promethean Planet is another resource I have found myself using to assist with lesson plans and ideas. In order to create some project-based assignments I am trying to get some teachers together to work on this idea. Sometimes it is hard to get others onboard!

As far as a website is concerned, I ask a few teachers what they use. Some of them used the website creator used by the school (Oncourse), some make their own, while others use TeacherWeb.


Steps Taken –

To create a website I choose to use TeacherWeb, although there is a yearly charge I found that this is the best option for me at this time. It is a user friendly site with many options to get one started. The link to my site is http://www.teacherweb.com/SC/GreenwoodHighSchool/LeilaniReid/h0.aspx
I hope to keep it updated regularly and possibly create an ‘original’ one in the future.

I have been in my new room for 2 days and have used the Promethean Board for each class. Although I am really a novice at this I am hoping to become more comfortable with the technology and use it to further engage students. I am looking for ideas to use the board more interactively with students, suggestions anyone??

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

The GAME Plan

I believe as teachers we are always trying to improve our strategies to encourage learning and success in the classroom. The GAME plan as outlined by Cennamo (Laureate Education, Inc. 2009) is probably something we all do. However, we may never actually write it down. Putting something into writing often makes us consider what we are doing more often. So here we go….A couple of GAME plans to increase my technological awareness and activities in the classroom.

The two NETS-T indicators I choose to make a GAME plan for are 1) Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity and 2) Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity GAME plan

Goals:
· Explore more real-world issues and careers involving mathematics.
· Allow students to work independently as well as collaboratively on project-based assignments.
· Encourage student creativity and originality when researching and presenting information.

Actions:
· Use more videos to depict how mathematics is used in real-life situations.
· Use Promethean Planet activities to engage student learning.
· Create and use more relative PowerPoint presentations to engage students in classroom instruction.
· Create more project-based learning assignments for students.

Monitor:
· Observe the level of engagement of students. Are they actively involved in the videos? Do they participate in the activities provided?
· Evaluate the projects. Are students using the technological skills as well as mathematical ability to complete projects? Do the students seem to be more interested using this type of learning?

Evaluate:
· Have other teachers review PowerPoint presentations and activities.
· Have students complete and evaluation of presentations, videos and activities.

Model Digital-Age Work and Learning GAME Plan

Goals:
· Maintain a webpage for students and parents to use throughout their class.
· Communicate with parents and students through technology sources.

Actions:
· Use webpage to communicate important dates and assignments to parents and students.
· Use webpage to post notes, resources, videos and activities for parents and students
· Communicate regularly with parents and students through email.
· Create a blog for students to discuss classroom activities and assignments.

Monitor:
· Monitor the ‘hits’ on website and entries on blog.
· Ask for student feedback on the usability and relevance of the information on the website.
· Ask for parent input regarding website.

Evaluate:
· Have students and parents evaluate the website.
· Continue to maintain and update website on a regular basis.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). 1. Self-Directed Learning with Technology [Motion picture].Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.