Final Blog Post

I really liked that this course required us to make a GAME Plan. So often do I learn something and think “I can use that”, but I rarely take it any further and try it out in my lessons. In this course, I set two educational goals for myself: adapting or creating lessons that contain “digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008), and “contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of [my] school and community” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). After setting these goals, I knew I would have to update everyone on how I was doing to achieve my goals and the progress I was making which encouraged me to put them into motion. Through communicating with my fellow classmates at Walden, I was able to learn from their ideas/insight and even share some of my own with them. I began reflecting on my lesson plans each weekend for work to see how I could make improvements for the following week by using some of the technology I had been learning in my course and testing it out with my students. I realize after taking this course how important it is to update lessons, so students are learning the curriculum and technology skills collectively. Digital storytelling and blogging are versatile enough to add to many lessons, so by looking through the units I teach I was able to update the way in which students are sharing and presenting their information. I plan to continue working on my goals by keeping current on the latest technology tools for education and learning how to use them in order to teach my students.

-Lauren Cogan

Reference:

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

The GAME Plan Process Used with Students

In week two, I created My GAME plan goals which involved improving my lesson plans so they incorporate more technology and concentrating on my professional growth specifically learning more about technology that I can infuse into my lessons. I believe I have learned a lot through this class about technology tools that can be used in the classroom such as blogs, wikis, and digital storytelling. These are all tools that help students to develop proficiency skills in the use of technology. These tools can enable students to meet the NETS-S standards such as standard number four: “Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). Each week as I am developing my lesson plans for the coming week, I observe how I taught the lesson last year and determine how I can improve the lesson by using some form of technology that was not previously there. By learning more about technology and then trying it out in my lessons, students are being exposed to more forms of it and thus are able to meet the NETS-S standards.
Using what I have learned about the GAME plan process from this class, I can help my students to create educational goals of their own. Once written down, students can reflect on these goals by updating their progress much as we have with our goals. This will help students to easily view their goals regularly and reflect on their goals which will motivate them to continue trying to reach them.
My goals I developed will help me to continue updating my lessons to meet the needs of my 21st century students.

-Lauren Cogan

Reference:

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

GAME Plan-Week Six

The goals I created for myself about implementing new technology into my lessons and improving on my professional development are ongoing goals. I will continue to work towards my goals for the remainder of the school year. A new goal I would like to set for myself is from the NETS-T standard 3.D. “ model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). This new goal is related to my other goals as it involves me learning about and then incorporating new technology into my lessons. I will be using websites like Free Technology for Teachers to keep me up-dated on the newest was to use technology in the classroom. This website always has great ideas for teachers on how to present the learning content but incorporate technology in the process. New information and reviews are posted every day. Finding time to do the extra research is the problem when it comes to meeting this goal. I could spend hours, if I had that type of time, writing down new ideas on adapting lessons I have or developing new ones that increase the use of technology. Time is always the roadblock.
-Lauren Cogan
6-7 language arts

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

Evaluating my GAME Plan Progress

This week I have learned a great deal about project-based learning units, and it is wonderful that the one I will be creating for class can be tested out in my own classroom. I have not done many project-based learning units in the past mainly because of the need for technology in every lesson and the fact that we do not have laptops in class really puts a damper on the chance to watch the amount and level of learning that takes place in such a unit. However, I could always try to test out the unit I create over the next couple of weeks during the end of the year when there is less of a demand for the computer lab. My goal of creating more opportunities for students to use and learn with technology would benefit from such a unit, even if it is a mini unit this school year. As stated in chapter eight, “when technology is incorporated in an effective way, it can indeed facilitate creative thinking skills in the language arts classrooms” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.196). When students are engaged in a problem-based learning lesson, they are using their creative thinking skills to help them make decisions and find solutions to their posed problem(s).

Although I am learning a great deal this week about problem-based learning lessons, I still need to spend more time researching this topic before I feel comfortable presenting this unit to my students. Questions that arise are: How do I ensure all students are sharing the work load in their groups? How do I catch students up who have been absent or would their partners do that? How do I find the time to teach those students not comfortable with technology that may be used such as blogs and wiki? I hope by the end of the three lessons I create, I will be more secure with the idea of creating and using a problem-based learning unit in my classroom.

-Lauren Cogan
6-7 language arts

Reference: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.

