Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Final Blog
GAME plan reflection:
As I look back on my GAME plan it made me really take a look at how I incorporate technology in the classroom. By setting a GAME plan it allowed me to really focus and plan virtual field trips and also look at using technology as a communication tool for students and parents. It also allowed me to see what our capability was currently at our school and what was not. For example, students are not able to have an email address at our school. I also learned that I must be patient and allow time to implement a blog into my classroom.
New Learning/immediate adjustments:
I found a variety of ideas that I will implement in the future. I am interested in using digital storytelling into my third grade classroom. This course also made me realize that technology is not a separate lesson in the classroom. It is important to teach students to use technology as a tool. It is important to implement technology into lessons more on a daily basis so it will become the norm for students to utilize these tools.
As I look back on my GAME plan it made me really take a look at how I incorporate technology in the classroom. By setting a GAME plan it allowed me to really focus and plan virtual field trips and also look at using technology as a communication tool for students and parents. It also allowed me to see what our capability was currently at our school and what was not. For example, students are not able to have an email address at our school. I also learned that I must be patient and allow time to implement a blog into my classroom.
New Learning/immediate adjustments:
I found a variety of ideas that I will implement in the future. I am interested in using digital storytelling into my third grade classroom. This course also made me realize that technology is not a separate lesson in the classroom. It is important to teach students to use technology as a tool. It is important to implement technology into lessons more on a daily basis so it will become the norm for students to utilize these tools.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
week 7: Game process with studnets
Week 7: Game process with students:
My first goal was to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. In order to do this I mentioned taking virtual field trips. But, I will also expand this eaching students to use other tools to teach creativity and innovation through blogs, and wikis as well.
My other goal of communicating with students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs will also lend itself to teaching students the NETS-S as well. Currently, I have added an Einstein section of my website that students access. This section has students answer challenging questions independently. Students are able to go to the link attached and look up the answers or look in textbooks or other references as well. I feel this addresses the section on research and information fluency of the NETS-S.
My first goal was to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. In order to do this I mentioned taking virtual field trips. But, I will also expand this eaching students to use other tools to teach creativity and innovation through blogs, and wikis as well.
My other goal of communicating with students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs will also lend itself to teaching students the NETS-S as well. Currently, I have added an Einstein section of my website that students access. This section has students answer challenging questions independently. Students are able to go to the link attached and look up the answers or look in textbooks or other references as well. I feel this addresses the section on research and information fluency of the NETS-S.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Week 6: Revising the GAME plan
My first goal was to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. I have selected to focus on bringing in virtual field trips. I feel I am becoming more confident that this will be easily facilitated with the technology of the Starboad in my classroom. I am excited to use this option in the classroom more. My list of effective field trips is growing, but I have noticed in my building…I haven’t gotten the response I had hoped for. This is something that most in our building have not done or considered. But, I thik more teachers will be interested once we get round two of the budget cuts. I am hoping to make a list to share with others in the building.
I would like to use other tools to inspire student learning and creativity in the classroom. I have thought about blogging and look forward to trying this out in the future, possibly starting with parents at the beginning of the year to see their response.
My second goal is to communicate information and ideas to students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs. I have the parent emails and classroom website set up and running. I need to work on a plan to update this on a more timely manner with the newsletter. I find I struggle to remember to do this. I have attached the spelling word lists that are available to parents though :)! I am struggling to get a blog set up. I have sent a request to the technology director and am waiting for a response. My goal is to have an actual blog up and running by the beginning of the school year and start from there. Wish me luck!
I would like to use other tools to inspire student learning and creativity in the classroom. I have thought about blogging and look forward to trying this out in the future, possibly starting with parents at the beginning of the year to see their response.
My second goal is to communicate information and ideas to students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs. I have the parent emails and classroom website set up and running. I need to work on a plan to update this on a more timely manner with the newsletter. I find I struggle to remember to do this. I have attached the spelling word lists that are available to parents though :)! I am struggling to get a blog set up. I have sent a request to the technology director and am waiting for a response. My goal is to have an actual blog up and running by the beginning of the school year and start from there. Wish me luck!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Week 5: Evaluation
Evaluation of progress:
I am still researching virtual field trips and I have discussed a few with my colleagues at school as well. I have received ideas from classmates on my blog and emails that have been beneficial. I have searched the internet and found some interesting sites, just narrowing them down to what would be beneficial to a third grade classroom and fit into our state standards can be a bit time consuming. I am still needing to meet with the technology director on setting up a blog, unfortunately, it may take several hoops to jump through prior to getting this setup.
