As my current Walden Master’s ITC course reaches the final week, I have had an opportunity to reflect upon the GAME plan I originally created at the beginning of this course. According to Dr. Katherine 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). I have been reflecting upon my own personal GAME plan throughout the past several weeks. As I reach the end of this course, I have started to think about how I can apply some of the knowledge and skills I have acquired about creating a GAME plan with my own students.
After briefly reviewing many of the technology standards for the elementary level, I plan to have my students use the GAME plan strategy to help them keep track of their progress towards meeting several different technology goals. As explained Dr. Arnie Abrams from my course DVD, students can often become competitive and get caught up with all of the extra features and fonts available on many software/online programs. One way I plan to integrate the GAME plan with my fourth graders is to have them each create a GAME plan prior to exploring with a new piece of technology. For example, I am planning on teaching the students how to use a program called Inspiration to help them organize their ideas for a writing assignment. I am anticipating many students may get caught up with the various features and shapes available for creating a story map/writing web. The GAME plan will hopefully provide my students with a timeline to help them maintain an appropriate pace for completing their technology projects.
Kevin Richstad
References:
ISTE: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
Laureate Education, (Executive Producer), 2009. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author
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Wow, that is a great idea! I don't know how many times I have seen students waste so much time trying to decide what font or color to use that they end up running out of time on completing the assignment. If students can focus on the task, then greater engagement and learning can occur.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to avoid making the project or use of technology competitive as you pointed out. Competition can be great in some instances but for the use of technology many students may give up before they begin if they feel like their project may not be the best in the class. The Game Plan appears to be an approach that can avoid competition as every student is able to personalize the plan. This sets every student up for success.
ReplyDeleteJenny
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! If the game plan works so well for teachers, why not have the student's use it to? This can be a valuable lesson for them. It can teach them to organize their plans so that they have a structured method of action. This can be a great life lesson about being organized.
Student's do often get disracted by all of the bells and whistles that are offered in these programs. You will have to make it very clear that they are not to spend too much time worrying about those aspects and should stick to the main points of the project.
Joe Wesche
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of using the GAME plan to help your students stay on task and use their time wisely.
I have used Inspiration with my students in the past and they love using it to create graphic organizers before they write. I always monitor their progress to make sure they aren’t wasting too much time trying to be creative with different fonts, shapes and pictures. You have a great idea to have your students create a GAME plan before using new software or technology.
Good luck!
Gayla
It is a great idea to have your students come up with a GAME plan prior to teaching them a new technology. You mentioned getting caught up in Inspiration and I have to admit to doing that myself so I laughed when I read your post. I never used it before last year when I first started classes here at Walden. When I used it for one of our assignments, I became obsessed with the "little things" and lost so much time. Getting your students to plan things out first will save them from this problem and then it will carry over into other things you do in class.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for using the GAME plan with your students. I have not used the Inspiration software, but I can imagine how students would get wrapped up in how their project looks. My students often do that when completing a Power Point presentation. There are a few NETS-S standards your students could demonstrate throughout this self-directed learning process. For example your students can work on technology operations and concepts by working toward standard 6b by selecting and using applications effectively and productively. Your students can also work on creativity and innovation by working toward standard 1b to create original works as a means of personal or group expression. With elementary students I think it is wise for the teacher to choose a standard for all students to work toward. As students get older and enter into high school they become more independent and work towards these standards on their own time and pace.
Jennifer
Reference:
National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
Brianj711j,
ReplyDeleteI think one way to help students maintain better focus is to provide clear expectations along with a grading rubric prior to the students beginning their technology-based project. This will help them to keep better focused on the assignment.
Kevin Richstad
Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree with your more. There is always going to be a sense of competition between different students. As you mentioned, one way to help prevent this competition and eliminate any sense of frustration, is to have students use the GAME plan. This will hopefully help students stay better focused and help them understand that they are not competing amongst each other rather working to complete the best product for themselves.
Kevin Richstad
Joe Wesche,
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned above in other blogs, I think it is critical for educators to provide very clear expectations to their students. It is also very helpful if the students are provided with a grading rubric prior to beginning their projects. This will help them to better understand why they are completing the project and what their final product should consist of.
Kevin Richstad
G. Fisher,
ReplyDeleteI briefly introduced Inspiration to my class last year, and am hoping to make more use of the program this year. I think it is a great interactive and visual for students to use to help them both create and organize their ideas.
Kevin Richstad
Vicky,
ReplyDeleteWhen I initially introduce a new activity or technology, I usually provide the students with several minutes to simply “play” and explore with the material/technology. This allows them to take some time to just learn about the different features. Once they have been given some time to “play”, we then get focused and I provide clear expectations for what they need to be completing.
Kevin Richstad
Jennifer Conrad,
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea. I was thinking I could introduce a new technology standard every month, and have students work on various projects to demonstrate their understanding of the standard. The GAME plan could be something we work on as a class.
Kevin Richstad