Reflecting On My GAME Plan

A few weeks ago, I wrote a GAME plan.  It can be found here.  This plan has impacted my instructional practices.  Because my school is still deciding exactly how I can include blogging in my classroom, I have been looking at other web 2.0 tools.  I have been using VoiceThread with my students lately and they are much more engaged.  This tool also allowed me to personalize the lesson for each student. 

I plan to use webquests in my classroom to introduce problem-based learning.  The students can interact with each other in small groups to complete the task.  They will get much more out of this activity than they would their textbook.  Webquests for science would be an exciting and real-world experience for my students. 

I have been looking into using digital storytelling as my assessment in future units.  The students can explain exactly what they learned using pictures they scan from their journal or find on the internet.

References:

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teacher (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx 

Monitoring My GAME Plan

I have been able to find the information and resources that I need to carry out my GAME plan.  Thankfully, other teachers have shared ideas for web 2.0 tools that do not require e-mail addresses and allow teachers to monitor the accounts.  I have sent a request to the Head of Schools to see if kidblog.org could be used in the classroom.  I also sent him an animoto on how we use technology already.  I am hoping that this will help me go forward in my goal to inspire student learning through web 2.0 tools.  I also want to personalize the learning experience for my students.  This is still a struggle because of the lack of technology available.  It looks as though the school will be purchasing tablets for next school year.  However, the computer teacher is posting a schedule for the lab starting next week.  This should help my goal.

I do not need to modify my action plan.  I think that I will be able to meet my goals based on my current actions.

I have learned that to change the technology policy and attitudes at my school requires a lengthy process.  I had hoped since I teach at a small Christian school, it would only take a week or two.  It looks like it will be at least a month because the school ministry team has to approve my request.  My students completed a survey on their learning styles this week.  It opened my eyes to the varying styles within our class.  Many of them prefer to use music and technology to learn.  I use this strategy in most of my lessons so I feel that I am at least reaching my students.

Right now I am questioning the timeline on meeting my goal.  The school has requested that I find acceptable technology use policies from other schools that we could adapt.  If any teachers have a policy that they could share, this would speed up my process.

Carrying out my GAME plan.

Last week I wrote a GAME plan to help improve my teaching.  My goals are to inspire student learning and creativity using web 2.0 tools and personalize activities for my students base on their learning styles and abilities.

To meet these goals, I will need resources.  I plan to include web 2.0 tools in my reading, science, and Bible classes.  My students need access to computers.  The school ministry team has been discussing adding a computer to the classroom for student use.  Currently, students are not allowed to use teacher laptops.  Until I am able to get computers in my classroom.  I will use the computer lab during my students' computer time or free lab time.  This will require me to collaborate with the computer and library teachers.  I will need websites to use with my students that do not require students to use an e-mail address.

I will also need information.  I need to know what my students' learning styles and abilities are.  Some of this information is found in their records.  I can learn the rest of it through surveys and conversations with students.  I only have 12 students at a time, so I will be able to have discussions with them.  I also need articles to support differentiated instruction wit web 2.0 tools.  My hope is to change the current technology policy so students can use an e-mail address to log-in as needed.

So far, I have been able to discuss this plan with the computer teacher.  Because of the hurricane that came through, she is struggling to complete work with my students and is unable to give me time during her class.  I will need to use the lab during her planning period until December when we can co-teach twice a week.

Resources

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. D., & Ertmer, P. A. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth.

ISTE NETS

ISTE created a list of NETS for teachers.  These will help me become a better educator and integrate technology into my classroom.  I model digital age work and learning for my students on a daily basis.  When they have a question, we go to the internet to find the answer.  I use my SMART board to make my lessons interactive.  I also engage in professional growth and leadership.  Participating in an online graduate program has allowed me to speak to other educators about integrating technology.

There are a few NETS that I feel that I need to work on.  My school only has one computer in the classroom because the students go to computer class twice a week.  I need to work on facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity.  My students can use the few computers we have available to collaborate with other students in different environments.  They can web conference with other classrooms. 

I would also like to design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.  I incorporate tools and resources to promote student learning, but I do not always promote creativity.  I need to work on personalizing activities for my students based on their learning styles and abilities with technology.

