The GAME plan I used during this course was very helpful in organizing information for my lessons. The GAME plan helped me to incorporate technology and the learning needs of diverse students into every lesson as well. I think I always tried to do that in some particular way, but having an actual spot for it in the GAME lesson plan encouraged me to really do a formal plan for it during each lesson. I also think the GAME lesson plan encourages me to do more reflection of my lessons. I try to reflect myself about the lesson, but I also plan to incorporate more reflection from the students about their role in the lesson and any changes that I may make.
The biggest immediate adjustment I will make regarding technology integration is more preparation for my students as far as giving them time to practice using a technology we have not used before to make sure they are prepared for the actual assignment. Previously, I may have used the same class for learning the technology and having the students do the assignment, but I will try to separate them more into two separate class periods. I also got a lot of good ideas from the video resources during the course. The videos showed a lot of good teachers offering advice on how they incorporate technology into their classes. I hope to use some of their ideas, specifically about social networking and online collaboration. I really want to use Edmodo with my classes and I think this tool will encourage students to be more active in discussion, even if they are out of school for several days, because they will still be able to communicate about assignments through the Edmodo discussion boards.
Overall, I learned about some great tools to engage my students and to encourage them to incorporate more problem-solving skills into their approach to complete the assignments on an individual basis or with a group of their classmates.
Myra Mata
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monitoring your GAME Plan Progress
As we move into the end of September and the beginning of October, I am still searching for new ideas, websites and apps to use in my lessons with the iPads. Recently, I discovered that two other FACS teachers in my division will be getting iPads as well. This is a huge step and it will allow us to collaborate with each other. It will be very beneficial to have three people searching for ways to use the iPads, instead of just one.
I haven't found a need to modify my action plan yet, but I have learned a lot about technology and my curriculum that I didn't know before. First, the biggest hurdle in implementing the iPads into the FACS classroom has been working with our IT department. There are so many ways iPads can be used, that we had to work together to figure out what restrictions, if any, we wanted on the iPads. As a teacher, I need control to add new apps and remove apps as I need. I cannot wait 2 weeks for our building IT contact to sync the iPads for me. This was the trial and error part of implementing the iPads so far. When laptops are issued to teachers and students, it is much different than issuing a cart of iPads so the IT department had to write new instructions for the school techs to use when setting up carts for classrooms.
Most of the new questions that have come up are related to the monitoring of student work on the iPads. It is always important for a teacher to walk the classroom to monitor student work, but it would be nice to have a software program loaded onto the teacher laptop/iPad that would show the screen for each student iPad to make the monitoring process much easier. As of yet, there is no software available, but my CITT and building IT tech are aware of my interest if anything becomes available.
Finally, Chapter 6 in the textbook for this week really introduced me with some questions about new ways to implement assessment while using the iPads. I'm already using Socrative to give multiple-choice and short answer tests and I'm also using the iPads with my Promethean board to have students display their work while using apps. However, I am really interested in finding new ways of using the iPads to assess student work and progress so I will be collaborating with the other FACS teachers and my CITT to come up with new ways to assess in my classroom.
Myra Mata
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.
I haven't found a need to modify my action plan yet, but I have learned a lot about technology and my curriculum that I didn't know before. First, the biggest hurdle in implementing the iPads into the FACS classroom has been working with our IT department. There are so many ways iPads can be used, that we had to work together to figure out what restrictions, if any, we wanted on the iPads. As a teacher, I need control to add new apps and remove apps as I need. I cannot wait 2 weeks for our building IT contact to sync the iPads for me. This was the trial and error part of implementing the iPads so far. When laptops are issued to teachers and students, it is much different than issuing a cart of iPads so the IT department had to write new instructions for the school techs to use when setting up carts for classrooms.
Most of the new questions that have come up are related to the monitoring of student work on the iPads. It is always important for a teacher to walk the classroom to monitor student work, but it would be nice to have a software program loaded onto the teacher laptop/iPad that would show the screen for each student iPad to make the monitoring process much easier. As of yet, there is no software available, but my CITT and building IT tech are aware of my interest if anything becomes available.
Finally, Chapter 6 in the textbook for this week really introduced me with some questions about new ways to implement assessment while using the iPads. I'm already using Socrative to give multiple-choice and short answer tests and I'm also using the iPads with my Promethean board to have students display their work while using apps. However, I am really interested in finding new ways of using the iPads to assess student work and progress so I will be collaborating with the other FACS teachers and my CITT to come up with new ways to assess in my classroom.
