Final Reflection for EDUC6713

Step 1: Reflect on the GAME plan you developed and followed throughout the course.
In reflecting on the GAME plan that I established over the past several weeks, I am reminded that the plan is an example of being a self-directed learner. Teachers Plan, Monitor, and Evaluate their students regularly (Laureate, 2010) however, the goal of this GAME plan and the NETS-T is a reflection of me, the educator. My intention was to increase my skills as an educator where “Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes” (National Education Standards for Teachers, 2008). It is, has, and always will be my intention to “customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources” (NETS, 2008).

While reflecting I also realize that I work to maximize content learning by incorporating technology regularly and to engage in professional growth experiences. Every day as a technology user, I am increasing my understanding of technology. It then becomes paramount to share those experiences with my students in creative, educational, real world, ways. Meeting the needs of diverse learners then means using the technology that I best understand to customize the instruction presented to them. (Laureate, 2010). Through continued attendance of workshops and conferences I will increase my understanding of new technology as well as new ways to use what’s out there. Not only will I be increasing the opportunities to include technology in my instruction by formal education, I continually seek skilled professionals to advance personal technology understanding. This also offers opportunities for teachable moments as I model for my students. The intent is to follow a learner-centered strategy. This will enable me to best consider and then meet the needs of diverse learners. Through authentic instruction, I will be able to create a learner-centered classroom where the diverse interests, talents, knowledge, background, and skills are part of the daily lesson plan model (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, pg. 167, 2009).

Step 2: Summarize any new learning that resulted from your following your GAME plan and explain what impact your new learning will have on your instructional practice.
I recently attended the MACUL conference in Detroit. I attended several seminars including; “Googles tools for search, research, and collaboration”. While Honing my skills with a free and often used search engine like Google I will be better prepared in my own instructional development. We worked with maps across the curriculum, collaborating using docs and sites, and learning time saving methods with advances search. Another topic of interest involved the use of Netbooks. I was made aware of the fact that our school will be attaining these for next years use in compliance with a state mandate to assess skills digitally. While assessing happens occasionally, there were several workshops offering suggestions of additional applications for Netbook use that can be initiated more regularly by a proficient classroom teacher. I have acquired a CPS system to assess its value to elementary education in our school district. In our building only I and one second grade teacher were issued these new systems. The introduction of technology has enhanced my students learning greatly. With this system I am able to provide instant feedback and address students’ diverse learning styles and differentiate instruction as well as monitoring progress with the data acquired. I most enjoyed our experience with Digial Storytelling. I found out that our junior high school has an animation lab and during a recent in-service opportunity was able to “play” with the tools available. I have created an example of the outcome expected for an upcoming project where students will create an animation on GoAnimate about animal habitats. Because of this course I have decided to incorporate this learning technology and new tool.

Step 3: Describe any immediate adjustments you will make to your instructional practice regarding technology integration in your content area(s) as a result of your learning from this course.
The immediate adjustments are included in the response above. By incorporating the tools developed and studied during this course I will enhance the students learning opportunities. I find that I may have difficulty incorporating social networking, as this practice is frowned on by the district and most instances are blocked. I have developed a classroom blog that offers opportunities to collaborate and share projects and comments. That is because of previous classes but this course has reiterated the importance of this practice. I also will continue to use the computer lab and the four classroom computers to do research studies on topics of interest. A new program that has become available in our district is called Solo 6. This allows students with limited capability to have text read to them as well as other valuable features. I intend on learning more about it and using it regularly for my third grade students advancement.


Resources:
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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Meeting Students’ Needs with Technology, Part 2 [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content area. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010) Promoting Self-Directed Learning with Technology [Webcast]. Supporting information literacy and online learning in the classroom. Baltimore, MD: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx