Final Reflection

When I was working on my GAME plan I discovered many websites which I can use for locating information. I also discovered websites for blogging, interactive websites and online collaboration. I also appreciated the comments from my peers which helped towards the completion my GAME plan.
What I did not know before starting this class was the NETS-Standards. Even though I teach science I will incorporate these standards into my teaching. In incorporating these standards it also provides students another way to practice 21st century learning skills.
In our video series Dr. Arnie Abrams states not to just use technology for the sake of using technology but using it “to accomplish your goals and hopefully matching those to state, local and national standards” (Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer), 2009). I really like this statement because it challenges me to find new and significant ways to use technology as an educational tool. I always want to make sure when I use technology that it has a strong educational and instructional purpose. I do not want to just develop a PowerPoint for notes but to use it as a learning tool which my students can use to show me what they have learned such as creating a digital storybook.
I am working on locating additional websites for online organizers so students can either have a hard copy of an organizer or the option of using an online organizer to help them organize their thoughts and information. I also would like to one day let my students have the option of doing their journal work online or in a notebook.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author

Using the GAME plan process with students

The GAME plan can be used quite easily to help the students to develop their technology skills. One way to establish ways students could communicate and collaborate with each other as by using collaborative websites. They could monitor different collaboration websites and determine which website would work best for them. They could then use a blog to evaluate and extend their thinking. Another example would be for the students to develop a GAME plan for critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. They would take what they already know about collaboration and start on a problem-based project which would require them to set a goal of identifying problems in a particular area. Then they would take action to find out more about the problem and what could be done. The students and the teacher would continue to monitor their progress through the use of the blog. They can also evaluate the information they collect to see if they need to look beyond the initial problem to finish their project. As students are working on the GAME plan for critical thinking, problem solving and decision making they will also incorporate the research and information fluency standard as well. The standard states “students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate and use information”. (National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), 2008). So one GAME plan can incorporate more then one technology standard at a time plus it would also combine the technology standards with our state learning standards for science.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

More of my GAME plan

As I continue on with my GAME plan I am still trying to collect my websites. I have found some while doing work for my Master’s Degree. Right now we are looking for interactive websites and I was pleased to find out that Wikispaces is no longer blocked at our school. I had set one up last year but then a couple weeks later it was blocked. I was very frustrated because I wanted to use it for classroom collaboration. An online collaboration website our school is using is Schoology.com. In reading about how to best integrate science into the classroom it states that part of it depends on the teachers way of communicating with students, parents, administrators and community members through technology and print. (Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P.,2009). Schoology is an interactive site which the students can go and access a teacher’s webpage in order to work on assignments with students or teachers. The school is hoping to be able to make it available to parents as well in order to see what their child is doing in class. Our media specialist worked very hard at keeping this from getting blocked because she feels this is a great way to encourage 21st century learning skills.

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.

Continued evaluation of my GAME plan

Another evaluation of my GAME plan

As I begin to start my lesson for my graduate school project I realized that many of the websites which I have gathered will work well for my problem-based project. I already have several environmental, governmental and science websites which will help with the final project. One observation I am making is that the list of websites I am gathering will be helpful for projects I have planned this school year.

What I want to do now is locate interactive organizational diagrams which can help my students to organize their thoughts and information before working on a final product. The students could use a website which incorporates a web-type organizational diagram while doing research on the Gulf Oil Spill. They will make the oil spill the center issue and then use the outer circles to add the rest of the information. My students have not had experience using the online webs so we would have to do one together prior to the activity. This way the students will not feel too overwhelmed when they work on their project.

Third review of my GAME plan

I realized the other day when reading the two objectives which I want to work towards that I had not blogged on how I would model creativity and innovative thinking. I went to our text for the course and looked up what it meant to model creativity and innovative thinking. According to our text there are six types of creative thinking and I am going to make divergent creative thinking part of my game plan. This means my students will take a point and move outward to a variety of perspectives (Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P., 2009). Later this school year I am planning on doing a lesson on the Gulf Oil Spill. As part of the lesson I want to provide them with the question of “How do you think the environment will be affected by the Gulf Oil Spill”? I would have the students use the websites which I am currently collecting and research how the area is affected already and also research other oil spills and the results of those. I still need to locate all my websites but I have obtained several of them and put them in an online bookmarking site so that they are accessible where ever I am. I have discovered several websites for science, government, and news. I made folders on the bookmarking page which helped me to keep them organized. I still need to go through the government websites to see who deals with environmental issues with in our local, state and federal government. I want to be prepared so if an environmental issue comes up in the city I work in then my students can get involved in learning about the issue and decided if there is something they can do about it.

One area I am going to have to modify temporarily is my professional development on technology due to my work and school load. I will not be able to attend the Podcast professional development. I am hoping they will offer it again but until then I will try and work with it some more. I do know our media center does have microphones and they have used podcasting before, so I will check with them.


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.

Continuing My GAME Plan

As I continue on with my GAME plan I need to develop a list of websites which have current event information. Some of these websites will be news websites on a local, state and national level. Other websites I will add to my list are science and environmental websites such as NASA and EPA. I currently have these websites bookmarked on my computer in my classroom and at home but I need to have them on a flash drive so they are with me where ever I am. Another step I need to take is to locate the names of people involved with our local and state government who deal with environmental issues. I know I can locate some of them on our county website but I need to find other sites where I can find the information I need. The third thing I need to do is to become more familiar with presentation tools such as podcasts or video streaming. I am currently enrolled in a professional development class about podcasting. I have used podcasting once but am not really comfortable with using it with my class until I have more training so I am looking forward to this class. Anytime there is a professional development class dealing with technology in our school district I try to take it because the more proficient I am with multiple media modalities the more helpful it will be for my students.

My Game Plan

New technology is constantly being developed and it is my job as a teacher to learn what is out there and how I can incorporate it into my classroom. In the National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for Teachers there are some specific goals which I would like to concentrate on in order to use technology as an efficient teaching tool (National Education Standards for Teachers, 2008). Two goals I have established for myself is to promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness and engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems (National Education Standards for Teachers).
One way I will achieve these goals is by exploring different issues which pertain to my students on a local or national level. There are different websites locally which I could obtain information from such as local politicians and environmental scientists in our area. I also need to be up to date with the environmental issues which are occurring today. This can be done by monitoring news websites as well and what is being communicated on television. I want my students to know about their community and nation and develop ways in which they could become affective caretakers of it.
I will monitor myself by keeping a log of what websites I have visited and if they are reliable resources of information. If they are not then I need to keep navigating the internet for more sites. I need to question myself to see if these websites would be user friendly for my students. If they are not then they would not be a beneficial teaching tool for me to use. I need to constantly be aware if I am meeting my learning goals. If not then I must modify them and decide what I should do differently (Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P., 2009). I feel one way of keeping track of myself is by either blogging or keeping a journal of my goals and research. This way I can go back and evaluate myself in order to become a better teacher and researcher.

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.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf