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?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Although not part of my own GAME plan, this year I developed and have been using a classroom website with my students. The first few weeks were very rough as some students don't have internet access at home and others couldn't get the hand of the website operations. I use the website to host student discussion boards about topics in class as well as weekly online papers that students submit, are graded and corrected electronically and then resubmitted back to the student for reflection. It took nearly four weeks before every student was comfortable with the website. As for any advice, I would just advise perseverance and understand that there will be setbacks, students will stumble, and it will cause frustrations, but once both you and the students become comfortable it should work for the benefit of all your students.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have had quite a week! I agree that the website is a good place to start, it will serve as a communication center for your students and parents. It can be hard to add one more thing to the list of "to dos". To start, you could be as brief as possible, just listing the homework for each class. You could always add other features in future weeks.
ReplyDeleteYou are smart to maintain the grades with the old system until the new one is fully in place. I'm sure your students and parents are very grateful they can continue to check grades with the system they are familiar with until the new one is ready.
Do you have access to Discovery Streaming? I find their library of video clips to be very comprehensive and you can search by specific content and grades. I just heard a suggestion that it's great to use clips with closed captioning if possible because it provides the words for those visual learners.
You have a good idea to use the computer lab whenever possible to prepare all of your students for their End of Course exams. Your students who do not have as much as opportunity to use computers will feel much more comfortable on the testing days when they have practiced in this way - the same format as the test.
You have great ideas and really are reflecting thoughtfully about implementing your GAME plan effectively. I hope you have a good week ahead! Good Luck!
Carolyn Doyle
We always run into weeks where there are too many other things to contend with. Don't get discouraged- the good thing is that you recognize that you have fallen a little behind on your timeline of getting things done. I have these weeks too. Having this blog and reflecting on our progress each week will enable you to keep everything in perspective and realistic.
ReplyDeleteErin Beauvais
I realize that the 100 % implementation of my game plan will not be possible at this point due to time but mostly for administrative reasons. Never the less I have been using some new tools as well as PBL, collaborative learning and this next 2 weeks I will try online collaboration tools. My web site is not on line but I am collecting several links that I am planning to incorporate. Y goal is to start the next school year with a complete cross content and technology program.
ReplyDelete