App 4

App 7

Throughout this course I have been exposed to many strategies and resources that I plan to carry out and use in my own classroom. I plan on using Polldaddy.com to gauge student int erst and learning styles so that I can best plan to meet their needs during instruction. I also plan on using different assessment tools throughout units to measure student knowledge and growth on a particular subject. I can use digital checklist for observations and student response devices with students. I feel that all the resources gained from this course will assist me in the start of changing instructional strategies to be more differentiated to better meet students educational needs.

Reflection

The GAME Plan that I worked on really helped me reflect on my actions and thoughts about working and improving upon my teaching. I feel that I have explored more resources and learned a lot just by starting the GAME Plan. I am very excited about trying some of the new strategies with students when they come back next week.

I learned about many resources were teachers collaborate and through exploring these sites I received many great ideas to use in my own classroom with my students. After exploring these sites I think that I will be more apt to use collaborative activities with other professionals.

The most immediate change I will make in my classroom instruction is having students more clearly map out their plans and encourage them to reflect more throughout the learning process.

Week 7 GAME Plan

My goal of working with other professionals in my field that have experience will assist me in helping my students reach proficiency. Working with other teachers I will gain ideas on how to use different technology ideas in the classroom. Also if there are times that I am having problems with using technology I can go to other professionals and ask for assistance to help children better understand an assignment.

My goal of participating in learning communities to learn more about using technology in the classroom will help me create new assignments to expose students to different types of technology, along with different uses for technology.

References
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) (2008) retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Week 6 Game Plan

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

In last week's next step assignment there were many useful resources regarding other professionals and their use of technology in the classroom. I feel that the resources that were provided will be very useful in implementing my own technology driven activities in the classroom.


What goals are you still working toward?

I will continually be working towards finding Professional Learning Communities were technology is the main focus to explore various creative implementations of technology.


Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself?

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.


What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?

I will work more on facilitating Problem Based Learning and handing over more of the teaching to the students and allowing them to make more choices.


National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Week 5 GAME Plan

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

So far my actions have helped me become more motivated in pursuing my goals further. I have created plans for working on a collaborative lesson with another second grade class. I have researched online learning communities within my district so that I can better understand the technology that is provided for me.

* What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I have found many great resources that I will be using this year with my planning, I will also be using KWL charts more frequently to help inspire questions for problem based learning.

* What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I still want to learn more ways to implement technology in the classroom I sometimes get stuck on the same uses that I am comfortable with and have already used. I would like to hear more from teacher chat groups and other in the education field to provide me with fresh ideas and uses.

I also have so many more questions about problem based learning such as how is there space in the classroom for students to be working on various different ideas or final projects at one time? Also how long does it take to get children familiar with the concept especially at a younger age? Finally how does timing work I am thinking of my huge variety of students and how I always have those that are so far behind sometimes due to behavior and others due to other disabilities. I of course modify their assignment but sometimes that doesn't help and they get even more discouraged when they see their peers finish and begin a different project.

* How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
I think that this is not the time for me to be joining another committee I am in a lot already and just found out I am switching from my well known primary grade to an intermediate grade with the F-Cat. Even though time outside of school may be more limited I will be able to use more independent technology projects with the older students.


Ertmer, P.“Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1”

Ertmer, P.“Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part Two”



Cennamo, K., Ertmer, P., Ross, J.,(2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach.

Week 4 Game Plan

I recently registered on Cisco to receive newsletters on the new applications of technology in the classroom. This website offers webinars, forums to chat with other professionals and many other resources to provide ideas for implementing technology in the classroom. I visited some resources suggested to me by Ms. Clausen and found that Suzie Boss was holding a Project Based Learning Camp on www.edutopia.org, there were also many interesting video topics that I got lost in watching. I finally visited Polldaddy.com as suggested to me in a previous blog which I think will be a useful tool to use in gauging students interest or prior knowledge before or after a project. I could use it prior to a lesson as a formative assessment and after the project to assess the project I planned and what did or did not interest students. I could also use it at the end of unit as a forced response assessment. Finally I signed up on TES Connects to view lessons and ideas I really wanted to see the lesson for Murder Mystery Math how fun does that lesson sound. I really liked the screen cast and demonstration videos on free4teachers.com. This is very useful to me because I love implementing technology but at times get a little frustrated when I am not able to figure out how to work certain programs so the tutorials are very helpful. Looking through all of these websites are motivating me to search further for technology uses in the classroom.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Carrying out my GAME plan