My GAME plan:

Goals:

• Inspire student learning and creativity using web 2.0 tools.
• Personalize activities for my students based on their learning styles and abilities.

Actions:

• Work with computer teacher to find times that the lab is free.  This will allow time for web 2.0 tools.
•  Ask for another computer in my classroom.
• Give a survey to see how each student learns best.

Monitor:

• Give formative assessments using these tools and learning styles.  
• Make observations of how the students are doing.

Evaluate:

• I will evaluate my students and my teaching after each lesson.  

Do any teachers have suggestions for how to improve on these NETS with limited technology?

References

NETS-T. (n.d.). ISTE. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Reflection

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to write down my personal theory of learning.  Over the past few weeks, I have made subtle changes to this theory.  I now understand all of the theories of learning a bit better.  Behaviorism, constructivism, and social learning theory all have their place in the classroom and in educational technology.

A great place to use behaviorism in the classroom is coolmathgames.com.  This site allows students to practice their current skills in a tutorial type environment with plenty of opportunities for positive reinforcement.  I often allow children to play on this site as part of their homework. 

Social learning theory and constructivism are used in tools such as virtual field trips and VoiceThreads or blogs.  I intend to include more constructivist activities in my classroom by allowing the students to go on virtual field trips.  We will build background knowledge about subjects before we read them.  The students enjoyed going on a virtual field trip of a battle of the American Revolution.  After reading George Washington’s Socks, the students were able to take a field trip based on their reading at http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnetusa/tgould/gould.htm. 

Another personal goal for me is to include more social learning tools in the classroom.  Cooperative learning gets all of the students involved in a task.  I plan to use Voicethread.com and a class blog to encourage collaboration.  I also am planning to include the use of googledocs in my classroom.  I have learned of many ways to incorporate technology into my classroom.  It is important that these tools be in the hands of my students and not just used during the direct instruction portion of my classroom.

Long term, I hope to create a class Wiki.  My district is still unsure of how and when teachers may use a Wiki in their classroom.  Because I am moving to the media center, I think a Wiki for the library would be a great project for the students.  They do a lot of research throughout the year and we could share it all on there for future classes.  Another goal that I have is that I want to put more technology into my students’ hands.  I have a lot of resources in my school, but I struggle to find the time and opportunities for the students to use the programs.  By collaborating with the technology integration teacher, I can use technology with my students and maintain the focus of instruction.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011a). Program two: Brain research and learning [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011b). Program three: Instructional theory vs. learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011c). Program four: Behaviorist learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011d). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011e) Program six: Spotlight on technology: Virtual field trips [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011f). Program seven: Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011g) Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011h). Program nine: Connectivism as a learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011i). Program ten: Spotlight on technology: VoiceThread [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011j). Program eleven: Instructional strategies, Part one [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (201k1). Program twelve: Instructional strategies, Part two [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011l). Program thirteen: Technology: Instructional tool vs. learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved fromhttp://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Social Learning Theories

This week I studied cooperative learning.  These strategies correlate to social learning theories.  Dr. Orey noted that it is important for students to work together and bounce ideas off of each other because it builds their confidence (Laureate, Inc., 2011).  Students are often excited to work in cooperative groups and feel a sense of pride for their role in the group.  It is important to keep groups small and have the students take responsibility for their learning.  This type of learning prepares them for the workplace where they will be required to work together on a problem using technology.

The class resources had many exciting ideas for ways to include technology in the classroom during cooperative learning.  One of the resources that I look forward to incorporating in my classroom is http://secondlife.com/.  On this blog, http://secondlife.com/, teachers can gain ideas for how to use Second Life in the classroom.  Students can work together to solve a problem in the virtual world.  Students should be given a rubric for the multimedia project and an advanced organizer for the group tasks (Pitler, et al., 2011)

Another site that allows students to collaborate with people all over the world is http://voicethread.com/.  I often use this tool for students to have discussions and work with their peers.  Recently, I helped a teacher create a voice thread for her students to peer edit.  It was engaging and allowed them to collaborate in the learning.  My students are currently reading “George Washington’s Socks” and will be completing the next set of discussion questions using a voice thread.  They will have to support their ideas with details from the text and build off other students’ responses. 

