Strengthening My Practice with a GAME Plan

It is important not just for students who are the future workforce of the world, but also for those who educate these students to be life long learners committed to strengthening their own abilities in order to be of service.  There are several of the ISTE standards that I found myself gravitating towards, but the standard that I believe could have the most tremendous impact on my teaching practice immediately is the first.  Facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity should be second nature to most teachers, but as technology evolves teachers should be working to enhance their practice to meet the needs of student in a technology-rich environment. 

The two indicators I have selected to focus directly on for my GAME plan is standard 1b “engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources” and standard 1c “promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes” (ISTE, 2008).  Since I have been teaching English Literature in a very traditional manner for the majority of my tenure, it is important that explore the ways in which topics and themes discussed in the literature can be contextualized to allow students to tackle real world problems and produce opportunities for reflection and collaboration using technology.

There are many actions and avenues to reaching the goals I have set for enhancing my technology instruction.  In order to collect a variety of ideas for engaging my students in real-world problems connected to the literature we are reading, I can first conduct a search using the Internet to seek out both project-based learning ideas and WebQuests already developed in conjunction with the literature I am working with throughout the course of the school year.  Once I have exhausted by search using web search tools, I can consult professional websites such as National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) linked to my discipline to see if their archives reveal ideas for real-world connections.  Finally, I could search teacher blogs or lesson plan websites such as Teachers Pay Teachers to explore ideas in connection to my goal.

 In regards to my goal for promoting student reflection and collaboration tools, I plan to first explore the technology tools I am already familiar with and extend my understanding of these tools and their capacity for collaboration.  For example, our school uses Turnitin.com for writing submissions, and I remember seeing a “Discussion” tab that appears to be a collaborative tool that I have never explored.  I also remember Turnitin.com offering an option for teachers to create a reflection paper as a follow-up to previously submitted assignments but have never endeavored to fully understand this features potential.  Next, I will to learn strategies for establishing a framework or protocol for reflection and collaboration including such things as routines, rubrics, policies, and protocols.  With this need established, I will also search professional websites, the Internet, and commercial educator websites for tools and ideas for utilizing technology to establish these frameworks. 

Monitoring my progress with reaching the two goals I have set for myself could be an arduous task because I will be encountering such vast amounts of information and potential tools.  I will need to develop a system for tracking both the progress towards my goals and organizing both the information and the sources of the information.  I could easily develop a table or spreadsheet that contains essential questions, headings, and subheadings that address each one of the goals and its components in relation to my content.  Any time I find information or a new questions arises, I could import data or alter the table/spreadsheet to accommodate the new data.  Additionally, I am notorious for finding excellent resources online but failing to record my sources so that I can return to the content I have found in an expeditious manner.  I will use bookmarking tools available through my web browser to monitor my sources and mark them for further use and reference. 

Evaluation of my learning is perhaps the most important task in the GAME plan because it allows for a clear understanding of the progress I have made and the areas in which I will need to continue development. The best tool for measuring my progress would be to return to the table/spreadsheet previously mentioned to notice any gaps.  Additionally, I could dissect the standard and indicators I have chosen to really judge which aspects I have reached and which areas I could use further development.  With standard 1c, I should really be sure that I have tackled all aspects instead of globally addressing the standard. For example, have I focused more on collaborative tools for conceptual understanding and not quite given enough focus to collaborative tools use for the creative process?  Producing a written reflection will allow for me to thoroughly relay my thoughts regarding the evaluation of my learning and potential serve to help others who are attempting to strengthen their teaching practice in similar ways.  Publishing my reflection on my blog will allow the knowledge and skills I have learned to be transferred and accessible to other educators.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use:      A Standards Based Approach (Laureate Education, Inc. ed.). Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

Standards for Teachers. (2008). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://www.iste.org/standards/ISTE-           standards/standards-for-teachers