Week 8 Reflection-EDUC-6712I-3 Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

The everyday classroom is changing day by day. More and more students are becoming more technology based then ever before. As a teacher, I need to make sure that I am integrating technology in my classroom in order to reach the needs of all of my learners. Technology is playing a huge role in classrooms today. More and more students are finding it easier to learn through the use of technology; however, there are many teachers out there who are lagging behind with incorporating these tools into the classroom. As teachers, we need to make sure that we are always a step ahead of new strategies and skills that can benefit our students. We need to stay on top of the latest devices and tools to create meaningful lessons in our classrooms.

There are many lessons that can be created in order to promote ongoing collaboration between the students through the use of technology. “Classrooms in the 21st century need to be collaborative spaces where student-centered knowledge development and risk taking are accepted as the norm and where an ecology of learning develops and thrives.” (Nussbaum-Beach 2008).

During our daily reading time, my students participate in book talks. They are given a list of questions for the assigned chapters that they are to read and then discuss these prompts in their small groups. By integrating the use of blogging, my students will be able to perform this same task, but they will be able to collaborate on the computer.
Each week, I will post new prompts on the reading blog. After having a large group mini lessons, I will designate groups to get on the computers to start blogging and responding to the prompts. They will then be asked to also respond to at least two posts that their group members have made. Due to the lack of computers in the classroom, I will set up a time to visit our computer lab to model as a whole group what is expected from their responses. Trips to our computer lab may be quite frequent until students are able to blog on their own. By the end of the week, students should have posts responses to my prompts as well as to two or more posts from their group members. I will also be posting my own responses to their posts in order for them to receive feedback from me as well. This too, can be apart of their reading grade. Students are not only learning how to use technology to collaborate, but they are also learning how to manage their time. Daily sign up sheets will monitor how the computer is being used in the classroom. A reward system can also be used for students who have worked well, with providing them with additional time on the computer.
This lesson aligns with not only content standards, but also the technology standards, which

include these following bullet points:

* Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
* Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessment
* Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
* Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
* Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
(http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS 2008)

By learning these skills, students are finding new ways and outlets to share their ideas and creativity. “Once students begin interacting with each other on the web, the opportunities for global collaborative learning, cross-cultural sharing and understanding, and astonishing learning projects, all truly blossom.” (Trilling 2005) Students need to use all sorts of resources in order to find knowledge and a love of learning. We as teachers need to help provide that for our students.

In my EDUC-6713D-2 Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas with Dr. Suzanne Lebeau, we have been working on the GAME plan process. In a previous post, I had stated that I would continue to professional grow and support/promote creativity with my students through the use of technology. I continued to state that with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) I am soon realize that I feel confident with the indicators set for teachers. The standards that I looked closely at was Facilitating and Inspiring Student Learning and Creativity. I really like promoting creativity with my students because I see how engaged they can be with the lesson. Narrowing down an indicator, I found that I was closely linked to being able to "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

My students have used multiple forms of media in my classroom; for example, Power Points, Podcasts, Voice Threads and are also using the computer daily for research, writers workshop, and online skills practice. It is important for me and my students to feel comfortable using the technology and I know my students benefit by using these tools. I feel that with this knowledge I can "develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). I have used a program called Study Island, for my students. With this program, my students are able to access their accounts and work on skills that they need to practice. Not only can I monitor their work, but they too can see their progress.

I want to continue this goal that I am working towards. I alswo want my students to continue to set goals for themselves as well. I will continue this process and as the year comes to an end, I want to make sure that I continue next year with my new fourth graders as well. When students are able to set goals for themselves, take actions for those goals, monitor their progress effectively and evaluate their outcome, they are able to follow the GAME plan. I think that it is important for not only the teacher to follow this plan, but for students to understand and follow through with it as well. I think this idea gives a sense of ownership to students.


