Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

This week, I continue to refine and develop my GAME plan. In the interest of monitoring my progress, I will ask myself four questions: Am I finding the information and resources that I need? Do I need to modify my action plan? What have I learned so far? And, what new questions have arisen?

Am I finding the information and resources I need?

I have a copy of the documents for all of the modules I will be teaching. I have started reading over and studying these plans. As for spending time over the summer with the teacher in the position before me, our schedules have not matched at all to this point. Because it is summer vacation, I have spent quite a bit of time traveling. He has been on vacation also. I am out of town now for the next two weeks. When I get home, I will have approximately ten days before I have students in my classroom! I am still hoping to spend some time in the classroom with the other teacher before school starts. I have talked with him over the phone, and we have emailed and sent texts back and forth about various questions I have had. Spending time in the classroom has also been difficult because of limited access to the building. The times that I have had available have been times when the administration was gone on vacation. This part has been very frustrating and leaves me feeling unprepared.

I have had very little success finding blogs or websites written by career technology teachers. If anyone has suggestions on keywords to search, or knows of sites about career technology, I would love some input. Think about the old “Industrial Arts” or “shop” classes with technology incorporated in them. That is what I will be teaching. Someone suggested that I consider starting a Deca Club. I looked that up on Google and found that it is about marketing, finance, hospitality, and management for high school and college students. This does not match what I teach at all.

Do I need to modify my action plan?

I do not feel like my action plan is very effective at this point. This could be because it is summer time and I do not have access to the resources like I would during the school year. I think that the ideas that I have are good ones, but the timing is off. So yes, I need to change what I am doing right now since carrying out my GAME plan needs to be more than just good ideas. Perhaps I need to focus on studying the lesson plans that I have for the modules. At least that would give me some familiarity with the programs I will be teaching. Then, when I do get time in the building, I can work on learning the equipment and machinery.

What have I learned so far?

I have learned that finding resources is very important. I feel stuck because I cannot connect with the appropriate people, equipment, and websites. I have learned that action means ‘doing.’ I need to get in there and get my hands dirty. I cannot just keep reading about it and thinking about it. I have learned that technology comes in many forms. I have an extensive list of equipment, but my hands are still tied when it comes to integrating technology in a way that is most familiar to students.

What new questions have arisen?

One question that I have been thinking about lately is, “How can I integrate what I am learning about instructional technology with the technology I will be using in career technology?” It is amazing to me that a course on technology can be so outdated in its implementation.  The lesson plans for this class were written sixteen years ago!

I wonder how the new common core standards will affect my class. In Georgia, technology instruction is becoming a focus area. How will I need to change my program to meet those standards? What does the future hold? Will I be ready to teach when school begins in August?  I feel like I have many more questions than answers at this point.

Working through this process has been good for me. “The GAME plan requires you to think about and take steps to direct your learning process, specifically while learning about technology and how to integrate it into the curriculum” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 3). This course could not have happened at a more appropriate time. Because I am changing content areas, I need to plan a course of action. The GAME plan has helped me to focus on what needs to be done.

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.

Check this out! I used tagxedo.com to create a word picture of my blog to this point. The size of the word depends on how often the word is used. I love that 'students' and 'technology' are the two biggest words!

Carrying Out my GAME Plan

The journey of my GAME plan continues today with consideration of how I will implement this plan. What resources or additional information will I need? What steps have I taken so far? What is my intended learning strategy? These are the questions that I will attempt to answer in this installment.

In order to be proficient with the technologies I will be using in my new position, I need to spend time learning about the equipment. In talking with a colleague this week, he suggested I simply type the name and model number of the piece of equipment into Google and YouTube and see what information is already out there. I thought that was a great idea, and frankly, I never would have thought of it! So, I will need Internet access, names and model numbers, and some type of bookmarking application to save videos that I find.

Another resource I will need to carry out my plan is to conference with the teacher who was in the position before me and to go over all of the documents he has given me. The documents are in digital format, so I will need access to a computer and the appropriate programs to view the documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). To conference with the teacher, I will need to find time when he is available to meet. Summer vacation being what it is, this might be the most difficult resource of all!