Myra Mata
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.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Carrying Out Your GAME Plan
As I work towards accomplishing my goal of my GAME plan, which was to incorporate the iPads into my FACS lessons, I have started working with the CITT (Curriculum Integration Technology Teacher) for my department in my school division. The CITT attends training and conferences and collaborates with technology professionals to learn about new and innovative ways to incorporate technology into lesson plans. The CITT has provided me with many ideas and apps that coordinate with the curriculum I teach in class. For example, she introduced me to an app called Hello Baby by Pampers. It provides a visual timeline with real images of the stages of fetal development. There are also sound bites that the students can listen to. I use app with my Parenting and Child Development unit. The students love it because they get to see actual images of a baby as it grows. Another app that I use is called Financial Football. The students get to pick their football teams and play a game and throughout the game, they are asked financial related questions. This app works well with my unit on Money Management. I usually pick one class to test the app with before I let everyone use it. Many of the free apps have bugs and don't always work as they're supposed to. I am in the process of working with the CITT to purchase apps that I'm using in class a lot so we can have full access to all of the features. For example, one app is a house design app. The students can create their dream home and with the full version, they can same their work and work on it during several class periods. In Chapter 5 of the textbook, the authors state that "teachers should utilize instructional strategies that allow individual students greatest access to active learning - not just passive information" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I think the iPads allow students to be very active when learning. I also enjoy using them because they allow the students to interact with each other and help each other with assignments.
In regards to my goal to improve my participation in professional development activities, I applied and was accepted to be a presenter at the NCPN (National Career Pathways Network) conference in October. I will be presented the process that my school used to integrate iPads into the FACS curriculum. We will discuss the setup process, the integration process, the evaluation process and how we will use the information to place the iPads into other schools in our district. I am very excited to pass along the information to other professionals that want to use technology in their classrooms.
Myra Mata
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.
In regards to my goal to improve my participation in professional development activities, I applied and was accepted to be a presenter at the NCPN (National Career Pathways Network) conference in October. I will be presented the process that my school used to integrate iPads into the FACS curriculum. We will discuss the setup process, the integration process, the evaluation process and how we will use the information to place the iPads into other schools in our district. I am very excited to pass along the information to other professionals that want to use technology in their classrooms.
Myra Mata
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.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Developing Your Personal GAME Plan
The two NETS-T indicators that I chose for this assignment are:
1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.
2. Engage in professional growth and leadership.
My GAME plan (Cennamo K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P., 2009) is as follows:
Goals - Incorporate iPads into the Family & Consumer Sciences curriculum and extend knowledge of the integration process to the teaching community through conferences and professional development opportunities.
Action - Write lesson plans to incorporate iPad use into the curriculum and apply to professional conferences to present the steps of incorporating iPads into a new content area. I would like to start using WebQuests as described by Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer. The text states that "a WebQuest is an organized format for presenting lessons that utilize web resources" (p. 55). Finding legitimate web resources is definitely a challenge when creating lesson plans for middle school students. I want to make sure ahead of time that the sites they are using provide accurate information and is appropriate for their age group.
Monitor - Monitor student engagement using the iPads and monitor new conference opportunities. Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer also state that "when working in technology-enriched learning environments, students will benefit from having guidelines that indicate what they should accomplish during a lesson" (p. 97). This will provide me with data that I can use to monitor student progress. If I create a rubric for a lesson or specific criteria for the student to follow, I can compare it to lessons that I taught without incorporating technology to see if there is an improvement in student engagement and learning.
Evaluate - Use assessment to determine in student engagement increased based on the use of the technology in the classroom and evaluate various professional development opportunities and school-based teaching opportunities to encourage other teachers to incorporate technology into their classroom. I also plan to review conference surveys to see feedback was given for standard 2.
Myra Mata
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.
1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.
2. Engage in professional growth and leadership.
My GAME plan (Cennamo K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P., 2009) is as follows:
Goals - Incorporate iPads into the Family & Consumer Sciences curriculum and extend knowledge of the integration process to the teaching community through conferences and professional development opportunities.
Action - Write lesson plans to incorporate iPad use into the curriculum and apply to professional conferences to present the steps of incorporating iPads into a new content area. I would like to start using WebQuests as described by Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer. The text states that "a WebQuest is an organized format for presenting lessons that utilize web resources" (p. 55). Finding legitimate web resources is definitely a challenge when creating lesson plans for middle school students. I want to make sure ahead of time that the sites they are using provide accurate information and is appropriate for their age group.
Monitor - Monitor student engagement using the iPads and monitor new conference opportunities. Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer also state that "when working in technology-enriched learning environments, students will benefit from having guidelines that indicate what they should accomplish during a lesson" (p. 97). This will provide me with data that I can use to monitor student progress. If I create a rubric for a lesson or specific criteria for the student to follow, I can compare it to lessons that I taught without incorporating technology to see if there is an improvement in student engagement and learning.
Evaluate - Use assessment to determine in student engagement increased based on the use of the technology in the classroom and evaluate various professional development opportunities and school-based teaching opportunities to encourage other teachers to incorporate technology into their classroom. I also plan to review conference surveys to see feedback was given for standard 2.
Myra Mata
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.
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