Reflection: Final Blog Post - 6713

As I reach the end of my current Walden University ITC course, I have started to reflect upon some of the learning and resources we explored throughout this course. My initial assignment was to develop a personal GAME plan of how to strengthen both my confidence and proficiency with the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). According to Dr. Cennamo, in order to be effective at achieving a desired learning goal, self-directed learners must first establish a GAME plan. A GAME plan consists of the following areas: G.oals, A.ctions, M.onitoring your actions, and finally E.valuating how effective your actions have been towards meeting your goals (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). At the beginning of the course, I chose two areas of the NETS-T that I wanted to develop and integrate in my own classroom. The two areas I focused on was stronger communication through the use of a class website and demonstrating leadership by developing the technology skills of others.

The use of a GAME plan has really helped me to clearly establish a better vision of where I want to take my students. The GAME plan model has also helped me to create a more defined pacing chart as to when I want to reach a particular standard or goal. Now that I have had some experience with using the GAME plan, my goal is to teach my students how they can create a GAME plan to help them reach the grade level expectations with both the content standards and technology standards. With technology becoming a central aspect of both learning and teaching, I believe it is important for my students to clearly understand what each of the grade level technology standards are. My next goal is to post each of the technology standards on my class website and to also create a bulletin board with the standards for students to refer to. If students understand what they are learning and why it is important for them to learn it, they are more likely to retain the skills needed to be successful life-long learners.

Kevin Richstad

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2007). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning

Laureate Education, (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author