Monitoring my Game Plan Progress

Through this course I am learning a lot more about the technology that is available for the classroom which is helping me to adapt lessons to incorporate more technology. One idea that I want to use in the near future is the online testing software called Hot Potatoes. It allows teachers to create questions for students who go online to answer them and then the information is recorded. (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.144). This would allow for quick assessments and record keeping. I also like the idea of moving our portfolios to becoming online portfolios. We recently found out our school is doing away with the portfolio boxes that contain each student’s writing samples from each grade level. We were told they do not have enough time to sort through them each year to move the students’ files to their new teacher’s box. If the portfolios were online then they could be accessed very easily each year. Students will just need to save their work in a word document in order to upload it to a portfolio management system (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, 152). Does anyone currently use an online portfolio system with their students? If so, do you allow them to pick what writing they want to add to their portfolio or are they already selected by you? In my district, the teachers select only four writing samples, each being the marking period’s timed writing which gets scored using the state writing rubric. I would prefer to have the students pick which pieces they want to put in their portfolio, but I currently cannot do that. My second goal, growing as an educator, is being fulfilled by taking this course and learning about the technology available for teachers to us in the classroom. I am gaining a lot of resources and information that I can put into my lessons.

-Lauren Cogan
6-7 language arts

Reference: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.

Carrying Out my GAME Plan

To carry out my first goal of adapting or creating lessons that contain “digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008), I will need computers. I wish my school district, like my husband’s school district, had laptops available for students to use. If my classroom was equipped with laptops, I would be able to incorporate a lot more technology into my lessons. Students could use the laptops to write essays instead of doing it on paper, and when they went back to peer-edit and revise, less work would be required because the essay would be saved in a Word document. We could create electronic portfolios instead of the boxed ones we currently have, and students could easily publish their work to a blog or wiki. Students could also easily access websites we were exploring in class, take on-line quizzes, and each student could participate in interactive review games. I am currently limited in how I adapt my lessons because of the technology that is available. I have, however, been using the SMART board more in class which enables students to have more chances to interact with it, but I am limited to one students at a time.

For my second goal, “contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008), I will need the assistance of my administrators as they are the ones who plan the workshops we attend in school each year. They usually ask for input and comments from the faculty, so I can inform them that more workshops focusing on technology and content specific ideas would greatly benefit the teachers. I am currently taking this class, so that is helping me to reach my goal of improving and growing as a teacher. Each week I am learning new information and forming ideas that I can use in my classroom if not now then in the near future. I am setting and reflecting on goals I have created for myself as a teacher which is also helping me become an effective educator. And lastly, I am always reading and researching new ideas on the computer for improving my lesson plans. By doing this, I am demonstrating my ability to grow as an educator as I am not doing the same lesson year after year.
With that being said, I feel I am off to a good start on reaching my goals set last week.

-Lauren Cogan
6-7 language arts

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

My Personal GAME Plan

Setting goals helps me to continue to challenge myself and continue to grow in my profession. After reviewing the International Society for Technology in Education website and reading through the National Education Standards for Teachers, I have developed two goals that will help me to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in using technology in the classroom. It is my hope that I can meet these goals on some level despite my limited technology resources at school.

The first goal is from indicator 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Experiences and Assessments: “design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). To achieve this goal, I will begin to incorporate more technology into lessons that will benefit from the enhancement. For example, I can use a digital storytelling program to adapt my unit on the personal narrative. In the first marking period, students learn how to write a personal narrative which then goes into their writing portfolio. To incorporate technology into this unit, I can teach students how to use the digital storytelling program to “enable learners to reflect, represent, and communicate what they know” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.67) in order to help the class “develop a deeper understanding of the perspectives of others” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.69). Students will be given the opportunity to turn their writing into images and to record their narrative using a recording device. By creating lessons like this one, I will be teaching my students how to use technology and creative thinking skills to demonstrate what they know. To monitor the progress of my goal, I will observe my students during these technology rich lessons to determine if the addition of the technology to the lesson is benefitting the students as ideas may look good on paper, but one needs to see it in action to decide if it was beneficial or not. I will make adjustments to my lesson plans as needed for the next time I teach the lesson. To extend my learning, I will continue to research and read about different ways to use technology to enrich my lessons and promote student creativity and growth.

