Reflection of Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Integrating technology across the content area was a very enjoyable course of study. I'm a digital native so utilizing technology is like using my feet walk. This course has provided me with some very important concepts in order to create dynamic lesson plans. One of concepts is called the GAME plan; Goals, Action, Monitor, and Evaluation.
I plan using this lesson format next school year, after I present it to my superior commander for approval. The best part of the course is meeting other instructors with like minds and fellow shipping with them in order to test the best strategies in order to positively effect our learners.

Currently I'm using www.Edmodo.com with my science classes as an extension to our learning experiences. The students are very pleased that I'm using such a technology to keep them informed about classwork as well as missing assignments. They love the way the technology integrates with their cell phones as a way of communication. I would advise any teacher to at least give it a shot. :-)

I'm going to use the GAME plan process to integrate technology within every lesson I create. Weather is educational networking or presenting projects to the class. Technology is a part of everyone's life.

Creating a wiki could be kind of difficult in my district due to FERRPA laws, however there are some web2.0 sites like www.edmodo.com that protect the privacy of the classroom.

While students are engage I can illustrate how to determine if a site is creditable for academic research. This will make the student aware that there are biases within the realm of the internet and every source must be verifiable.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

GAME Plan Revisit

# What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
What goals are you still working toward?
Well I have applied an educational network in my class, where students can comment and collaborate on projects. I'm still working on getting everyone to understand the benefit of this added tool. I have some students more involved than others, however I see progress everyday.
# If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far?
Next I'm going to start giving daily questions or bell ringers via the educational network, as well as seek out additional strategies from other faculty members.
# What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
Seek out more 3rd party literature on technology integration. I want to approach my next class with a lot of fun and engaging projects.

Game plan update

I believe effort is tied to achievement and so far I have met the goals I've set. I have learned and still learning how to utilize technology to differentiate instruction while keeping the student engaged in meaningful lessons. What I have learned so far is the more you integrate technology uniquely into my lessons. The more my students what to learn and be very engaged. Well my current need is more time, I have setting up a social networking site for my students to discuss the beauty of science. Not all my students have access to a computer, so this is going to be a challenge. I have directed them to the school and local library, however most 12 to 13 years old are very lazy and stubborn at times. Does anyone have idea on how I can get around this crucial problem?

Well on this quest of meeting my technology goals I have been fortunate an abundance of resources. From the CAST conference I met a lot of educators, vendors, and administrators who offered 100 percent support toward my education endeavors.
At this point I do not feel the need to modify my GAME plan as of yet, however I have more information then one can process at a time.
So far I've learned about two wonderful sites to use in my classroom, They are www.edmodo.com and www.thatquiz.org. Edmodo brings social networking into your classroom with a way of posting assignments and blogging with classmates. ThatQuiz is an excellent site for creating formative assessments utilizing online access or you have the option of printing the assessment out. The one big question I have as an educator is when and how do you spiral all of the information together? How do you know when you're on information overload? Some of us are perfectionist who have no problem attaining goals, however we evaluate progress in tiny tedious steps :-)

Tools needed to complete GAME Plan

First I will need a computer with internet access, attend the CAST conference, and dialogue with colleagues about strategies they are using in order to be successful. There isn't any additional information needed, however I did attend the CAST conference and learned a lot from other colleagues from around the state of Texas. I was given a lot of useful sites like www.blabbster.com to incorporate into future lesson plans.

I have also been searching the internet and talking to other colleagues about there internet usage policies in their districts and how these policies are transferred to the student and parent. I'm currently waiting on some additional information from different teacher from multiple districts. Lets see how this turns out :-)

G.A.M.E. Plan

Goal
III. TEACHING, LEARNING, AND THE CURRICULUM Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. Teachers: C. apply technology to develop students’ higher
order skills and creativity

Action:
Integrate technology into my science curriculum by searching the internet and dialoguing with other teachers via blogs or chat rooms. Attend Cast 2010 Science in the city conference in order to continue my professional development in the area of science. The Cast conference is a professional development program offered for curriculum enhancement. Monitor other teachers who utilize technology in their curriculum in order to gain new ideas and implement new strategies.

Monitor:
In order to monitor this goal I will have to create a task check list and review my accomplishments on a weekly basis.


Evaluate:
Implement the strategies learned via professional development and outside sources with in the classroom. Have my students submit evaluation forms about the technology used and inform the teacher if the technology was beneficial to their creativity.



Goal:
VI. SOCIAL, ETHICAL, LEGAL, AND HUMAN ISSUES Teachers understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK–12 schools and apply that understanding in practice. Teachers: A. model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technology use.


Action:
Teach students the ABC’s of internet safety as outlined in our district policies. Model different websites as examples of what isn’t and what is within the perimeters of district policy. Have students take an assessment over policy rules and objectives. Place policy contracts in student file

Monitor:
Give students several websites to visit. Students will evaluate each site to assure it is with in district policy. Have students explain why or why not the site is valid for education.

Evaluate:
Give students a quiz over the ABC of internet safety and district policies.

Reflection

My personal theory on learning hasn't changed during this course. I'm very flexible and love to differentiate between learning skills. Constructionism and multiple intelligences are my main focus when teaching 7th grade science.

One immediate change I am going to implement is Voice Thread. This program is very productive and can be facilitated in a variety of functions. I plan on using with a lot of project based learning and assessments of content.

Two long-term changes or goals I would like to implement are; 1. utilize technology more in my lessons. This can be achieved by using modern technology and view teacher blogs in order to share ideas. 2. Figure out a way to bring low performers up to grade level using technology. This can be achieved by staying up to date with the latest documented strategies that have their base in Neurology.

Sixth Grade Graduation

Sixth Grade Graduation

Voice Thread 6th grade class

Cooperative Learning

Social learning is defined, when students are actively engaged in constructing artifacts and conversing with others. With that in mind, the strategies I explored this week focus on cooperative learning. When students work in cooperative groups they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others (Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000). I like the example of using multimedia in a researched based assignment. Assigning each student within the focused group a formal role provides group responsibility in order to achieve their objective. This type of project will allow students to socialize and begin to focus on cooperating in order to learn.

Construcitonism

This week in learning, I was exploring constructionism in the classroom and how it is visualized. Constructionism is the theory that states people learn best when they build on external artifacts and something they can share with others. This theory is similar to project base learning. Where students are actively engaged in the learning process. For example, if you were teaching on Africa, you could utilize technology to take a virtual tour of the continent; gather facts and other information; next synthesize your information in the form of a Power Point presentation or construct travel magazines to be presented. There are a number of websites that focus on this style of learning. www.Edutopia.org is an excellent source of knowledge integrated using technology and constructionism.

Cognitivism in Practice

This weeks information on Summarizing and note taking gave some excellent strategies that line up with cognitive learning theories. The recommendations were 1. Give students teacher prepared notes, 2. Teach students a variety of note-taking formats, 3. Use combination notes. The recommendation seem to focus on the procedural section of cognitive learning theory. The information also focused on integrating technology to assist in facilitating the note taking and summarizing exercises.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. We use behaviorism everyday, whether we are working on homework or punishing a student for not adhering to the rules.

One of the resources I explored this week was reinforcing effort and achievement using spreadsheet software. By using Microsoft excel you can create an effort chart for the students to document their actions. This explicitly teaches students about the importance of effort. I tried this last year with some low performers and they were amazed how their grades turned around once they could see how effort is tide to achievement.