I have noticed that setting up a GAME plan for myself, has made me look at what is the best way to communicate with parents/guardians. I really try to stay focused on communicating with parents via email much more, and find I get better responses when I do this. It is getting towards the end of the year, and many times I try to plan a unit for the following year. I find I am looking more on how to incorporate blogging and the technology aspect as I plan my unit.
I am still researching virtual field trips and I have discussed a few with my colleagues at school as well. I have received ideas from classmates on my blog and emails that have been beneficial. I have searched the internet and found some interesting sites, just narrowing them down to what would be beneficial to a third grade classroom and fit into our state standards can be a bit time consuming. I am still needing to meet with the technology director on setting up a blog, unfortunately, it may take several hoops to jump through prior to getting this setup.
I have noticed that setting up a GAME plan for myself, has made me look at what is the best way to communicate with parents/guardians. I really try to stay focused on communicating with parents via email much more, and find I get better responses when I do this. It is getting towards the end of the year, and many times I try to plan a unit for the following year. I find I am looking more on how to incorporate blogging and the technology aspect as I plan my unit.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Week 4 Blog Post
Week 4 Blog post: Description of progress toward goals of GAME plan:
Resources:
I have been able to find virtual field trips online, and also colleagues from the class have shared as well. I want to send out a mass email at work and ask others as well if they use these and how they worked. I would like to get more feedback from others about good and bad virtual fieldtrips, what works well, and what does not.
Modify Action Plan:
I must modify the goal of students using email. This is not an option in our school. I have the classroom website set, but still need to meet with the technology director on how to effectively set up a blog on the website, he is a busy person and I want to set it up to be the most effective and quick blog to check. I want the ability to read comments prior to them posting on the classroom website.
Learning:
I am learning to be patient. I need to set a timeframe to have certain items complete. This will allow me more freedom to research more on a certain area, instead of trying to do it all at once.
New Questions:
To my colleagues, do you have any virtual field trips that have worked and found successful. Which ones didn’t work as well? Did you do any assessment when you did the virtual websites? If you can post the website, that would help me create a library of virtual fieldtrips. Thank you!
Resources:
I have been able to find virtual field trips online, and also colleagues from the class have shared as well. I want to send out a mass email at work and ask others as well if they use these and how they worked. I would like to get more feedback from others about good and bad virtual fieldtrips, what works well, and what does not.
Modify Action Plan:
I must modify the goal of students using email. This is not an option in our school. I have the classroom website set, but still need to meet with the technology director on how to effectively set up a blog on the website, he is a busy person and I want to set it up to be the most effective and quick blog to check. I want the ability to read comments prior to them posting on the classroom website.
Learning:
I am learning to be patient. I need to set a timeframe to have certain items complete. This will allow me more freedom to research more on a certain area, instead of trying to do it all at once.
New Questions:
To my colleagues, do you have any virtual field trips that have worked and found successful. Which ones didn’t work as well? Did you do any assessment when you did the virtual websites? If you can post the website, that would help me create a library of virtual fieldtrips. Thank you!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Week 3: Resources for my GAME Plan
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity My goal is to teach students how use the internet to take virtual field trips to use this tool effectively.
Resources needed to facilitate this goal: Ask colleagues about successful virtual field trips they have done in their classes. Go online to discuss with other teachers what virtual field trips worked for them and were the most educational and interesting. Select virtual field trips that are aligned to the state standards as well.
I have discussed virtual field trips with a few colleagues, but need to ask others what works for them. As budget cuts continue, I feel this will be something for the future. Actually, I teamed with a teacher and we did a virtual field trip to Plimoth Plantation. They actually did a webcast; they were interviewed and answered as if they were still in that time. I really want to find more that will hold that type of attention with my students.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning: My goal will be to communicate information and ideas to students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs.
Resources and materials needed: I will need to get with our technology director to understand how to set up a blog the most secure way. Also, I want to know the easiest way to monitor this, and to be able to read comments prior to posting on the blog. I would also view other teacher’s blogs as well as search online to understand how other third grade teachers use their blogs as well.
In order for the email to parents to work, I will need to get the email of parents at the beginning of the year, and then test it out to be sure I have the correct emails
Resources needed to facilitate this goal: Ask colleagues about successful virtual field trips they have done in their classes. Go online to discuss with other teachers what virtual field trips worked for them and were the most educational and interesting. Select virtual field trips that are aligned to the state standards as well.