References
National Educational Technology Standards (2008) http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS

Nussbaum-Beach, S. (2008). No limits. Technology & Learning, 28(7), 14–18.
Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/8466

Trilling, B. (2005). Towards learning societies and the global challenges for learning with ICT. TechForum. Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/techlearning/pdf/events/techforum/ny05/Toward_Learning_Societies.pdf

Week 8 Reflection-EDUC-6713D-2 Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Through this class, I have learned so much. I can say that I am truly excited to continue my learning through the GAME plan, which has been a great base for me to start with. I have felt that through this course, I have grown professionally with new innovative and creative lesson plans to incorporate the use of technology. Watchng my students grow, learn, and work collaboratively has been a true joy this year. I look forward to continuing my growth with this knowledge and following through with my GAME plan.

The standards that I have focused on during my GAME Plan Process:
1)."Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity." I focused on the indicator that states that I will "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

2)."Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership." The chosen indicator that I would participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

I have learned so much about creating a GAME plan, growing knowledge through the GAME plan, and having my students utilize the GAME plan process. I have learned how to be a better collaborater with my peers in order to understand the next steps that needed to be taken. I have grown professionally which has also benefited the learning of my students.

With my GAME plan, I have been able to integrate technology into my lessons. With the use of technology, my students have become more creative, innovative thinkers. I want to continue to promote this type of learning. As this year comes to an end, I want to make sure that I promote this type of learning and goal setting for my new class of fourth graders. I have enjoyed seeing my students engaged in the lessons that the GAME plan has helped me create.

I want to continue using the GAME plan, meet weekly with the technology facilitator and promote the creativity and inventiveness with my students. I want to make sure that I have my students using the GAME plan as well.

Week 7 Using The GAME Plan Process With Students

The standards that I have focused on during my GAME Plan Process:
1)."Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity." I focused on the indicator that states that I will "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

2)."Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership." The chosen indicator that I would participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

I feel that through my own GAME Plan goals, I am able to become a better teacher with the knowledge that has happened with this process. I have been able to learn more on how to "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness" through the technology tools learned not only through this class here at Walden, but through collaborating with my peers here in the building. With this in mind, I know that I have grown professionally.

I think my learning this, I am able to provide my students with the knowledge of following the GAME plan process. I am able to provide lessons for my students that will let my students think creatively. Through this process, my students have used blogs, podcasts, wiki's, voice threads, and now digital storytelling to display their work.

I am able have students create their own goals through the National Education Standards for Students. I am hoping to set up a blog just for my students to reflect on the process they are making through their own GAME Plan goals. The other students in the class will then be able to post their thought and questions on their peers blog and collaborative disussions can then take place. I would also hope, that through extreme organization, not only on my part, but my students as well, that my students will be able to post their work on the blog page as well. Students, parents, and teachers, will be able to see the work that the students have worked so hard on. Allowing students to share their work proudly is important to them!

Elizabeth Cotton (Brindley)

Week 6 Evaluating the Progress Towards my GAME Plan

I am still focusing on the standards listed:

"Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity." I focused on the indicator that states that I will "promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

"Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership." The chosen indicator that I would participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning" (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).

My meeting that I am having with our schools technology facilitator has allowed me to learn more technology tools to incorporate into my lesson plans. I am continuing to meet with the technology facilitator in order to learn more helpful tools for my students. I am still curious with my question that I stated last week about finding out more on the new changes to our schools web pages. We are still unsure on how this change will effect our classroom web page. This week, I have also been trying to get some educational collaborative networking sites to be unblocked from our districts page. I have been discussing this when I meet with the technology facilitator and he is also helping with the process. Once I can get these tools unblocked, my new goal will be to set up a social networking page for my students to work on with a new project. Figuring out the project will also be something that I will need to work on as well.

Educational networking tools are a great way for my students to collaborate with one another and other students from around the world. These new ideas fit in both areas of my GAME plan when addressing my students needs through creativity as well as growing professionally myself.

Elizabeth Brindley