Reflections

Since beginning my master’s degree, I have been working diligently to utilize technology more often in my classroom so my students will have access to 21^st century learning. With the course that I am finishing now, I have learned so much about incorporating problem based learning, social networking/ online collaboration, and digital storytelling.

My GAME plan has pushed me to “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity,” as well as “engage in professional growth and leadership.” I have been working hard on exposing my students to more real world applications, as opposed to teacher directed instruction. They are given ample opportunities to work together on a common task that is real world focused in order to create a more authentic learning environment. In addition, I am continually reading through the blogs that I have subscribed to for more ideas and hope to post some of them here in the future.

Using the GAME plan with my students is an organized way to allow them to focus on the given task. I would want to focus on the monitoring piece the most with them. For myself, I have found that I set goals constantly, but fail to really monitor my progress throughout. If this is something I struggle with, it is certainly something my students will struggle with. It will help them stay on track and to meet their goals efficiently.

For years, I have been using social networking/ online collaboration through edmodo and will continue to do so, as I have had great success with my students. A new goal I am setting for myself is to try to include at least one problem based learning activity or one digital storytelling activity for each unit I teach. Although these processes are lengthy, they are great ways to keep up student engagement, as well as fostering student achievement.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

How's my GAME going?

This week has been a challenging week for keeping my GAME plan going. We have been out of school for two and a half days due to the Blizzard in the Northeast. It makes meeting a goal difficult when you cannot actually go into school to get things done. On top of this, there are still two more storms in the forecast for Friday and Monday of this coming week.

Are you finding the information and resources you need? 

I think I am finding everything that I need in order to meet both of my GAME plan goals. As of Friday last week, edmodo was downloaded to the iPads. To get the ball rolling on discussions online, I did have a couple of students post their responses. My students are also working hard on a Language Arts project that asks them to argue who is to blame for the great Chicago fire. One group is creating an iMovie and another group is creating a wiki. I ran into a challenge with getting my students access to wikispaces because they do not have e-mail addresses. I then remembered that you can create a dummy e-mail address through g-mail! For more information on how to do this, click here!

With the blizzard, I was worried about my students not getting a lot of work done, so I actually assigned some homework to them. One activity I assigned was for them to post a response to the newsela article they needed to read and they will need to reply to one-another by Friday. I have noticed that barely half of my students have posted since it was assigned on Monday. I wonder how many of my students actually have been given access by their parents. 

For my second goal, I have added a couple of blogs to follow based on suggestions from my Walden classmates. In addition to these, I put out the question to my edmodo communities and found a couple more. 

Do you need to modify your action plan? 

I do not think I need to modify my action plan at the moment. I think I am progressing fairly well despite the challenges of not being in school. 

What have you learned so far? 

I have learned to develop a lot of patience in order to meet my goal. There has been many instances of technology not working the way we need it to or we get hit by a Blizzard. I have also learned to trust my colleagues in the education world. So many people are knowledgeable in the world of technology and it is great to learn or read about what suggestions they have for lessons to use. 

What new questions have arisen?

Are there other blogs that people read and get good ideas from?

How can I get my students to participate in an online discussion when they do not have computer/ internet access?

I have been focusing a lot on real world experiences with our Language Arts unit, what are some ideas that people have for my upcoming Math unit - Moving from Arithmetic to Algebraic Expressions?

Carrying out my GAME Plan

In my last blog, I mentioned a couple of my technology goals that I am setting for myself. These goals are coming from the National Education Standards for Teachers in Technology. My first goal is to engage students in real world issues and to solve problems through the use of digital tools and resources. My second goal is to participate in learning communities relating to technology. This week, I am focusing on the resources that I need in order to meet my goals and how I am doing with my goals thus far.

Resources/ Information Needed:

Goal #1

In order to meet my first goal, I will need to work closely with the math coach, literacy coach, and technology coach that are in my school. These wonderful colleagues are a wealth of knowledge and will help with providing ideas for lessons that will be real world related and how I can integrate technology into the lesson. In addition, I will need access to the iPads and computer lab every once in a while for my students to participate in these activities. The technology coach is in the process of downloading edmodo as an app on our iPads for my students to have more access to classroom discussion. Finally, I will use articles from Newsela.com to engage my students in current news discussions.

