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.
Your new class sounds exciting. I hope you learn a lot from the teacher who used to teach the class. I taught a brand new class this past school year and almost all of my good lessons came from her. I think I got more out of one day picking her brain that I would have thought possible. Good luck with your new class.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. Having access to the teacher who taught the class before me is a definite plus. He is leaving to be the assistant principal at a new middle school in our district. However, he is a good friend and I will be able to call him as needed. For the first part of the year, I plan to keep everything exactly the way it is already set up. After I am more comfortable with the equipment in the room, I will start to change things up a bit. I would like to add many of the concepts we have been learning about in this program. Often, I have more ideas than I have time to make happen. I have to remind myself to slow down. I do not need to do it all right now! I am excited to get started, though!
Debbie
Deb-
ReplyDeleteFirst, I think that it is great that you are taking time to get your graduate degree in technology and that you will be responsible for this new tech class next year! I think that you must feel more prepared with all the technology we have worked with at Walden. Secondly, I would recommend that you try to talk to some students who took the course last year and see what they felt was worth while and what they would have liked to learn. Student feed back is a great way to develop a first time course. It will help you stay current with what the kids are interested in!
Mike,
DeleteI had not thought about surveying former students in the program. What a great idea! I will have to work on that. In some ways, I feel more prepared because of my time with Walden. In other ways, the two technologies are totally unrelated. One of my goals is to try to bring more of what I am learning in my graduate studies into the lessons I am teaching in career tech. I think the program could use some updating! Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions.
Deb
Deb,
ReplyDeleteTeaching a career technology class sounds like a perfect way to utilize all of the knowledge and skills that you have gained throughout your graduate work. It sounds like the GAME plan you developed will help you strengthen your confidence and proficiency with technology. The fact that you are going to teach a career technology class next year makes it more important than ever for you to build your confidence with technology. Your GAME plan involves learning new technologies and establishing new collaborations with technology teachers from across your district. Your collaborations with your new colleagues will allow you to share ideas about technology and instruction. The GAME plans you have made for your continued professional growth will certainly help you develop many great learning experiences for your students. Good luck with your 21st century instruction.
Eric,
DeleteThank you so much for the encouragement and the vote of confidence! Even though my master's is in technology, I feel totally unprepared for teaching this class! I am planning on relying heavily on other tech teachers and tips and ideas I find on the Internet. My plan is to slowly integrate the concepts that I am learning now into the class. I think if I just work on one or two areas at a time, I will not get too overwhelmed.
Deb
Fellow Math / Technology Teacher,
DeleteYour GAME plan sounds very solid, and it seems as if you have it all together. My advice is too RELAX. You stated that you would like to be proficient in all the new technology areas for next year. Good luck with that as in my opinion it won't happen. One summer isn't enough time to learn all that. I'm not trying to be negative rather to encourage and remind you that all we must do is stay ahead of our students. I came from the world of programming, development, and networking and trying to keep up to speed to new languages and technologies drove me CRAZY.
You seem to have a very positive outlook, and a great supporting cast. Stick to your GAME plan and I think that you will do great. I really like your reflective learner tidbit because the best critic is yourself.
~Allen Bryant
Allen,
DeleteLooks can be deceiving! I definitely do not have it all together! You are probably right that it will be impossible to be proficient in all of the technology areas next year. However, I have a long way to go if I hope to be even with the students. The problem for me is that the equipment is foreign: robot arm, CNC mill, videography equipment, etc. It is simply technology that I have no experience using. I am worried most about the troubleshooting aspect. If something goes wrong, I do not have a clue how to fix it. I need to at least play with the equipment a little before I am trying to teach students how to use it. That is the dilemma for me! You are correct that I have a great supporting cast. And, I think it will be fun. I just need to get my feet wet...
Debbie
Well in that case....don't just get your feet wet, dive right in!
DeleteDeb,
ReplyDeleteThis new class sounds exciting to teach. I am glad you are willing to learn the technologies over the summer and not have to to jump into something new without knowing how it all works. I think that when we as teachers can model how to appropriately use new technolgies in the classroom, our students will be more confident in the use of the technologies as well. My students were scared to death to use the Ipads that our school bought, but I had one that I used in the classroom and I allowed them to become familiar with the Ipad through modeling and multiple uses so that they would be comfortable using them. I also think its great that you have help from the previous teacher. That probably helps you in planning lessons because he can give you some great ideas for activities.
Amanda,
DeleteI am getting more and more excited about the possibilities of this class! Thanks to the previous teacher, the whole class is already planned and set up. