Throughout my past Walden University course, we have been exploring many of the techniques and strategies that can be used to reach and engage all learners through the support of technology. The main focus of the class revolved around how critical it is for today’s educators to differentiate instruction. One of the techniques that I have already started using is flexible grouping. According to Smith & Throne (2007), flexible groups are important because they mimic some of the social and work relationships that students will someday have to negotiate, and allow them to practice future job-related skills (p. 113). My students are organized into heterogeneous groups. This provides them with several opportunities throughout the day to support each other’s needs and share their diverse learning abilities.
Another resource that I would like to include is GoogleDocs. GoogleDocs provides students with the capability to collaborate both within the classroom and from their own personal computers outside of the classroom hours. I would also like to begin posting a discussion thread to our class website so students can discuss topics outside of the classroom walls. This will provide some of the more introvert type of students with an opportunity to clearly/confidently express their thoughts. Wikis and Webquests are some additional tools that will help to give my students the types of 21st century skills and differentiated instruction they need to be successful.
A final teaching method that I have taken away from this course is applying many of the universal design for learning (UDL) techniques we explored. The CAST website has several great teaching resources that I definitely plan to implement into my own classroom. Overall, the learning experience I have had in this course has helped me to gain a much stronger understanding of how to effectively differentiate instruction to help create stronger connections for my students.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology. Baltimore: Author.
Smith, G., & Throne, S. (2007). Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms. Belmont, CA: International Society for Technology in Education.
Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
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
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Using the GAME Plan Process with Students
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
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
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Revising My GAME Plan
Throughout my current Walden University Master’s course, I have been learning about many of the various ways in which today’s educators can integrate technology throughout the different content areas. At the beginning of the course, each student in our class developed 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). For my GAME plan, I have focused on two main goals. The first goal I have worked towards is establishing a class website to enhance my communication between school/home. The second goal I have been working on is helping to teach the other staff members at my school how to effectively integrate technology. I am specifically working with a product called the eBeam and would like my colleagues to learn from my experience throughout the pilot program of the eBeam.
This entire experience has helped me to better understand how critical it is for educators to truly set goals to work towards. One aspect of the GAME plan that I am planning on using in my instructional practice is to continue to set at least two goals to work towards throughout each new school year.
As I work on my GAME plan, there are still some goals that I am currently working towards. One of the goals I would like to meet is to effectively integrate a class weblog. In order to meet this goal I have been working with the IT department in my school district and requesting access to particular blogging sites. Currently, our school district has blocked many of the educational-based blogging websites from gaining access.
Another area of this class that I have gained a stronger understanding for are the NETS-T. The main strand of the NETS-T that I plan to focus on is: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm. I am would like to continue to implement many of the different Web 2.0 resources and tools that we have been learning about throughout this Master’s program.
References:
Laureate Education, (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas.
Baltimore, MD: Author
This entire experience has helped me to better understand how critical it is for educators to truly set goals to work towards. One aspect of the GAME plan that I am planning on using in my instructional practice is to continue to set at least two goals to work towards throughout each new school year.
As I work on my GAME plan, there are still some goals that I am currently working towards. One of the goals I would like to meet is to effectively integrate a class weblog. In order to meet this goal I have been working with the IT department in my school district and requesting access to particular blogging sites. Currently, our school district has blocked many of the educational-based blogging websites from gaining access.
Another area of this class that I have gained a stronger understanding for are the NETS-T. The main strand of the NETS-T that I plan to focus on is: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm. I am would like to continue to implement many of the different Web 2.0 resources and tools that we have been learning about throughout this Master’s program.
References:
Laureate Education, (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas.
Baltimore, MD: Author
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Evaluating My GAME Plan Progress
I have continued to work on my GAME plan. 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). We are currently in the fourth week of working on our GAME plans and have reached the Evaluation stage.
The actions I have taken up to this point have definitely helped me to maintain my original goals. The first goal I set was to create a class website to help increase and maintain a steady communication system between our class, my students and their families. The second goal I set was to take a leadership role by piloting a product called eBeam. I have been able to get my website started, but have had difficulty finding the time to update my website on a regular basis. My original intention was to have the entire website completed and up and running by the middle of November. I am a little behind, but plan to use some of my extra time during the winter break to finish the website.
