Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Final Reflection

Reflecting back on both my GAME plan and blogging about the integration of technology into my classroom, I feel the growth I experienced was substantial on numerous levels. Two indicators from The National Educational Technology Standards that I have been striving towards improving in my art room setting are

-Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

-Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

My GAME plan was to start small and work my way towards meeting larger criteria. By this I joined a committee in our building that is developing the requirements placed on our staff for integrating technology into our classrooms and teaching with 21st century skills in mind. This was important because it aligned with my goal of engaging in professional growth and leadership. By using what my masters has taught me, I feel I am implementing tools and leading my colleagues in this direction. It has been an intense process and one that I am glad I have joined.

The other goal I set for myself was to become better acquainted with the tools in our building that we received through a technology grant. This aligns more with developing digital age experiences and assessments. By doing this I am integrating one technological vehicle a week (mimio, flip video camera, classroom blog, laptop and projector) in order to enhance my classroom. This is where I believe I am starting out small and working my way towards larger endeavors. At first when all of these tools became available to me I wanted to implement them into every lesson every time and that was unrealistic. It got to the point where I was more enthralled in implementing the technology tools than getting to the crux of the lesson and making sure my students were making progress. By downsizing into using one tool a week these goals have been manageable and successful. There is evidence of this on my classroom blog at www.facaartroom.blogspot.com. Each week I update parents on what we are learning and how technology made it possible. I especially love my current fifth grade lesson. It is a paper mache project that ties in artist Wayne Thiebaud and to kick it all off I create a multimedia presentation through prezi.com to introduce my students to this type of work.

The learning that has taken place in my classroom as a result of my goals with the above indicators has been intense. Particularly blogging about my experiences held me accountable to what I was trying to implement and provided great feedback through my peers. I experienced every emotion as I authentically tried to make these goals come to life, from frustration to elation.

As I continue on, some immediate adjustments I will be making will be to find further workshops and professional development sessions based on the tools that are in my building. This will only better myself as an educator and my students overall.

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