As I reflect upon this course, I am excited to say that I am ready to go forth and use my new knowledge in the classroom setting. Throughout this course, we as students have been required to develop our own GAME plan, which involved setting GOALS, taking ACTION, to meet those goals, MONITORING progress towards our achievement of those goals, and EVALUATING whether our goals were reached (Cennamo, Ertmer, & Ross, 2009, p. 3). My original goals involved creating an interactive website for my classroom and exploring current research to expand my usage of the MIMIO in my classroom. By taking action I found that my school offers teachers the ability to host their own site through the school's website and that I could, with the help of tech personnel, turn it into the collaborative site that is part of my original GOAL. As the school year has not started yet, I have not been in contact with my tech guy, so I will continue my part of the GAME plan by monitoring and evaluating this goal far beyond this course, throughout the school year. My second goal is coming along great. My classmates suggested several websites to use to interact with other teachers who use MIMIOs or Smart Boards so that we can trade ideas. I have found these sights extremely helpful and I plan on using them throughout the school year. This course has also given me ideas to consider to improve my use of the MIMIO. Recently, we delved into the topic of digital story-telling and learned that the use of digital story-telling can incorporate art and creativity, strengthen visual literacy, and enrich content area knowledge all while allowing the students to share their ideas with a wider audience(Laureate Education Inc., 2011). It is my plan to have my students create digital stories and present them on the MIMIO, as well as upload them to the class website so that their parents have the opportunity to view their project as well.
This course has been very beneficial regarding changes that I plan to make to my instruction this upcoming school year. I plan on creating a classroom that focuses on creating independent learners where students learn the ability to solve a problem by using the resources available to them as opposed to regurgitating what their notes say. I look forward to working with my co-teacher to create a global learning project in our sixth grade math class. Our plan is to choose a country to collaborate with our students from the website Epals.com. From there we would like to call the project, "Math Around the World". We want to be able to give students from both classrooms the same problem and then analyze how each student chooses to solve the problem. We would like the students to collaborate using a WIKI as opposed to a more open social networking tool since our students are only 11. Overall, this course has created a fire in me that makes me excited to begin the new school year and see what my students have in store for me!
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Digital story-telling . [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Making Progress...
As I continue to monitor my GAME plan and assess my progress on meeting my goals I find that I am making progress because of the great suggestions that my colleagues have given to me. What a great learning community! To review, my goals are to; one, create an interactive classroom website where parents, students, and community members can participate in our walls-down classroom; and two, to review current research to better use my MIMIO board for more than just notes and graphics.
My first breakthrough with my classroom website came after reviewing my school's website. There, I found a link to access teacher web pages. On these web pages, most teachers only post a little information about themselves and then continually post homework assignments throughout the year, which is great however I want to use my website for something more. Upon looking through all of the websites I found that I could use the same format for what I would like to do. My next step is to talk to the technology head in our district to see if I would be able to enable comments on the teacher website so that it can have a conversational feel and so that everyone can participate in posts, not just me. Also, through this week's resources I found another way to utilize my classroom website. Dr. John Ross mentioned that we can use technology to collect and analyze data and then share that data (Laureate Education Inc., 2011). This gave me the idea to assign each students a random number or symbol that is only shared by me and their parents. This would enable me to post assessment results on the website using the numbers or symbols so that parents could monitor their students progress. One concern I have is that it may not be anonymous enough and that students will find out their numbers or symbols and share them with others and it will turn into a competition and create embarrassment, which is not the goal at all. Any suggestions in this area would be greatly appreciated!
My next steps in using the MIMIO board are already taking shape. I had lunch yesterday with my math co-teacher and shared with her my GAME plan and she was excited and wanted to be part of it. So, currently we are both looking for professional development classes that work with both of our schedules so that we can obtain more knowledge for using our MIMIO. We are also planning on getting together at the beginning of August so that we can complete some research together and create new lessons for the upcoming year using our MIMIO.
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Program one. Assessing student learning. [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author
My first breakthrough with my classroom website came after reviewing my school's website. There, I found a link to access teacher web pages. On these web pages, most teachers only post a little information about themselves and then continually post homework assignments throughout the year, which is great however I want to use my website for something more. Upon looking through all of the websites I found that I could use the same format for what I would like to do. My next step is to talk to the technology head in our district to see if I would be able to enable comments on the teacher website so that it can have a conversational feel and so that everyone can participate in posts, not just me. Also, through this week's resources I found another way to utilize my classroom website. Dr. John Ross mentioned that we can use technology to collect and analyze data and then share that data (Laureate Education Inc., 2011). This gave me the idea to assign each students a random number or symbol that is only shared by me and their parents. This would enable me to post assessment results on the website using the numbers or symbols so that parents could monitor their students progress. One concern I have is that it may not be anonymous enough and that students will find out their numbers or symbols and share them with others and it will turn into a competition and create embarrassment, which is not the goal at all. Any suggestions in this area would be greatly appreciated!
My next steps in using the MIMIO board are already taking shape. I had lunch yesterday with my math co-teacher and shared with her my GAME plan and she was excited and wanted to be part of it. So, currently we are both looking for professional development classes that work with both of our schedules so that we can obtain more knowledge for using our MIMIO. We are also planning on getting together at the beginning of August so that we can complete some research together and create new lessons for the upcoming year using our MIMIO.
Resources
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Program one. Assessing student learning. [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Reviewing my GAME plan
After reviewing my initial GAME plan, I recognize that there are several aspects that I need to learn more about. My initial plan involved creating an interactive classroom website as a collaborative tool for parents, students, and community members to become an integral part of a "walls-down" classroom. My second goal involved looking at current research to improve my use of technology in the classroom, I chose to focus that technology on my use of the MIMIO board.
The first thing that I need to do to jump start my first goal is to actually create the class website. I thought about using websites that help you to build your own full website with an original URL, however those are not cheap and we all know what a teacher salary pays. Also, I felt like the full website was not the best option spatially because I want the website to be completely focused on collaboration, so I don't want it to be difficult for people to access the website and write comments or see what other people have written. For that reason, I have chose to use a blogger website, similar to this one. This would enable me to jump start discussion through a video thread of a classroom project or by posting upcoming events in my classroom. The idea of using a video thread brings me to my next step. In order to post videos or photos of students online I must have permission from them and their parents. I think that I also may need permission from my school itself (this I am not sure on and will have to check into when school opens again). So, my next step will be to create a permission slip for parents and students to sign to allow me to use pictures and videos from my classroom on the website. I can also use this letter to invite the parents to become members of our learning community and participate in the discussions on the website. I believe that by taking away the formality of the face to face parent-teacher conference or the IEP meeting that parents, teachers, ans students will communicate better. Cennamo, Ertmer, and Ross state that it creates an informal environment free of bias or prejudice (2009, p. 71).
In order to meet my second goal of evaluating current research to improve my use of MIMIO technology in the classroom I need to start looking at websites that promote discussion between teachers that currently use this technology. One of my Walden peers suggested proteacher.net. Upon visiting the website, I scrolled down and clciked on the technology thread. This thread was made for teachers who are looking for ways to integrate more technology into their classroom. I have not looked through the entire page yet, so I have not found a thread about the MIMIO board but there are suggestions for using Twitter in the classroom, wikis, and trading information on downloading and saving information. I look forward to participating in these threads and to pick up more ideas on how to integrate technology in my classroom. I would also like to use the MIMIO board to access more technology for my students with disabilities. The MIMIO is a great way to have complete control over text size, font, and color for students with visual-spatial disabilities. And I would love to be able to download assistive technology software for particular students so that during work time, those students can have access to the MIMIO to use these technologies. Once I review the student's IEPs for the upcoming school year I will better be able to determine what technologies will be necessary. However, I can begin my search early because there are software programs available for students with physical, cognitive, visual, organizational, and auditory disabilities (Cennamo et.al., 2009, p. 131). I look forward to taking this next step and hopefully finding some professional development conferences to help me access these technologies in my classroom. If anyone has any suggestions as to conferences that they have heard of or of AT that was not described in our book, please let me know!
Resources
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
The first thing that I need to do to jump start my first goal is to actually create the class website. I thought about using websites that help you to build your own full website with an original URL, however those are not cheap and we all know what a teacher salary pays. Also, I felt like the full website was not the best option spatially because I want the website to be completely focused on collaboration, so I don't want it to be difficult for people to access the website and write comments or see what other people have written. For that reason, I have chose to use a blogger website, similar to this one. This would enable me to jump start discussion through a video thread of a classroom project or by posting upcoming events in my classroom. The idea of using a video thread brings me to my next step. In order to post videos or photos of students online I must have permission from them and their parents. I think that I also may need permission from my school itself (this I am not sure on and will have to check into when school opens again). So, my next step will be to create a permission slip for parents and students to sign to allow me to use pictures and videos from my classroom on the website. I can also use this letter to invite the parents to become members of our learning community and participate in the discussions on the website. I believe that by taking away the formality of the face to face parent-teacher conference or the IEP meeting that parents, teachers, ans students will communicate better. Cennamo, Ertmer, and Ross state that it creates an informal environment free of bias or prejudice (2009, p. 71).
In order to meet my second goal of evaluating current research to improve my use of MIMIO technology in the classroom I need to start looking at websites that promote discussion between teachers that currently use this technology. One of my Walden peers suggested proteacher.net. Upon visiting the website, I scrolled down and clciked on the technology thread. This thread was made for teachers who are looking for ways to integrate more technology into their classroom. I have not looked through the entire page yet, so I have not found a thread about the MIMIO board but there are suggestions for using Twitter in the classroom, wikis, and trading information on downloading and saving information. I look forward to participating in these threads and to pick up more ideas on how to integrate technology in my classroom. I would also like to use the MIMIO board to access more technology for my students with disabilities. The MIMIO is a great way to have complete control over text size, font, and color for students with visual-spatial disabilities. And I would love to be able to download assistive technology software for particular students so that during work time, those students can have access to the MIMIO to use these technologies. Once I review the student's IEPs for the upcoming school year I will better be able to determine what technologies will be necessary. However, I can begin my search early because there are software programs available for students with physical, cognitive, visual, organizational, and auditory disabilities (Cennamo et.al., 2009, p. 131). I look forward to taking this next step and hopefully finding some professional development conferences to help me access these technologies in my classroom. If anyone has any suggestions as to conferences that they have heard of or of AT that was not described in our book, please let me know!
