Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monitoring My GAME Plan
I spent the last couple of days getting the computer lab ready for students to create a podcast. I was hoping to start this week but had a few set backs-not related to getting things ready. I found a great tutorial that shows students how to use garage band to create their podcast. I had originally stated that I would try to learn a new tool a week. This will be possible to do through tutorials and help of others, but I don’t think applying them in the classroom that often will be feasible. But, I can expose students to the tools I learned by showing them examples of others work and tutorials on how to use the tool. As for now, I think I am making progress. Being our next assignment is to create a wiki, it will be my tool to investigate next. I participated in one in a previous class and it took me a whole week to figure out how to add to a chart some else created. But that’s how I learn best, by doing. It may take me awhile to figure it out, but I will eventually. If you are in my group for this activity, I apologize now, but I will figure things out and do my best.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
GAME Plan Resources
Resources for GAME plan
Some of the resources that would be beneficial to my students and myself would be the computer, experts or colleagues, and any tools students might need to create such as a video camera. To help me to become familiar with the different tools available and how to use them, I will definitely employ the Internet for tutorials. With all the information available, I’m sure I could find several on each tool. Most of the time though, when I am actually trying to manipulate the tool, things don’t always work out. That’s when I look for a colleague or someone that is familiar with the tool. Currently, I am not proficient in using Excel. When I have used it, I have always had someone to hold my hand. I recently try to use it on my own and totally did not accomplish anything. I have seen how beneficial it can be in graphing and I really want to use it with my students but I am just not there yet. I will definitely need to find someone proficient to help me when I do get confident enough to incorporate into the classroom. When learning a new tool, if I can’t find anyone to assist me, I know through Internet collaboration tools, I could find someone to be of aid. Students can also be a resource, but at the moment, I don’t have one that is proficient in using the various tools. I did at the beginning of the year, but they both moved. To get started on this adventure, my students will be creating a podcast next week.
Some of the resources that would be beneficial to my students and myself would be the computer, experts or colleagues, and any tools students might need to create such as a video camera. To help me to become familiar with the different tools available and how to use them, I will definitely employ the Internet for tutorials. With all the information available, I’m sure I could find several on each tool. Most of the time though, when I am actually trying to manipulate the tool, things don’t always work out. That’s when I look for a colleague or someone that is familiar with the tool. Currently, I am not proficient in using Excel. When I have used it, I have always had someone to hold my hand. I recently try to use it on my own and totally did not accomplish anything. I have seen how beneficial it can be in graphing and I really want to use it with my students but I am just not there yet. I will definitely need to find someone proficient to help me when I do get confident enough to incorporate into the classroom. When learning a new tool, if I can’t find anyone to assist me, I know through Internet collaboration tools, I could find someone to be of aid. Students can also be a resource, but at the moment, I don’t have one that is proficient in using the various tools. I did at the beginning of the year, but they both moved. To get started on this adventure, my students will be creating a podcast next week.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
My Personal GAME Plan
The two NETS-T indicators that I would like to focus my growth in strengthening my confidence and proficiency are:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
The GAME plan
Goals: learn more about the digital tools and resource that are available to aid students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems and to use those tools to promote creativity and application of content.
Action: learn one new tool a week-2 depending on the tool- for six to ten weeks and incorporate it into a lesson to model for students its availability to explore issues and to solve problems. If appropriate, students will employ the new tool to create a project that will express their creativity and learning of content.
Monitor: make a chart/rubric of the tools applied. Make note if the tool was used appropriately, if it engaged students in exploring and solving problems, and were students able to use it to demonstrate their creativity and learning the content.
Evaluate and Extend: Review notes of each tool. Determine which tools the students seemed most engaged in learning and which tools helped students express their creativity more effectively. Use the results to determine which tools would be best for specific content learning and project-based activities.
Practicing these tools and skills in the classroom is the best way to become proficient. I feel it imperative that I feel and my students feel confident in using these tools before I can move ont to some of the other indicators. Any ideas to add would be appreciated!
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
The GAME plan
Goals: learn more about the digital tools and resource that are available to aid students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems and to use those tools to promote creativity and application of content.
Action: learn one new tool a week-2 depending on the tool- for six to ten weeks and incorporate it into a lesson to model for students its availability to explore issues and to solve problems. If appropriate, students will employ the new tool to create a project that will express their creativity and learning of content.
Monitor: make a chart/rubric of the tools applied. Make note if the tool was used appropriately, if it engaged students in exploring and solving problems, and were students able to use it to demonstrate their creativity and learning the content.
Evaluate and Extend: Review notes of each tool. Determine which tools the students seemed most engaged in learning and which tools helped students express their creativity more effectively. Use the results to determine which tools would be best for specific content learning and project-based activities.
Practicing these tools and skills in the classroom is the best way to become proficient. I feel it imperative that I feel and my students feel confident in using these tools before I can move ont to some of the other indicators. Any ideas to add would be appreciated!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Web Literacy
Reflection
The web is infused with vast amounts of information on just about any topic. It is usually the first source used in looking for information in schools, homes, and in the workplace. With this in mind, it is essential to teach students how to search for information to narrow down search choices, evaluate sites for validity and reliability, and how to synthesize the vast amount of information that is available. Basically, we as educators are teaching students to learn how to learn.
This course has opened my eyes about how critical it is to teach students to use the web. So far, I have just assumed they know how to search and use the web, especially since computer is one of our enrichment classes. But after the last project we just completed that required extensive web usage, they have not been taught these things. I have learned how critical it is to use methods to narrow down your search instead of going on a wild goose chase. It saves so much time and is so much more effective. More importantly, to begin with, it is essential to help students to be able to come up with rich questions about their topics so they know exactly what information they are looking for.
Without much thought about this in the past, “Anyone can publish on the web; therefore, you shouldn’t trust every website to contain reliable information” (Eagleton, 2007, p. 60). This has also been a striking revelation to me. I think I have always known this in the back of my mind, but never made it an essential thought in my searching. I definitely will be more aware of this as I search the web. Intertwined with evaluating websites is the ability to put information together and determining what is important. Synthesizing information is difficult for most students and with the overwhelming amount of information on the web it makes it even more difficult.
Going forward with what I have learned in this course, I have made a goal for myself to practice and model these skills-developing questions, searching, evaluating, synthesizing, and citing resources-using the QUEST method that we learned. I also plan to teach these skills at the beginning of each school year and review them throughout the year as students are engrossed in project-based learning that involves the new literacies learned in this class. To be more effective and up to date on the latest new literacies, I will participate in classes to help me learn how to use them and to be more aware of the tools that are available to help students succeed. I will accomplish this by signing up for the technical classes that Pioneer Resa offers to educators and any that might be offered within my school district.
The web is infused with vast amounts of information on just about any topic. It is usually the first source used in looking for information in schools, homes, and in the workplace. With this in mind, it is essential to teach students how to search for information to narrow down search choices, evaluate sites for validity and reliability, and how to synthesize the vast amount of information that is available. Basically, we as educators are teaching students to learn how to learn.
This course has opened my eyes about how critical it is to teach students to use the web. So far, I have just assumed they know how to search and use the web, especially since computer is one of our enrichment classes. But after the last project we just completed that required extensive web usage, they have not been taught these things. I have learned how critical it is to use methods to narrow down your search instead of going on a wild goose chase. It saves so much time and is so much more effective. More importantly, to begin with, it is essential to help students to be able to come up with rich questions about their topics so they know exactly what information they are looking for.
Without much thought about this in the past, “Anyone can publish on the web; therefore, you shouldn’t trust every website to contain reliable information” (Eagleton, 2007, p. 60). This has also been a striking revelation to me. I think I have always known this in the back of my mind, but never made it an essential thought in my searching. I definitely will be more aware of this as I search the web. Intertwined with evaluating websites is the ability to put information together and determining what is important. Synthesizing information is difficult for most students and with the overwhelming amount of information on the web it makes it even more difficult.
Going forward with what I have learned in this course, I have made a goal for myself to practice and model these skills-developing questions, searching, evaluating, synthesizing, and citing resources-using the QUEST method that we learned. I also plan to teach these skills at the beginning of each school year and review them throughout the year as students are engrossed in project-based learning that involves the new literacies learned in this class. To be more effective and up to date on the latest new literacies, I will participate in classes to help me learn how to use them and to be more aware of the tools that are available to help students succeed. I will accomplish this by signing up for the technical classes that Pioneer Resa offers to educators and any that might be offered within my school district.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Reflection
As I reflect on my “Personal Theory of Learning” I developed in week 1, I still lean toward the eclectic approach. I feel each learning theory plays a part in the classroom to make learning effective. The constructivism and the social learning theory should have the major role in the learning process. They target different learning styles while keeping students engaged in the learning process. They also allow for conversation and collaboration to take place that are essential skills for the 21st century. Also, they employ the student to be responsible for their learning by letting them explore and implement their imagination.
An immediate adjustment that I would make would to implement a student-centered classroom and have more collaborative group projects. I really like the idea of students taking responsibility for learning and in-turn, being able to teach the concept. Orey tells us that students learn best when they teach. The technology tools that really caught my interest were Webspiration(concept mapping), Voice Thread, and PowerPoint. Concept Mapping allows for students to visualize relationships and helps them to organize information-which is a critical component of learning. They each support the dual coding hypothesis by connecting visuals with text and when used as a learning tool, students are allowed to use their creativity and find their own answers.
The long-term goals I have are to implement technology more as a learning tool instead of an instructional tool and to implement it for the use of collaboration and cooperative learning. I will ensure that activities that involve the interactive white board and the computer are hands-on allowing for students to be involved in manipulating and finding answers and to allow for students to work in groups to create artifacts and to find answers together. First and foremost, to implement technology effectively in the classroom, I first need to be more comfortable in using them. I plan on creating several voice threads, PowerPoints, and concept maps to use in the classroom so I can aid students to reach their full potential.
An immediate adjustment that I would make would to implement a student-centered classroom and have more collaborative group projects. I really like the idea of students taking responsibility for learning and in-turn, being able to teach the concept. Orey tells us that students learn best when they teach. The technology tools that really caught my interest were Webspiration(concept mapping), Voice Thread, and PowerPoint. Concept Mapping allows for students to visualize relationships and helps them to organize information-which is a critical component of learning. They each support the dual coding hypothesis by connecting visuals with text and when used as a learning tool, students are allowed to use their creativity and find their own answers.
The long-term goals I have are to implement technology more as a learning tool instead of an instructional tool and to implement it for the use of collaboration and cooperative learning. I will ensure that activities that involve the interactive white board and the computer are hands-on allowing for students to be involved in manipulating and finding answers and to allow for students to work in groups to create artifacts and to find answers together. First and foremost, to implement technology effectively in the classroom, I first need to be more comfortable in using them. I plan on creating several voice threads, PowerPoints, and concept maps to use in the classroom so I can aid students to reach their full potential.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
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