Got GAME?

The time has come for me to stop over-analyzing my deficiencies in the classroom and start taking action.  While reflection is critical to learning from failures, it means nothing if solutions are not the result.  If I am to produce twenty-first century learners, I must have a GAME plan.  (Pun intended.)  I must set Goals and relevant, meaningful Actions to ensure that I am meeting the twenty-first century needs of my students.  Monitoring those actions will keep me from wasting time on strategies that simply aren't working for me.  When all is said and done, I must critically Evaluate the outcome to see if the goal was reached.  (Get it? GAME?)  Evaluation is not a simple "yes" or "no."  It will require critical analysis of why or why not.

When it comes to integrating technology into my curriculum, I got game alright.  However, there are a few areas in which I simply don't "bring it."  To get my GAME on, I will focus on the following ISTE standards:

The GAME Plan

Goals

While I know that I am progressive in my integration of technology, I need to step up my GAME (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009) in order to make my students' learning experiences relevant and meaningful.  By setting the following goals, I am recognizing areas that require more development and attention on my part.  Based on the ISTE-NETS Performance Indicators, I will:

• Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
• develop technology-enriched 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
• communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media
• participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning

Actions   

It's one thing to set goals.  Putting them into action is another.  If I am to truly prepare my students for the twenty-first century, I have no choice but to jump in feet-first with the following actions:

Goal 1:  Engage students in authentic learning experiences using technology.

• identify real-world issues and problems that are relevant to students' personal experiences
• survey students as to their personal interests and experiences
• research grade-level appropriate web tools, hardware, and websites that will best meet the needs of students
• implement problem-based learning strategies to facilitate scientific inquiry and self-directed learning

Goal 2:  Develop a technology-rich, self-directed learning environment.

• identify individual student learning styles using "What's Your Learning Style?" recommended by Edutopia
• create Personal Learning Environments for students based on their individual needs using Symbaloo
• provide students with direct instruction on the four steps of the GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009)
• guide students through the process of creating their own GAME plan
• apply GAME plan to identified real-world issue or problem

Goal 3: Communicate with the school community using a variety of digital media.

• create and share Symbaloo webmixes to support classroom content as needed
• maintain and update class website on a regular basis (www.jklsciencelab.weebly.com)
• create a JKL Middle School Science fan page to allow current and consistent communication with parents, students, and colleagues
• share educational resources with parents, students, and colleagues to promote consistency of skills, strategies, and content implemented
• use Edmodo as a social networking tool to communicate class news, updates, student work, and links of interest with students.

Goal 4: Participate in professional learning communities focused on the integration of technology.

• actively seek local teachers interested in collaborating on grassroots, problem-based learning experiences using various technology tools to communicate (Laureate, 2010)
• continue the current ePal relationship with our classroom partner in Australia
• read and comment on educational blogs specific to the use of technology in education
• attend the MACUL (Michigan Association for Computer Users in Michigan) 2012 Conference
• apply to be a member of our district MiChampion team 

Monitor

In order to ensure achievement, I must monitor my actions (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).  Monitoring is critical to achieving goals in that it keeps us on track.  It's especially easy to get "off track" when web tools and resources.  To keep from experiencing complete and total derailment, I will monitor my actions for each goal by answering following questions:

Goal 1: Engage students in authentic learning experiences using technology.

• Are students engaged in the topic and motivated to learn?
• Can students use the technology being used independently or with little guidance?
• Are students demonstrating the ability to connect content to the real-world problem?
• Am I allowing students enough freedom to seek out their own answers and solutions?
• How often am I providing direct instruction?

Goal 2: Develop a technology-rich, self-directed learning environment.

• Has each student successfully created a Symbaloo PLE?
• Do the resources in each students' PLE support their identified learning style?
• Can students identify and explain each step of the GAME process?
• Did each students create their own GAME plan?
• How did students apply their GAME plans to the real-world problem being explored?

Goal 3: Communicate with the school community using a variety of digital media.

• Have I created a webmix for each unit/learning experience?
• Is my class website up-to-date?
• When was my class website last modified?
• How often do I modify or update my class website?
• How many fans does the JKL Middle School Science fan page have? 
• Am I reaching parents, students, and colleagues equally with the fan page?
• How often do parents, students, and colleagues post, comment, or respond to the fan page?
• How often do I post, comment, or respond on the fan page?
• How many educational resources have I posted on the fan page?
• How often do I post educational resources on the fan page? 
• Am I posting updates to Edmodo daily?
• What am I posting to Edmodo?
• Are students checking Edmodo daily?
• Are students using Edmodo to communicate with both myself and their peers?
• Are students abusing their rights to post on Edmodo?

Goal 4: Participate in professional learning communities focused on the integration of technology.

• Have I found a local colleague to collaborate with?
• What technologies will students use to collaborate and communicate?
• Has a grassroots, problem-based activity been selected?
• When was the last correspondence with our Australian ePal partners?
• Is there a current collaborative project being worked on with our ePal partners?
• What educational blogs am I following?
• How often do I read educational blogs?
• How often do I comment of participate in blog discussions?
• Are you attending the 2012 MACUL conference?
• Have I filled out and submitted the necessary professional development request forms?
• Has my professional development request been accepted?
• Am I a member of the district MiChampion team? 

Evaluate

TIme for the big question: Did I successfully meet my goals?  While the answer to this question is critical, I must reflect on whether or not my approach worked or if I need to modify my strategies in the future (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).  In order to evaluate the "big picture," it is not necessary to break down the evaluation to each goal unless the goal was not met.  To kick off the evaluation process, I will ask the following questions suggested in the text Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use:

• Have I met my learning goals?
• If not, should I modify my goals or my learning strategies?
• What will I do differently in the future?

The answers to these questions will undoubtedly lead to more detailed questions, as I identify specific actions that have been unsuccessful.  It's hard to say what the answers to these questions will be.  I can only hope that the answer to the first question is "yes."  (Seriously.)  It seems to me that if I follow through with the monitoring phase of the process and carefully answer and actively respond to each reflective question, I will inevitably successfully reach all of my learning goals.  However, I tend to be an optimist.  I have learned from "realist" friends that this will more than likely not be the case.  I know there will be the proverbial bumps in the road and it is my job to slow down, take notice and smooth them out. 

References

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. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program Number Four: Enriching content area learning experiences with technology part 2 [Webcast]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore, MD: Author