Goal #2

For this goal, I do not feel as though I need much in regards to resources. What I need to do is to do some research and talk with the technology coach about some blogs that he may subscribe to relating to technology. Anyone out there subscribe to a good technology blog to follow? Please, mention it in a comment!

How am I doing?

I would have to say that I am in the beginning stages of meeting my goals. I currently feel somewhat overwhelmed by the demands of being an educator and meeting the needs of my graduate classes. I have not had enough time to really look for any blogs to subscribe to. However, I have discussed some new digital tools with my technology coach that I have started to implement with my students. The first being a digital math textbook and also having edmodo downloaded to the iPads. Once the iPads have edmodo, I would love to start having current event discussions on a weekly basis with my students, as well as book chats.

GAME plan

Everyone in this world shows self-directed learning at some point in their life. "You are self-directed anytime you learn a new skill (for example, how to use a digital video camera) or pursue more information about an intriguing topic, sparked by something you read or heard" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 2).  It is most important as educators to show and teach our students about becoming self-directed learners.

In a 21st century learning environment, our classrooms should be "plugged in." We need to work  harder for the attention of our students, especially since they are so used to having technology in their faces constantly. In order to do this, there are two ISTE standards that I would like to set as a goal for myself this year:
1. "Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity"
2. "Engage in professional growth and leadership"

My goal within the first chosen standard is to "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources." I would like my students to be exposed to real world problems that they will need work through while using technology as a tool to support them. Far too often, my classroom is more teacher directed learning and less on my students. It is important to release the cognitive load onto the students and have them lead their learning. In order to reach my goal, I am going to need to give my students many more opportunities to ask questions, work together,  and find their own answers. To monitor my goal, I will be using my weekly lesson plans and reflections that are turned into my administrator. Lastly, to evaluate my goal, I will look back at my reflections to see if my lessons have more of a real-world focus or if my students are still receiving direct instruction about a topic.


My second goal is to "participate in local learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning." As someone who wants to learn more about technology and the integration into a classroom, one would think that I would read up on the current blogs. I am planning to find a couple of technology blogs to actually follow each week for new ideas that I can use within my own classroom. I would also like to use the edmodo connection as well, by reaching out to educators across the world. In order to monitor my goal, I would like to start a technology journal where I can write down the ideas that I find. In the end, this journal will show if I have been keeping up with my goal of learning new technology to add to my classroom. I will also be able to see if I have included any of my new findings into my own classroom.

References:

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

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

Everything I Learned, I Learned in College + In the Field + My Master's Courses

At the beginning of my course, EDUC 6711, we were asked to create a personal theory of learning. Apparently a lot has happened in the past seven weeks for me to have actually forgotten writing one. After reading through it again, I have realized that my theory of learning really has not changed very much. To be perfectly honest, I owe a lot of that to my professors during Undergrad and my educational psychology classes.

I am and always have been a firm believer that all children learn differently. In order to create a positive learning experience, we should be making learning meaningful and try to help them make connections. Along with this, educators should be choosing multiple teaching strategies to target individual needs of students. For this, we include Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences.

Cooperative learning and problem-based learning are two other theories that I believe in. Teachers should not be standing in front of their class lecturing on a daily basis. Number one, the students will probably ignore everything that the teacher has said, and number two, this is when students tend to act out. If they are not engaged, they probably will not listen to a word that has been said. Being able to let them critically think and solve problems with one another will be a lot more beneficial for their futures. 

I have to say that I really do not feel my thoughts on the use of educational technologies, has changed much either. I decided to master in technology education so I would be able to make an impact on my students without only using an overhead or a SMART board as a glorified white board. Through the past few courses I have taken, I am starting to really include technology as a learning tool for my students. In doing so, I am seeing a positive change in the motivation of my students.

As a result of this course, I will definitely be including voice threads, concept maps, and virtual field trips. I actually have experimented with all three over the last seven weeks. Voice threads are a very new concept to me, as well as my students. Being able to teach them about a new technology that allows them to create something and then give each other feedback on the project itself has given my students a new meaning to the learning world. Concept maps and virtual field trips are very similar. I am no longer asking my students to read from a textbook and take a test. I am asking them to explore locations around the world through a virtual field trip and do more than just take notes in a notebook. Before this course, I had only created a blog for my classroom. I am so excited to help my students create exciting projects and take them somewhere through a virtual field trip that they would not be able to actually go to. 

In order to make my instructional practice regarding technology more effective, there are a couple of goals I am setting for myself. One goal I have is that I would like to use technology as more of a learning tool with my students as opposed to an instructional tool. I have allowed my students to use the SMART board, but I have found myself at it much more than they are. I plan on looking through my plans each week and find at least one point during each lesson that I can have the students really be included with the technology. I would also like to create a literacy center that allows them to use the SMART board in groups. Lastly, I would like to actually try the response clickers. I have heard wonderful reviews of having these in a classroom. This will allow the students to utilize the technology. 

The last goal I am striving for is to try and include at least one technology based project with each of my units in language arts and social studies. I would also like to try incorporating it into my math classes. As math is a new subject to me this year, I feel as though including technology in my language arts and social studies classes will be much easier, as I am familiar with the content. I plan on finding times for my students to use one of the computer labs in order to create a wiki, voice thread, or some other exciting project. In order to incorporate technology into my math lessons, I really need to collaborate with my teammates that have taught math over the past few years. If they are able to help me with what content I am teaching, I will be able to help them include some sort of technology tools to enhance the unit. Hopefully this will keep all of our students actively learning.
 

Students are Actually Able to Talk During Class?

Children growing up in the 21^st century are bombarded with so much information through so many different channels. They have access to television, Internet, newspapers, smart phones, and so much more. With this in mind, it does not surprise me that teachers have a difficult time reaching their students. Long overdue are the days of all-class novels and direct instruction. These children are growing up in a time where they need to be able to think critically, problem solve, and work collaboratively with others in order to succeed in their own futures. This means our students should be allowed to talk and work with their peers in order to enhance their learning experiences.

Social networks online have become the best interaction since A.O.L. Instant Messenger. Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and so many more are drawing society in by helping people keep in touch with anyone and everyone they meet. The unfortunate piece to this puzzle is that schools are blocking these sites because they are a distraction to the education process. Due to this, sites have been developed to continue with social networking but in a safe manner. A site called Fakebook allows students to work together and create educational profiles for topics, events, famous people in history, and characters in a book. This lesson combines collaboration, content, and a project that the students can relate to. Other resources that would benefit a classroom are: webquests, blogging, wiki’s, and voice threads.

Collaborative learning is a wonderful teaching strategy to implement in the classroom. I had always heard the phrase, “two heads are better than one,” yet while I was in school, that was never really the case. As an educator now, I am seeing my students achieve more when they are able to discuss their knowledge and learning with others. According to Beaumie Kim (2001), knowledge and learning are built through social interactions.

Here is a link to a wonderful video lesson of a teacher explaining how he uses collaboration in his math class.

I was very impressed by the teacher’s techniques and how engaged the students were in the lesson.

In my own classroom, I try to use social learning daily. While teaching math, I use think, pair, and share. In Social Studies, I have them complete projects in groups, and in Language Arts, they can participate in some social work stations. I have found managing social groups somewhat difficult, as my sixth graders tend to fly off topic quickly. I am hoping in the future, when I can incorporate more exciting technologically based projects, my students will have more focus.

Resources:

Kim, B. (2001). Social Constructivism.. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Help! I am Drowning in a Sea of Papers, Projects, Books, and More!

Below is a link to a voice thread I created about the lack of organization I have in my classroom.  I have been struggling with keeping my room clean and organized for years. I am so tired of not being able to find anything when I need to. Please take a look at the images I have captured of the disaster area that is my classroom. If you have any suggestions for me on how I can solve this problem please feel free to share your comments on the voice thread!


Miss Constantine's Lack of Organization Voice Thread