Monday, September 27, 2010

Monitoring the progress of my GAME plan

I am still working on my GAME plan in accordance with The National Educational Technology Standards. In an elementary art setting I see a variety of ways in which I can do this. The two indicators that I would like to look at and strengthen in my classroom practices are: # 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and # 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership.

When looking at goal number two, I was challenged by this week’s learning resources and the breakdown of assessments we looked at. Through course text and reinforcement in our online video, I can see that assessment can tie in technology while being forced option, open-ended, performance-based and project-based. Maybe I have been too focused on integrating technology that I forgot also to breakdown my assessments and exactly what I am trying to assess. This knowledge helped me. For example I could take an open-ended assessment like journaling about a piece of art, but to meet my goal, I could have my students blog about it instead on our classroom blog and then turn it into a post.

For goal number five, my school received a grant to purchase some sound technological tools that I feel will really take our learning and teaching into the 21st century. In my last post, I cited a core committee as an important resource in helping me to obtain my goals. I still see this as pertinent. Recently we mapped out topics and tools to cover throughout our calendar school year during staff professional development days. I jumped on board with this committee to set reasonable goals for us as to what we would like to be implementing into every day practice and when. Along with this I have been looking at local workshops that might cater more to my needs as experts would be on hand to better train me in the models of the equipment we recently received.

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). (2009). Assessing Student Learning. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

www.iste.org

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Carrying out my GAME plan

Looking at two indicators that I wish to improve upon in my classroom, I will also tie in Dr. Katherine Cennamo’s GAME plan:
G-Goals
A-Actions
M-Monitor
E-Evaluate (Laureate 2009) in order to create a 21st century learning environment in my art room setting. Currently I teach at a performing arts school, grades three through six, with a freshman basic drawing class in my schedule as well. Looking at my GAME plan from last week, if I can Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and secondly, Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership, I feel I will paving the way to meeting The National Educational Technology Standards.


The resources that I feel are pertinent to carrying out the improvement of these two goals include the new technology my school is receiving through a grant, proper training of the technology and a core committee in my building that is going to share in order to help the staff develop professionally as a whole. The new items my building has purchase include new Mac notebooks, mimios, flip video cameras and projectors. By making use of these items I will definitely bring my classroom up to speed with 21st century skills as long as I simultaneously attend the training workshops and meet with my colleagues during our sharing time.
Additional information that I need to reach these goals includes further investigation of the UDL website (
http://www.cast.org/). Here I will take a better look at the components that go into Universal Design Learning which will allow me to meet the needs of all my learners.

The steps that I have taken thus far to carry out my GAME plan include research over the internet about terms such as UDL, integration of National Technology Standards and 21st century skills. There is a myriad of information in the digital world waiting to be utilized to help me meet my goals. But first I must siphon through it and set attainable benchmarks along the way.


Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.


www.iste.org

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Improving upon The National Educational Technology Standards in my classroom

For my current master’s course titled Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas, I am looking at The National Educational Technology Standards. Using these standards teachers “design, implement,and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community” (iste.org).
Two indictators that I would like to look at and strengthen in my classroom practices are: # 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and # 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership.
First, I chose indicator #2 because I see this as an area of weakness in my current classroom practices. I know that this can change however because my district recently received a grant through we are receiving some highly advanced equipment to bring our classrooms to the 21st century. This equipment includes personal lap tops, mimios, flip videos and projectors. I am very excited about this! My GAME plan for this indicator is to spend time getting better acquainted with the equipment. I recently attended workshops to understand these tools better, which will benefit my students. Next, I will monitor my progress by how much I am actually using the tools. If I find myself not dedicating time to integrating them into my classroom, I will go back to the basics and start small if it seems too overwhelming. Possibly a good start would be incorporating one slideshow a week into my lessons. Finally for this indicator, I will evaluate my learning by working with a colleague. Getting feedback from someone who is well versed in this area will aide me in gaining insight.
Secondly, I chose indicator #5. Entering into a master’s program has placed me in the right direction towards accomplishing this, but often times I am still timid to reach out to others outside of my district. For my GAME plan for this I would like to team up with another art teacher in another district and create a virtual gallery that our students can share with one another. This will break down the walls of my classroom and help me to develop growth and leadership 21st century style. We could skype to one another and allow our students to share their art work virtually and discuss it. I will monitor my progress by checking in with my students and finding out if they like what we are doing. Feedback from them will be my greatest source of evaluation as well.

The National Educational Technology Standards go above and beyond the standards I try to meet each day in the realm of art. However they creatively tie in my content area with 21st century skills challenging me to be a better teacher. Improving on these two indicators will help me to get there.

Resources:
www.iste.org