Developing a Game Plan

Being confident in what you are teaching is very important.  If you do not have confidence, then knowledge will be wasted (Laureate Education Inc., 2010a).  There are many students and educators that lack confidence in the classroom, and therefore they are not willing to try new things, like using technology in the classroom.  I am fairly confident using technology in the classroom, especially since I use it all of the time in my personal life.  I know that there is always room for improvement, and I know that there are areas, where I lack confidence.  

This week I will be developing a GAME plan to help me strengthen two indicators that are within the National Society for Technology in Eduction. where the national standards are for teachers.  GAME is a series of steps, that educators and students can use to become more self directed with their learning, while using technology in the classroom.  The steps to GAME are setting goals, taking actions, monitoring your goal and evaluating how you accomplished that goal (Laureate Eduction Inc., 2010b).  

As an educator, I know how important it is to facilitate an authentic technology rich learning environment, that will help the students to become self directed learners, who are able to be creative in the classroom, along with learning critical thinking skills.  I will be able to provide the students with that kind of learning experience, by applying behaviors and modeling those behaviors that the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Teachers have set forth.  I have chosen tow of those standards, that I believe will help me be able to strengthen my confidence in the classroom while using technology.  

The first standard that I will address is 4.A, advocate, model, and teach safe, legal and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.  

Goal: It is my goal to ensure that the students are safe on the internet, while learning how to properly site the information that they are using.  I want to learn more about to teach the students to be safe on the internet, and to be able to teach them how to properly site information.  
Action: In order to achieve this goal, I need to research ways to teach students how to be safe on the Internet.  A good place to start is Edutopia, as I have found an article that has some great information in it on how to teach the students to be safe.  The next action step that I will need to take is to decide if I want to teach the students MLA or APA style of citation.
Monitor: As I gain more knowledge about how to teach the students to be safe on the internet, I anticipate that I will be able to reach the students and give them the skills that they need to navigate the internet safely.  Once I have gained that confidence, I will be able to help the students learn how important it is to cite the source of their information.  I will be able to monitor my progress by how the students are reacting to the lessons on safety and citation.  The students reaction will help me determine if I need to change my plan. 
Evaluate: I plan on evaluating my progress by modeling and applying what I have learned within the classroom.  I hope to have a better understanding on how to teach the students to be safe on the Internet and how to cite their sources correctly.  I will also evaluate my progress on whether or not the students met their goals.  If the goals were not met, then I will be able to determine what I need to do differently to ensure that they meet the goals.  

The second standard that I will address is 1.C  Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes. 

Goal: It is my goal to ensure that the students are able to use collaborative tools within technology.  I want to learn more about the different kinds of collaborative tools that are available, so I will be able to help the students figure out what tool would work best for them on their projects.  
Action: In order to achieve this goal, I will be doing research on wikis, blogs, and Google docs to determine what collaborative tool would work best in the classroom, for the students to use.  
Monitor: As I do the research on the different kinds of collaborative tools, I will begin to gain more confidence on what tool would be the best fit for the classroom.  I anticipate that during my research, I will have more questions and wonderings about what I have found.  I have done some research and I am leaning more towards using a Wiki in the classroom as a collaborative tool.  
Evaluate: I will be able to evaluate my progress by applying wikis in the classroom for the students to use, when they are collaborating on a project together.  I will gauge my understanding on wikis by teaching the students about them.  As the students and I get more confident using a wiki, I can set up an opportunity for the students to work with others from another school on a project.  

In conclusion, I feel that it is very important for teachers to come up with a GAME plan on what they want to the students to learn.  The students can even come up with their own GAME plan to help them succeed with their own learning.  

  
References:

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2014). ISTE Standards for teachers resources. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010a).   Integrating technology across the content areas: Enriching content area learning experiences with technology, part 1. 
 [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010b/').   Integrating technology across the content areas: Promoting self-directed learning with technology. 
 [Video webcast]. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1