My learning strategy is to work through as much of the material and equipment as possible on my own, noting where I need help as I go along. In order to utilize my colleague’s and my time most effectively, I need to be ready with questions when I meet with him. For some of the information, it is simply a matter of making time to figure it out. For some of the equipment, I need to see it in use to understand the principles behind it.

Already, I have a bookmarking application set up. I use delicious.com. This is convenient because I can see my bookmarks from any computer with Internet access. I have been in contact with the previous teacher about setting up a time to meet in the classroom. This will happen over the next two weeks. I have started looking at some of the documents that go with the modules. So, things are moving along.

The other goal in my GAME plan is to engage in professional growth and leadership to explore creative application of technology to improve student learning. “Just having computers and software in the classroom is not significant; how the educators use those computers and that software to promote learning is far more important” (King-Sears & Evmenova, 2007, p.6). For this goal, I will need access to the Internet, blogs of other career technology teachers, an aggregator to keep track of blog subscriptions, and contact with other career technology teachers in my district.

My learning strategy is to contact the other career technology teachers in my district. I hope that they can point me toward professional organizations to join and blogs to read. I will also have the opportunity to see what they are doing in their classrooms. Hopefully, we can share ideas and strategies.

I use Google Reader for my aggregator. I already follow several technology blogs. While these are helpful, they do not target the areas of technology that I need. I will continue to search for more specific Internet resources. If any of my colleagues in this learning community have suggestions, I would love to hear them!

Reference

King-Sears, M., & Evmenova, A. S. (2007). Premises, principles, and processes for integrating technology into instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(1), 6–14. Retrieved from the Academic Search Complete database.

My GAME Plan

My assignment today is to make a GAME plan for strengthening my confidence and proficiency with technology. GAME is an acronym that stands for setting Goals, taking Action, Monitoring the actions, and Evaluation of the results. To decide which areas of technology in education I should be working on, I consulted the ISTE NETS and Performance Indicators for Teachers (NETS-T) at http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx. Two indicators caught my eye right away. The first was “Model Digital-Age Work and Learning.” Specifically, I want to focus on goal 3a: “demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.”  I will be teaching career technology next year. This position comes with many types of technology that are new to me.  My goal is to be proficient in all of these new technologies. The second area that caught my eye was “Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership.” Under this category, goal 5a: “participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative application of technology to improve student learning” is the goal on which I want to focus. The position that I am stepping into next year is very innovative, but I still think improvements can be made. I want to talk to others in this type of position and find ways to improve my class.

My actions for demonstrating fluency in technology systems are first to spend time over the summer familiarizing myself with the new (to me) equipment. I also am in contact with the teacher who was in the position before me. He is willing to spend time acclimating me to the processes and procedures. Lastly, I have all of the documents covering the various modules that I can study over the summer.

My actions for engaging in professional growth and leadership include subscribing to blogs written by other career technology teachers, contacting the two other career tech teachers in our district, and looking for a professional development organization to join. These actions will take some research on my part. It is a totally new territory, but one that I am looking forward to pursuing.

In the monitoring stage of my GAME plan, I will reflect on my actions and determine if I am on the right track or if I need to make changes. “As a reflective learner, (I) will think about what has been effective in the past, but also continually monitor and evaluate what is effective for (me) now” (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009, p. 11). I will ask myself if my plan is working or if I need to find more information. I will adjust my plan as necessary during this stage. This plan for monitoring applies to both of the goals I am working on.

Finally, evaluating my plan will consist of determining if my actions have increased my technology skills. I will evaluate my actions based on Dr. Peggy Ertmer’s (2009) guidelines for the effective integration of technology: Do I have the knowledge I need to present content with technology? Do I have confidence in my technology skills? And, do my technology beliefs match my teaching? If I am able to effectively trouble-shoot problems in the lab, that will be an indication that my plan worked. Another indication would be the integration of new ideas from colleagues and the Internet. I am excited to hear about ideas and suggestions for improvement!

References

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.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.