I have discussed virtual field trips with a few colleagues, but need to ask others what works for them. As budget cuts continue, I feel this will be something for the future. Actually, I teamed with a teacher and we did a virtual field trip to Plimoth Plantation. They actually did a webcast; they were interviewed and answered as if they were still in that time. I really want to find more that will hold that type of attention with my students.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning: My goal will be to communicate information and ideas to students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs.
Resources and materials needed: I will need to get with our technology director to understand how to set up a blog the most secure way. Also, I want to know the easiest way to monitor this, and to be able to read comments prior to posting on the blog. I would also view other teacher’s blogs as well as search online to understand how other third grade teachers use their blogs as well.
In order for the email to parents to work, I will need to get the email of parents at the beginning of the year, and then test it out to be sure I have the correct emails
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Week 2: Game plan
I have outlined my “GAME” plan for two indicators in NETS-T:
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
G: Goal will be to teach students how use the internet to take virtual field trips to use this tool effectively.
A: I will select at one virtual field trip selected for a Thanksgiving unit. Students will navigate independently through the website. Students will have a list of questions to answer as they navigate this website.
M: I will monitor this goal by interacting with the students and assisting them in the navigation process of the website.
E: I will evaluate this activity based on the questions the students were given to answer. I will also evaluate the activity based on student responses as well.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
G: Goal will be to communicate information and ideas to students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs.
A: I will use the classroom website as correspondence with parents and add a blog to the website as well for student publications. I will also set up parental email at the beginning of the year to be able to do mass emails as well as correspond individually with parents.
M: I will monitor my game plan based on the number of visitors on the website, and by reviewing the correspondence with parents. I will also monitor it based on the blog correspondence as well.
E: I will evaluate the information logged on the classroom website to see if it is beneficial to parents and students. I will ask colleagues to review the website for easy access and opinions as well.
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
G: Goal will be to teach students how use the internet to take virtual field trips to use this tool effectively.
A: I will select at one virtual field trip selected for a Thanksgiving unit. Students will navigate independently through the website. Students will have a list of questions to answer as they navigate this website.
M: I will monitor this goal by interacting with the students and assisting them in the navigation process of the website.
E: I will evaluate this activity based on the questions the students were given to answer. I will also evaluate the activity based on student responses as well.
Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
G: Goal will be to communicate information and ideas to students, parents, and peers using email, classroom website, and classroom blogs.
A: I will use the classroom website as correspondence with parents and add a blog to the website as well for student publications. I will also set up parental email at the beginning of the year to be able to do mass emails as well as correspond individually with parents.
M: I will monitor my game plan based on the number of visitors on the website, and by reviewing the correspondence with parents. I will also monitor it based on the blog correspondence as well.
E: I will evaluate the information logged on the classroom website to see if it is beneficial to parents and students. I will ask colleagues to review the website for easy access and opinions as well.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Reflection-week 8
Reflection
The most striking revelation in this course study was the importance of checking the validity of an actual website. I know it may sound a bit ironic, but as I teach third graders, I felt this is a step I would not include in the initial training of the internet. Now, this will become one of the first steps that I will introduce to my students. I also found that I need to teach students to be sure to understand what plagiarize means and the importance of recognizing other’s work.
During the planning of the unit, I decided to actually do the unit with my students as well. The unit was a biography research on presidents. I felt as I walked my students through this inquiry unit, I made adjustments and found items I needed to add and delete. As I worked on the inquiry unit, I found I needed to allow for my students to be more independent once I modeled how to research properly.
One of my professional goals will be to allow time during the year to have at least three inquiry based units set for my classroom, one in the beginning, middle, and the end of the year. Since we developed one of the projects already, I only have two more to go. The first unit will concentrate more on understanding the validity of a website as well as understanding how to correctly recognize another person’s work.
The most striking revelation in this course study was the importance of checking the validity of an actual website. I know it may sound a bit ironic, but as I teach third graders, I felt this is a step I would not include in the initial training of the internet. Now, this will become one of the first steps that I will introduce to my students. I also found that I need to teach students to be sure to understand what plagiarize means and the importance of recognizing other’s work.
During the planning of the unit, I decided to actually do the unit with my students as well. The unit was a biography research on presidents. I felt as I walked my students through this inquiry unit, I made adjustments and found items I needed to add and delete. As I worked on the inquiry unit, I found I needed to allow for my students to be more independent once I modeled how to research properly.
One of my professional goals will be to allow time during the year to have at least three inquiry based units set for my classroom, one in the beginning, middle, and the end of the year. Since we developed one of the projects already, I only have two more to go. The first unit will concentrate more on understanding the validity of a website as well as understanding how to correctly recognize another person’s work.
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