Evaluating my GAME plan

I am developing the end portion of my GAME plan. 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.

This week I am looking at letter “E” of my GAME plan which stands for evaluating. The actions that I took previously to meet my goals need to be looked at objectively to see if I am making adequate progress.

Action steps that I monitored this week in accordance with goal #2 was to design digital learning experiences. This ran closely hand-in-hand with goal #5, to grow professionally. I challenged myself to start putting into practice the benchmarks my school committee has set for our building when it comes to the integration of technology. It is Tuesday, and already I have used technology for two different grade levels this week. Furthermore, I have been able to spark the interest of my colleagues by emailing them the link of a Prezi that I made for my fifth graders. I found www.prezi.com (through another masters course) which allowed me to grow professionally in the world of technology by creating a presentation about artist Wayne Theibaud that my fifth graders are studying. I was able to include pieces of his art, biographical text about his life and even a youtube clip of him working in his studio that I found online. The interaction that took place between my students when I was able to project my Theibaud prezi was magical. Simultaneously, many teachers asked me how I created my prezi and to stop by their rooms after school and give them some pointers. If you have not tried this program, check it out!

With all this said, I believe that I can evaluate myself with high regards this week. I feel I am setting obtainable actions steps and sticking by them for the betterment of myself and my children.

Robyn Peterson

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 2. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

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

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

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

Reflection

At the close of my most recent course towards integrating technology into my classroom, I feel more confident about incorporating 21st century skills into my everyday teaching, especially through new literacies. My students are flooded with literacy through way of digital delivery and unlike the information that I received through traditional text as a student, they have to be able to decipher between what is a valid resource and what is not.
One tool I found invaluable throughout this course, Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom, was looking at a website using the ABC’s provided by Beth Phillips. If we teach our children to look at websites objectively looking for an Author, a Bias, correct Content, official Dates and Evaluation of facts, they will experience much more success when gathering information. Before beginning this course I believe I had a much narrower scope of what I believed to be out there on the internet and now I am much more aware. I also feel I have grown substantially in allowing my class to become more student centered with project based learning, rather than guiding them through every piece of curriculum that we tackle.
One professional development goal I have set for myself as an educator returning to my classroom this fall is to incorporate new literacies into my art room setting. Gathering information through digital literacy should not fall simply within the realm of a core classroom setting, but should be explored in my content area as well. There are many ways I plan to do this and am excited for what lies ahead!
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Reflection

My personal theory of learning aligns with a cognitivist perspective in my art room setting. Jean Piaget believed in the concept that a child “continually modifies their cognitive structures, and thus knowledge is continually under construction” (Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. 2008). Because visual art is an area where children are constantly exploring and creating, it is my strong viewpoint that I am repeatedly engaging them in new activities that they are reflecting upon. As an artist myself, I witness the interaction that takes place when students are introduced to a new medium and the process they go through in manipulating it. Piaget broke his theory down even further by explaining that children…
build cognitive structures during all developmental stages. When children are exposed to something new that easily fits into prior experiences, the assimilate it.
However, when children encounter new knowledge for which they do not have a previous concept map, they accommodate it. (Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. 2008)

No matter where my children are in the learning process, and how they are processing the information at hand, I can reach them even further through the use of technology. Technology lends itself once again to the process of either being introductory to a student and reeling him or her in, or sparking a previous experience with a learner and capitalizing on what he or she already knows. For many 21st century learners like my children, technology can do just that. For example when we cannot physically go and see an actual piece of art, we can overcome this obstacle by taking a virtual tour using the internet and a projector. When we are studying a specific artist, we can step inside his studio through a YouTube video that shows how he creates what we he creates. We could also use technology in an art room setting by using a Voice Thread to express our feelings about a famous piece of art, or one created by our very own classmate. This would be an amazing way to get students to participate in an actual art critique, using 21st century tools.
Understanding that my children learn and process information in different ways makes me cognoscente of how I am approaching my personal learning theory in my classroom. Two long term goals that I have for myself as a teacher is to develop a classroom blog that would act as a three way communication source between myself, my students and the parents of my students. Another goal I have for furthering myself as a technologically savvy teacher is to connect my students with an outside source at least once a week in my classroom. By this I mean my intention is to not just teach art through physical visual aids in my classroom, but rather expand beyond our four walls into the cyberworld and make use of the many resources I have encountered. The more informed I am, the more sound my instruction will be, leading to a greater impact to my students in the realm of visual art.


Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Why Art Matters