Resources
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
NET-S Goals
Upon reviewing the National Educational Technology Standards for Students I recognized several indicators that I would like to improve upon in order to be a model for my students and to create rich learning environments. In order to improve upon these indicators I will use the G.A.M.E. plan which includes setting Goals, taking Action to meet the goals, Monitoring progress, and Evaluating whether the goal was achieved (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.3). The first indicator that I would like to improve on is to collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. The second that I would like to improve on is to evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
In order to improve upon the first indicator of collaborating with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation I must look at the best way to digital tools to reach as many collaborative partners as possible. In order to achieve this goal I think that the best option would be an interactive class website. This website would allow me to upload assignments and important announcements, but in order for collaboration to take place it must be much more than that. I would like the website to serve as a conferencing tool between parents, students, and community members. On the class website, instead of simply posting the class assignment. I would ask for input and ideas from my collaborative partners. My goal is that such a website would take the walls out of the classroom and allow parental and community influence to pour in. Also, Cennamo et. al., maintain that computer conferencing can assist in developing creative thinking skills. The reasons they state include, "...the ease with which everyone can participate and the ability to be able to think through your responses before responding" (2009, p. 71). I will monitor my progress by being an active member of the conferencing. In parents, students, and community members are actively sharing ideas and conversing then I know that the collaboration is successful. If I do not see these things happening then I will need to re-adjust my plan for meeting my goal. In order to evaluate whether or not I improved upon this indicator I would like to send a parent survey at the end of the school year to see what percentage of parents participated and what they thought of the collaborative learning environment. Results of this survey will give me material to reflect and improve upon.
In order to improve upon the second indicator of evaluating and reflecting on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources I must make a effort to set aside personal time each week to research new technologies. In my classroom I have a multitude of technologies at my fingertips. I have a MIMIO board and class writer, projector, and several computers. However, when teaching 6th grade math I find that I only use the MIMIO to project notes and complete practice problems. I have not even begun to tap into the functions and activies that a MIMIO can bring to my math class. According to Cennamo et. al. there are websites that offer online learning communities for teachers with interactive whiteboards where teachers can download lesson plans, presentations, and templates to use in their own classroom (2009, p. 93). I would like to take advantage of this and see how other teachers are utilizing their interactive whiteboards in order to improve student learning. Each week I would like to try and incorporate one new whiteboard technology into my current teaching practice and keep notes on how the lesson went and what improvements I could make. These notes will allow me to monitor my progress as well as evaluate my use of the new technologies.
Resources
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
In order to improve upon the first indicator of collaborating with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation I must look at the best way to digital tools to reach as many collaborative partners as possible. In order to achieve this goal I think that the best option would be an interactive class website. This website would allow me to upload assignments and important announcements, but in order for collaboration to take place it must be much more than that. I would like the website to serve as a conferencing tool between parents, students, and community members. On the class website, instead of simply posting the class assignment. I would ask for input and ideas from my collaborative partners. My goal is that such a website would take the walls out of the classroom and allow parental and community influence to pour in. Also, Cennamo et. al., maintain that computer conferencing can assist in developing creative thinking skills. The reasons they state include, "...the ease with which everyone can participate and the ability to be able to think through your responses before responding" (2009, p. 71). I will monitor my progress by being an active member of the conferencing. In parents, students, and community members are actively sharing ideas and conversing then I know that the collaboration is successful. If I do not see these things happening then I will need to re-adjust my plan for meeting my goal. In order to evaluate whether or not I improved upon this indicator I would like to send a parent survey at the end of the school year to see what percentage of parents participated and what they thought of the collaborative learning environment. Results of this survey will give me material to reflect and improve upon.
In order to improve upon the second indicator of evaluating and reflecting on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources I must make a effort to set aside personal time each week to research new technologies. In my classroom I have a multitude of technologies at my fingertips. I have a MIMIO board and class writer, projector, and several computers. However, when teaching 6th grade math I find that I only use the MIMIO to project notes and complete practice problems. I have not even begun to tap into the functions and activies that a MIMIO can bring to my math class. According to Cennamo et. al. there are websites that offer online learning communities for teachers with interactive whiteboards where teachers can download lesson plans, presentations, and templates to use in their own classroom (2009, p. 93). I would like to take advantage of this and see how other teachers are utilizing their interactive whiteboards in order to improve student learning. Each week I would like to try and incorporate one new whiteboard technology into my current teaching practice and keep notes on how the lesson went and what improvements I could make. These notes will allow me to monitor my progress as well as evaluate my use of the new technologies.
Resources
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
First Time Blogger
I am new to the world of blogging but I am looking forward to sharing posts and ideas with my classmates on how to successfully integrate technology into my middle school classroom!
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