Evaluating Your GAME Plan Progress

Goal #1: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments- More specifically: design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity


How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?

My actions were effective to a degree in helping me to meet my goals. I definitely became more knowledgeable with the different aspects of digital storytelling by experimenting by myself, and by collaborating with one colleague in my building who walked me through the steps of digital storytelling. I still need to meet with one or two other English teachers who are also well versed in this digital tool who can add to what I have learned thus far. I of course do not feel competent enough in all the aspects of digital storytelling to model it for my students, but I feel much more comfortable today than I did last week. I still have not located any workshops on digital storytelling, but I will continue to search weekly.

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?

The colleague that I worked with walked me through the steps of digital storytelling via Digitalstoryteller.org. He showed me how to create a script and how to use narration which was similar to a PowerPoint demonstration. He also showed me how to search for pictures and then add them to my story. I also discovered that I can search for pictures through Flicker which is connected with Yahoo, so since I have a Yahoo account, I will be able to utilize this feature. I have to make sure to have a microphone available so I can record voices and add music. I learned that I can transfer what I created to other places such as my iphone or an mp3 player, etc. Since I plan on learning all there is to know about digital storytelling so I can teach it to my students confidently, I began brainstorming lesson ideas with my fellow colleague, and we came up with three ideas on how I can apply digital storytelling into my instructional practice, and I am very excited about these ideas. One is to change the ending of a book-students would have to rewrite the ending and insert pictures to help tell their new ending. Since I am starting Of Mice and Men tomorrow, I may try it here. Also, students could write a creation story for themselves-I started out as… or even create a pitch for a television show. I am just brainstorming at this point, but it is a start, and I feel good about what I have accomplished so far.

What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?

There is still much to learn; I feel as though I have just scratched the surface so to speak, so I will keep experimenting and working with colleagues to keep my game plan in full swing. I have only dabbled with this digital tool; I need to keep practicing so as to feel more confident about implementing it in my classroom.

How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?

I will adjust my plan accordingly. I will make it a point to experiment with this technology whenever I have free time because practice makes perfect, but I am not against practicing with my students because the best way to learn is by trial and error. I would not be upset if I made mistakes and I worked through them with my students. I would make sure that I knew as much as I could about it so I would not look too incompetent of course.

Goal #2: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility- More specifically: advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?

I feel pretty confident about the effectiveness of my actions because with the help of our librarian, I found some videos through Discoveryeducation.com. Our school has an account with this website, and I can access it at school or from home. I still need to collaborate with my fellow English teachers to make sure we are on the same page as far as our ethical practices are concerned, but I will be seeing to this early next week.

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?

I plan on showing one video from Discoveryeducation which comes with a quiz at the end that students can take to test their knowledge on Internet safety. There is also a video on cyber bullying that I plan on showing them. I worked with the librarian and set up a day next week when I will bring my students to the library and show them the videos on the big screen. The videos are fairly short, so while we are in the library, the librarian is going to go through the process of documenting sources. Our school has an account with Noodletools, so we will show how to use this digital tool for citing.

What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?

I think I am sufficiently aware of what I need to know about Internet safety and properly citing sources, but I am sure I do not know all there is to know about both, so I will make sure to stay abreast of any new information that comes out by checking online, collaborating with the librarian and fellow colleagues on these topics.

How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?

Basically, I will make a point of checking with my students to make sure they understand the do’s and don’ts of Internet safety, and I will ascertain that my students fully comprehend how to cite within their papers as well as how to create a works cited page. I will keep up on any new information, and make sure to share what I discover with my students. For example, if changes are made to the MLA format, I will keep my students updated, and I will make a point of modeling all that I learn on both Internet safety and documenting sources.

Monitoring My Game Plan

Well, in the past week I did not accomplish what I had planned regarding my first goal: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, more specifically- design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. I have become somewhat knowledgeable with some of the aspects of digital storytelling by conversing with one colleague in my building who is extremely tech-savvy. We have not been able to get together so he can actually show me how it works, and the fact that he just found out last week that he is being let go due to cutbacks makes it harder for me to ask him for assistance with this software. I still have to find the time to get together with two colleagues in the main building who also have experience with this software. One set back I had was that one of the administrators in my building asked me to administer pre-HSPA makeup’s for three days last week. I tried to get out of it because I am behind with my own students due to all the prepping that took place for this state testing. I was so happy when the original testing was completed, and then I had to be out of my room for an additional three days to administer the make ups. Then to top it all off, my cell phone was stolen and I had to report it to administration and then fill out a police report with one of our police officers, so it has been a bit hectic since last week. I did look for workshops with the help of one of my fellow English teachers, but there were none in the way of digital storytelling, but I will continue to check on workshops, and I will also be on the lookout for workshops that are offered through our school technology department. Something is wrong with the computer in my classroom, so I filled out a technology work order to have it looked at, and when the technician comes to fix it, I am going to talk to ask him if he knows about any upcoming workshops on digital storytelling. Next week I really need to get up to the main building and talk with my upper level English teacher cohorts! Even though I know they would all be more than willing to accommodate me, I know everyone is extremely busy, and I am terrible about asking for help. I do not think I need to modify my plan; I just need to set time aside to learn about the software.