The idea of the eBeam is great, but unfortunately I have continued to have several issues with the connectivity. My students have been able to use the tool to record their problem solving strategies during our morning math, but it has not been a consistent tool and not always reliable. I have contacted the official eBeam company representative for our school district with some of my specific concerns. I am still awaiting a reply to see if there is anything I need to do to establish a stronger connection and touch with the included stylus pen.
The insight that my GAME plan issues have provided me with is the ability to maintain patience in front of my students when technical issues arise. As a student in an Integration of Technology program, I want my students to be intrigued by the new types of technology available for their learning purposes. Even if the eBeam is not always consistent, the students are still very eager to use the product when it is properly working.
Some of the questions I am hoping to address throughout this course relate to the Problem-Based Learning unit we will be creating throughout the next few weeks. According to Dr. Peggy Ertmer, the advantage of using a PBL approach is that, “students learn content as they learn higher-order thinking skills” (Laureate Education, 2009). I would like to apply this teaching method to the goals I have set for my GAME plan. I would like to look further into how I can integrate my GAME plan with the PBL unit I will be putting together. As Dr. Ertmer explained, technology is used throughout the learning process (Laureate Education, 2009).
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
The actions I have taken up to this point have definitely helped me to maintain my original goals. The first goal I set was to create a class website to help increase and maintain a steady communication system between our class, my students and their families. The second goal I set was to take a leadership role by piloting a product called eBeam. I have been able to get my website started, but have had difficulty finding the time to update my website on a regular basis. My original intention was to have the entire website completed and up and running by the middle of November. I am a little behind, but plan to use some of my extra time during the winter break to finish the website.
The idea of the eBeam is great, but unfortunately I have continued to have several issues with the connectivity. My students have been able to use the tool to record their problem solving strategies during our morning math, but it has not been a consistent tool and not always reliable. I have contacted the official eBeam company representative for our school district with some of my specific concerns. I am still awaiting a reply to see if there is anything I need to do to establish a stronger connection and touch with the included stylus pen.
The insight that my GAME plan issues have provided me with is the ability to maintain patience in front of my students when technical issues arise. As a student in an Integration of Technology program, I want my students to be intrigued by the new types of technology available for their learning purposes. Even if the eBeam is not always consistent, the students are still very eager to use the product when it is properly working.
Some of the questions I am hoping to address throughout this course relate to the Problem-Based Learning unit we will be creating throughout the next few weeks. According to Dr. Peggy Ertmer, the advantage of using a PBL approach is that, “students learn content as they learn higher-order thinking skills” (Laureate Education, 2009). I would like to apply this teaching method to the goals I have set for my GAME plan. I would like to look further into how I can integrate my GAME plan with the PBL unit I will be putting together. As Dr. Ertmer explained, technology is used throughout the learning process (Laureate Education, 2009).
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
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Monitoring Your GAME Plan Progress
Throughout the coursework in my current Walden University class, we have been developing a GAME plan. 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). There are two areas that I have chosen to focus on for my GAME plan. The first area has to do with the area of communication. In order to effectively communicate with my students and their families, I have been working on constructing a class website. The second area of my GAME plan that I have been working on has to do with developing the leadership and technology skills of others. I am specifically working on a technology called the eBeam.
I am currently working on finding both the information and resources I will need to be successful with my initial GAME plan. For my class website, I currently downloaded my school district’s SWIFT website instructions for creating a class website. I am also utilizing a lot of the support from a fellow teaching colleague who is currently our building’s technology specialist. This teacher has already created her own website, so I have been turning to her website for examples of what types of information to add on my website.
For my second area of focus, I have continued to explore different options for effectively using the eBeam in an elementary classroom. I have had a few issues with proper connectivity and collaboration with the tool on my whiteboard. In order to remedy this situation, I turned to my building administrator for support. Within just a couple of days, he had a district contractor in my class to help construct a custom designed board that we placed above my whiteboard. This seemed to help level out the whiteboard and wall so the projection would have a level plane surface. I am still experiencing a few technical issues, but it has been working much more effectively within the last couple of weeks.