My second goal is from indicator 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership: “contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). To achieve this goal, I will continue to peruse my master’s degree in education with a concentration in adolescent literacy and technology. I will also continue to read and research information about technology being used in the classroom, so I can remain current in the latest tools being used to enhance student learning. Lastly, I will continue to take workshops offered by my school district that inform me about technology for the classroom. I have a professional developmental plan that I need to create each year at school and then I chart the different professional developmental programs that I attended. This chart will help me to monitor my goal as I record the classes I attend at Walden and the workshops I attend throughout the year. I will evaluate this goal by reflecting back each month and determining if I used the information I have learn that month to enhance my lessons. It is important that teachers change or adapt their lessons to meet the needs of the current students they have. Classes change each year regarding their needs and abilities. If I do not modify or adapt my lessons from year to year then I am not benefitting my students or being an effective teacher. I owe it to my students to replenishment my resources that I use to deliver my lessons, and I can do this effectively by meeting my goal.

Reference:
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). (2008). http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Reflection

Learning how to develop inquiry-based research projects has been an eye-opening experience for me as I have never created such a unit. Providing students with the opportunity to become investigators, to create their own questions to research, to use the Internet to uncover their answers, and then create a way to demonstrate their learning is what the 21st century learning environment should look like (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). From the resources I read and the multimedia videos I watched, I was able to learn how beneficial this type of learning is for the students. Previously, I had provided students with the topics or the questions they needed to research. I realized, however, that teachers need to facilitate learning, but the students are the ones who need to become in control of how they learn. As stated in Reading the web: strategies for internet inquiry (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007),“A resourceful person may not know all the answers, but she is strategic and tenacious at finding them…when stumped a resourceful person does not give up but rather tries to think of another resourceful consult.” (119). Teachers need to teach their how to become a resourceful person in life. Students need to acquire the necessary skills such as: how to evaluate a web site to ensure the information is reliable, how to summarize the information, how to synthesize the information read in order to record it in some fashion, and how to deepen their questioning skills in order to proceed on their journey through the inquiry-research. Once the students master these valuable literacy skills, they will be able to use them for many reasons throughout their lives.

I have been greatly influenced by the amount of information I have learned in this course about web literacy and inquiry-based research projects. I realized that the learning that takes place during a lesson does not have to be contained to the classroom. Once students have mastered the necessary skills to embark on the inquiry-based research, they are ready to travel far and wide through the magic route of the Internet. In gaining this knowledge of the 21st century classroom and learning environment, I have been planning on executing next school year the inquiry-based research unit I created. In this unit, students will be exploring questions related to the Great Depression in preparation for the reading of two novels that occur during that time period. Students will get the opportunity to become active learners and explorers. I also would like to develop an inquiry-based project for my 7th graders in their writing class. I will be modifying the research project that my students do in December on a cultural holiday tradition or celebration. Previously, I provided them with questions to help guide them in their research; however, I now plan on teaching them the necessary skills to develop their own questions. I also have learned new ways to teach them how to be stronger investigators such as how to use search engines that are geared towards them, how to be more conscious of the words or phrases they type in the search engine, how to develop stronger questions that will expand their research (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). With this knowledge, I will be able to better meet the needs of my 21st century students.

I have created a professional developmental goal that I would like to achieve for the 2010-2011 school year related to the use of web literacy. I would like to create a communication forum between my students and another class from a different state. In order to achieve this goal, I need to carefully plan out the process. I will first have to get approval from my school district to ensure we are allowed to use a blog forum as currently no teacher in my district is using technology in this manner. I will have to then connect with another teacher who is willing to arrange his or her time to plan the unit with me as well as be willing to teach the unit the same time that I do. After we create the unit, I will have to teach my students the essential literacy and web skills that I previously mentioned to be able to communicate through the use of a blog forum with students from the other class. Lastly, I will have to ensure the communication between the two classrooms continues until the end of the unit, or students will not remain motivated. Although many problems could occur, these are risks I am willing to take to expand the realm of the learning environment. Students will be able to learn that communication and learning can extend beyond the walls of our classroom as they connect with other students their age who are learning the same unit.
-Lauren Cogan

References:
Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York: The Guilford Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Armstrong, S. (Speaker). Program Nine. Project-based learning. [Motion Picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Websites for Students Researching The Great Depression

Here are the following websites I have bookmarked for students researching The Great Depression-specifically the Dust Bowl.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/depression/dustbowl.htm

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Cunfer.DustBowl

http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html.

-Lauren Cogan