My second goal: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, and more specifically-advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources has also taken a back seat due to all the craziness. I have spoken to the school librarian and she is willing to help me with a presentation I would like to give my students. She is well informed about teaching internet safety, and she has the best sites for teaching students how to cite properly and giving credit where credit is due. She informed me that we subscribe to specific websites such as Noodletools, and she will be more than willing to give a presentation to all of my classes. I also received an abundance of information regarding specific websites to investigate from fellow Walden student, HanNa Chung. She informed me about a website by the name of Netsmartz. She gave me a website that tells about real life stories regarding Internet Safety, and also an Internet Safety Video that can be shown to students, so I am planning on bringing my students to the library to view these videos and listen to what the librarian has to say about internet safety as well. If time allows, the librarian and I will then show my students how to work Noodletools, so they will learn how to cite properly. I am very excited about implementing some new technology tools into my classroom, but I need to plan my time better so I can accomplish my goals. Here is to a less hectic week ahead!

Reference:

International Society for Technology in Education. (2011). NETS for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/net-for-teachers-2008.aspx

Carrying Out My Game Plan by Roxanne Dobbins

As mentioned in my game plan, my first goal was to: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. Since I decided to focus on designing and adapting relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, I will need to choose a specific digital tool and learn all aspects of it. One way I can do this is to collaborate with fellow colleagues who are well versed in technology. I want to learn all the ins and outs of digital storytelling so I can teach it to my ninth grade students. Next, I would seek out various workshops to listen to experts in the field of technology. I actually just started working on this aspect of this first goal; I was just approved to be able to attend a workshop on differentiated instruction with technology, so slowly but surely, I am working on this first goal. I will also read up on digital storytelling and view any online videos offered in order to carry out my plan. I will subscribe to feeds such as ZDNET, a veteran in publishing technology reviews and information. I will take advantage of chatboards at websites such as teachersnet and blogs such as Ed Tech to help me become more tech. savvy. So far I have subscribed to Free Technology for Teachers and Northern Lights to help me with obtaining a constant flow of information that can save me time.

My second goal is to: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. I chose to advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. I plan on modeling for my students, as much as possible, how to keep safe when using the internet. I can share stories with them about what happens when you display foolish behavior online. I will have them read online articles about teenagers who either bullied other students or falsified profiles about other students or friends, etc. I will create chat groups with my students where I make a point of checking in with them or monitoring their online activities as much as possible. I will offer open lines of communication so individual students will not feel threatened to discuss their experiences openly, privately, or anonymously. Next, I will model for my students how to perform parenthetical citation and how to create a works cited page. Today, I made arrangements to bring my students to the library so the librarian can show my students how to use Noodletools for their research papers. Actually, I just do “aspects of a research paper,” but our librarian does a PowerPoint and offers handouts on all that is needed for giving credit where credit is due, so I feel confident that my students will learn the correct way to cite and use appropriate documentation of sources.

Developing My Personal Game Plan

Developing My Personal Game Plan


After reading the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers, I knew immediately which indicators I was comfortable with and which I was not. As of about three years ago, I began feeling uncomfortable with my teaching strategies, and knew I needed to make some serious changes. As new teachers were being hired, they brought with them to the table much computer knowledge. Many of them knew how to use Smart Boards and other technological tools as well as being able to navigate the internet with ease. I knew I needed to hitch a ride on this bandwagon, and I vowed to learn all I could in the way of integrating technology into my classroom. The time had come for change and it was screaming to me loud and clear.

I finally made the plunge, and signed up for graduate school excited to learn how to teach my students new and innovative strategies for reading and writing, and to also tackle learning some valuable technology tools. Since the whole idea with learning anything new is to set up a GAME plan first by establishing goals (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 85) then that is what I need to do. One goal of mine is to learn how to utilize digital storytelling. This technological tool would prove extremely valuable to my students and me. “As with other mindtools, digital stories enable learners to reflect, represent, and communicate what they know” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 67). One aspect that attracts me about digital story telling is how they must have “themes to which viewers must relate” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 67) and how the writing genre is a personal narrative that has a hook to capture the viewer’s attention immediately. Students go through a series of steps to create their digital story, and this allows them to become self-directed learners.

One deterrent that keeps delaying me from pursuing learning more technology tools is the constant worry of students using the internet safely. I have mentioned this a few times before, and I will say it again, but I do worry about those few students who will do something unethical or illegal on the internet jeopardizing their safety as well as others’ safety. There were students in my school that cyber-bullied two female students of mine on Facebook. Many of my students do not yet comprehend how to properly cite other peoples’ work. I am actually teaching this currently, and we had a lesson on paraphrasing and summarizing two weeks ago, but I just glazed over the tip of the iceberg with them, so I am still apprehensive about what they might do when it came to citing and giving credit where credit is due.

The first goal I would like to work on would be:

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

Goals: become more knowledgeable with all the aspects of digital storytelling, so I can teach the steps to my students with confidence.

Take Action: Collaborate with my fellow teachers who have used digital storytelling with their students and attend workshops when they are offered, and setting time aside to experiment with it myself.

Monitor: track my progress as to how long it takes me to grasp the concepts; set time aside to learn and teach myself and then abide by my timeframe.

Evaluate and Extend: I will reflect on my accomplishments and ask my colleagues for valuable feedback and I will ask them to offer suggestions where I am lacking.

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

Goal: Be able to model for my students the correct way to conduct themselves when they go online, and also model the appropriate way to cite other peoples’ work.

Take Action: Work with colleagues to ascertain that we are all on the same page as far as ethical practices go; consult head of technology to make sure I have all my I’s dotted and t’s crossed.

Monitor: Keep up-to-date on the legal aspect of what is and is not ethical; check in with my students whenever I can to make sure they are using the internet properly

Evaluate and Extend: If students are making progress and acting appropriately online and are citing correctly, I will move on to teaching a new tool. I will reach out to my colleagues and we will meet to discuss the advantages and the pitfalls and we will make adjustments for our department and even extend to other departments if need be.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2011). NETS for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for -teachers-2008.aspx