Overall, I do not see any reasons for modifying my initial GAME plan. Within each of the two areas of focus that I started working on, I have been able to make significant progress and am pleased with the changes this plan has already added to my teaching experience and classroom. The work that I have completed so far has provided me with further insight as to how teachers can working in today’s classrooms can effectively use technology to increase both students’ skills and engagement. The main concern that I have come across so far is whether or not the eBeam tool is a practical tool for my teaching style. I have found that there are several times when it is much more efficient use of our time to simply use a traditional method of marker/whiteboard. I have had the most success with switching in between using the eBeam and using a maker/whiteboard. With today’s students experiencing so much visual/audio stimulation through video games and internet tools, it is critical for my as an educator to provide an active and engaging learning atmosphere. According to Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009), this type of learning environment, “enables you to meet your curricular standards in ways that can engage and support your students’ interests, creativity, and motivations (p. 40). I believe through the right integration, the eBeam offers this type of learning experience for students.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). 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
I am currently working on finding both the information and resources I will need to be successful with my initial GAME plan. For my class website, I currently downloaded my school district’s SWIFT website instructions for creating a class website. I am also utilizing a lot of the support from a fellow teaching colleague who is currently our building’s technology specialist. This teacher has already created her own website, so I have been turning to her website for examples of what types of information to add on my website.
For my second area of focus, I have continued to explore different options for effectively using the eBeam in an elementary classroom. I have had a few issues with proper connectivity and collaboration with the tool on my whiteboard. In order to remedy this situation, I turned to my building administrator for support. Within just a couple of days, he had a district contractor in my class to help construct a custom designed board that we placed above my whiteboard. This seemed to help level out the whiteboard and wall so the projection would have a level plane surface. I am still experiencing a few technical issues, but it has been working much more effectively within the last couple of weeks.
Overall, I do not see any reasons for modifying my initial GAME plan. Within each of the two areas of focus that I started working on, I have been able to make significant progress and am pleased with the changes this plan has already added to my teaching experience and classroom. The work that I have completed so far has provided me with further insight as to how teachers can working in today’s classrooms can effectively use technology to increase both students’ skills and engagement. The main concern that I have come across so far is whether or not the eBeam tool is a practical tool for my teaching style. I have found that there are several times when it is much more efficient use of our time to simply use a traditional method of marker/whiteboard. I have had the most success with switching in between using the eBeam and using a maker/whiteboard. With today’s students experiencing so much visual/audio stimulation through video games and internet tools, it is critical for my as an educator to provide an active and engaging learning atmosphere. According to Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009), this type of learning environment, “enables you to meet your curricular standards in ways that can engage and support your students’ interests, creativity, and motivations (p. 40). I believe through the right integration, the eBeam offers this type of learning experience for students.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). 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
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Week 3: Carrying Out Your GAME Plan
For this week’s blog posting, I needed to share some of the resources and information that I will need to carry out my action plans as well as my intended learning strategy.
What resources will you need to carry out your plan (video, reading, experts or colleagues, etc)?
For the first indicator that I am working on, I plan to create a class website. In order to create my website, I will simply need to log into my school district’s website program called SWIFT. This website provides its users with several capabilities and options for both posting and sharing information with families/students.
For the second indicator that I will be focusing on, I will need to continue to familiarize myself with the eBeam technology in order to determine the best methods/activities for integrating the technology with.
What additional information do you need?
For my class website, I will need to determine what types of assignments and activities that will be most useful for both my parents and students to access.
For the eBeam tool, I will need to test out different activities with the students to see which lessons can either benefit or enhance from the incorporation of the eBeam.
What steps have you been able to take so far?
I have already started working on my class website. I am currently putting together a lay out that will be the most user-friendly and easily accessible for my students.
As far as the eBeam technology, I am planning on attending a second workshop to gain some additional ideas about how the tool can best be used in a classroom setting.
What resources will you need to carry out your plan (video, reading, experts or colleagues, etc)?
For the first indicator that I am working on, I plan to create a class website. In order to create my website, I will simply need to log into my school district’s website program called SWIFT. This website provides its users with several capabilities and options for both posting and sharing information with families/students.
For the second indicator that I will be focusing on, I will need to continue to familiarize myself with the eBeam technology in order to determine the best methods/activities for integrating the technology with.
What additional information do you need?
For my class website, I will need to determine what types of assignments and activities that will be most useful for both my parents and students to access.
For the eBeam tool, I will need to test out different activities with the students to see which lessons can either benefit or enhance from the incorporation of the eBeam.
What steps have you been able to take so far?
I have already started working on my class website. I am currently putting together a lay out that will be the most user-friendly and easily accessible for my students.
As far as the eBeam technology, I am planning on attending a second workshop to gain some additional ideas about how the tool can best be used in a classroom setting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