TO get started on my game plan I will need to find individuals who are already involved with the technology committee so that I can find out the location, times, dates and my eligibility as a member. This is an important step, if I am on or attending the committee I will be exposed to new information and possible uses for the technology provided. I also need to seek out articles, blogs, and online lesson plans that deal with the integration of technology. Finally I need to find a colleague that is proficient in the use of the District Angel site that allows me to create online lessons, resources list and blogs that students can securely access anywhere without risk of individuals outside of the classroom accessing any information or postings. So far in a quest to meet my goals I have discussed working with a teacher on assisting with my exploration of the Angel site and the possible classroom uses. Also my nephew is going to be in second grade next year in Ohio while I teach second grade in Florida so I am going to attempt to plan an activity that the two classrooms can collaborate on.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Game Plan

After reading the National Education Standards for Teachers I feel that there are two areas that I need to develop. The two indicators for professional growth for me were “Model Digital Age Work and Learning” and “Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership” (NETS-T, 2008).

Goal: Work with peers and professionals in the educational community using technology. I will work with those who already use a wide range of technology and I will also collaborate with other teachers during instruction.

Participate in Professional Learning Communities were technology is the main focus to explore various creative implementations of technology.

Action to Achieve: I will find teachers who are actively engaged in collaborative projects and search other professional resources for ideas that involve collaborating with technology.

To improve my professional growth I will seek out others proficient in technology use and get involved with our school Technology Committee to stay current on new implementations of technology and participate in trainings.

Monitor: To monitor my practice of collaborative projects I will create a blog in which I will be able to reflect on the practices that I am learning and how the implementation is evolving.

To reflect on my professional development with technology, I will keep a journal to record a review of new implementations of technology that I am using and my thoughts or ideas of how to use new information.

Evaluate: I will video tape a collaborative project as it is being applied in the classroom. I will then watch the video with a peer and assess the positives and negatives of the process, the successful outcomes in student progress along with their involvement.

To evaluate my professional development I will return to the reflection journals to assess how I have maintained the use of previously favored technology tools.I will also gauge my mastery of using the current technology tools in the classroom.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) (2008) retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Reflection

Reflection

This class has presented me with different ways of thinking about my instruction. One revelation for me throughout this class was the importance of citation for students. Our Grade 2 academic plans have not placed much emphasis on the students citing creative works such as pictures and other media. I also discovered that there was a need for students to have the ability to find resources themselves and to decide whether that information was valid and useful. Previously students were provided with resources that were already proven to be valid. By providing direct instruction and modeling to guide the students to search out and evaluate their project information leads to quality class discussions and student sharing.
As a result of this course I will build more of my lessons around student inquiry. Also students will be given more responsibilities when they are working on their projects. Students will be expected to prove that the resources are valid and they will also learn how to cite where they received the information. I will work with students more to help them build the skills needed to be able to meet these expectations.
My involvement in this class inspires me to learn more about the variety of media that is available for students to use to demonstrate their research skills and expand their learning experience. I would like to develop a deeper understanding of how to create multi-media projects with different technology resources. In order to find media resources I will research online information, visit educational blogs and work with other teachers. I will work with the resources to better understand how to produce in-depth projects that require students to use higher order skills. By doing that I hope to have students more involved in work they enjoy, thus allowing for better learning and skill acquisition.

References

Jukes, I., Macdonald, B. (2007). 21st Century Fluency Skills Attributes of a 21st Century Learner.
The InfoSavvy Group.

SaveTheRennets.com 2

Jing Project

SaveTheRennets.com

Quantitive Research

The purpose of this study is to evaluate effective educational based technology programs that are implemented by teachers in the classroom and their impact on student's weekly assessment scores.
By integrating educational technology programs in the classroom, is there an increase in academic achievement?
I plan to use quantitative research by implementing the experimental designs. I will use 16 students representing ESE, ELL and on grade level students. The study will evaluate the achievement between the students that had received instruction using technology and students who had not been instructed using technology. I will then look at students scores to see if there was a increase in the group that had been exposed to technology programs as part of their instruction.

Problem Statement.

With all the technology programs claiming to be educational how are teachers to know which programs to implement in instruction? The purpose of this study is to evaluate effective academic programs. By reviewing previous studies on educational technology programs and teacher testimonials regarding programs successfully used in their classrooms. I plan to provide a collection of programs that will better assist educators and learners of the technology era.

Final Post

At the Start of this course I believed that a large part of my teaching strategy consisted of the behaviorist theory but now I will be implementing more of the constructivist approach utilizing the technology methods that I have learned. In the past I had engaged students in activities where they were to create something. In the future I plan to have projects that are more frequent and engaging using the technology I have used in this class, thus providing for deeper understanding of the content. Multimedia presentation of lessons and the student ‘s use of the technology allows for more practice, more hands-on involvement, and more critical thinking for the students. In the future I will be focusing on engaging the children in activities in which they will have the opportunity to use technology to create evidence of learning. Dr.Orey, discussed that the constructivist theory allows students to be “actively engaged” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008a). I also agree that students learn and understand more by building and creating things.

There are a few changes that I will implement immediately such as the use of Voice Thread. I am really excited about using Voice Thread in my classroom with students. To start using Voice Thread in lessons I will work in a small group with 4 to 5 students. I will teach the first group of students to use the Voice Thread program over a period of time until I know that they are comfortable to use the program on their own. Then I will assign them to a partner with a new assignment. I will continue this pattern until all the students are able to use the program easily and efficiently. When students are able to use the Voice Thread program I will begin creating assignments for students on a regular basis. Teaching a small group of students who then can be the “professionals” to help or train classmates will help make future lessons for the whole group easier as they will have the opportunity to ask peers for assistance and not just me. Another change I would like to make is to turn the use of power points into an independent project for students to use in addition to the ones I create for lessons. I am currently working together with the school technology teacher to provide students will the skills that they will need to be successful with using power points as part of their assignments. After this course I am hoping to continue to research and locate different forms of technology that I would be able to successfully implement in my class. I will continue to meet with the technology specialist and attend professional development classes on technology topics to keep current on the ever changing technology tools that can be used in the classroom. I will also start implementing the new technology I learned about by using the strategies listed previously. The train the trainer technique minimizes the task of implementing a new program of technology skill for the whole class. I have really enjoyed this class and the tools that I have been exposed to, that I can implement in my classroom.

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program seven. Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Natural Resources

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

The learning strategies discussed both in the media and text this week, directly correlate with the social learning theory. All the activities discussed incorporated the need for students to work together to be successful with a project. The activities would also provide students with the opportunity to communicate, display trust among peers, demonstrate leadership, apply decision making and problem solving skills. If students are working together to create a multimedia material such as a video they will need to be able to collaborate to piece together each students ideas to create a finished product. In having students depend on one another to be successful there will be more thought put into the cooperation among the group members.

Constructionist

The strategies described in this weeks resources are directly related to the constructionist theory. All of the instructional strategies are alligned with the idea of children creating something. Through the use of projects and investigations students are provided with oppurtunities to explore what they are learing in a way that makes sense to them and builds background knowledge along with ideas that are not always connected from teacher to student. The projects that students engage in also allow for children to make connections with different information. The resources that did not directly have something that students could create did have a library of useable resources that could be used by students in learning about thier topic.

Cognative Theory

The activities in this weeks reading directly connect with the Cognitive Theory by incorporating the process of making connections. The Cognitive Theory is all about elaboration, forming connections to produce long term memories. In both Chapters 4 and 6 the activities discussed incorporate creating visual connections through the use of tables, and note taking. Ms. Douglas from Chapter 4 had created a cueing and questioning activity in Kidspiration exposing students to visual and auditory instruction engaging their sensory processors and creating connections for students on the topic of bridges. With these activites creating clear connections to other ideas or "Nodes" in graphic organizers ther is a definite corrolation between the activities in teh reading resources and the Cognitive Theory.

Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K., Pitler, H.(2007) Using Technology with Classroom Instructions that Works.

Behavorist Theory

I believe that the Behaviorist Theory is evident in most of the instructional strategies discussed this week in the resources. The homework and effort activities correlate working hard the desired behavior with success, the reward. The activity also associates now working hard the undesired behavior with failing, punishment. The reward and punishment are all part of the behaviorist theory. Also the use of media such as games provides immediate feedback for the child in the activity that they are engaged in with by providing correct responses desired behavior with chants, reward or redirecting them back to review the incorrect response, punishment. All of these activities display a form of behaviorist theory some are more noticeable than other but all display the basic belief that the immediate response to a students work correct or incorrect makes a difference in their learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program four. Behaviorist Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

New Start

This is the blog that I have used previously and hopefully I can continue to use it through this course.