On this voice thread http://voicethread.com/share/2687352/, I worked with my colleagues to share a current problem we are having at school.  Please take a look and let me know what you would do to solve this problem.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1.

Palmer, G., Peters, R., & Streetman, R. (2003). Cooperative learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved , from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Constructionism in the Classroom

Constructionism is a hands-on method of teaching where students are involved in either assimilating or accommodating new information.  Dr. Orey explains that humans appreciate equilibrium and when there is disequilibration there are two choices, to accommodate the new information or assimilate it (Laureate Education, Inc, 2011). 

Having students generate and test their own hypotheses creates a learner-centered classroom.  The students in Mr. McDevitt’s class were involved in a simulation of World War II (Pitler, et al, 2007).  A constructivist classroom is one where the students are being challenged to either assimilate or accommodate new content (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  The students were able to test what would happen in their decisions by participating in the simulation.  This makes the students more responsible for their learning.  They are not able to read and memorize facts.  It requires higher level thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy because they are applying what they learned to make hypotheses and then testing it.

http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/ is a great resource to use with students who are studying constellations.  There are several variables that students are able to input and see the outcome.  In order to teach using constructionism in the classroom, the instructor must anticipate the direction the learners will be going.  They need to pre-assess the class’ skills and be prepared to make changes as necessary.  The instruction will be student-centered.  They will be encouraged to ask the questions and find the answers. 

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program seven: Constructionist and constructivist learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page 

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Connecting to the Content

Teachers are able to teach for understanding when they use instructional strategies that enable students to create multiple connections to the content.  According to Dr. Orey, one way to make these connections is to use dual coding.  This is when students see an image and a label.  When teaching, technology can be utilized to show and information about the image.  The brain can only take in about seven pieces of information at a time.  Images are a way to help the information go in multiple places.

In my classroom, I often use Brainpop.com to introduce a new skill and create meaningful connections to the learning.  There are activity pages linked to the videos where students can complete an organizer while they watch the clip.  Tim and Moby are engaging to students and offer strategies for students to use in the classroom.  Giving students a skeleton organizer prior to a lesson, allows them to take meaningful and organized notes during the class.  Kidspiration offers many templates for note taking with students.  These templates are a great way to chunk information for students.  Dr. Orey reminds teachers that students are only able to process about 7 pieces of information at a time.  

Another strategy to help students recall information is to create episodic memories.  These are memories of an event.  Virtual field trips are one way to create these memories.  Students can use a concept mapping tool to answer an essential question as they go on a field trip without every leaving the classroom.  This type of activity is powerful and keeps the learner engaged.  A Google search for virtual field trips will turn up multiple sites.  I found that the best place to start looking for guided field trips is http://questgarden.com/search/.

Resources

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program six: Spotlight on technology: Virtual field trips [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Novak, J. D., & Cañas, A. J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them, Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008. Retrieved from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Web site: http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/
TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Behaviorism in the Classroom

Teachers use behaviorism in the classroom on a daily basis.  Homework is a great example of a behaviorist teaching strategy.  Students practice a skill until they have mastered it.  According to Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski, "students need about 24 practice sessions with a skill in order to achieve 80 percent competency" (Pitler et al., 2007, p. 188).  During these practice sessions, teachers need to give timely feedback to reinforce the skill.  It is essential that teachers recognize errors early in the process so students are not practicing the wrong thing.


Many students need to be instructed on how their effort correlates to their performance in class.  This is another form of reinforcement.  Teachers are able to have students track their effort using a rubric.  They can graph their effort with their quiz grades to see the positive correlation.  This correlation is another type of reinforcement for the student.  If they are not putting in the effort, they will see the impact on their grade.  


Once a skill has been taught to students, teachers are able to use technology to reinforce that skill.  I have found that games a wonderful way to engage my students and have them practice  a skill that I have taught in class.  Math games are one way that I have my students reinforce their learning.  http://www.coolmath.com/ is a great website for a variety of skills.  




Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.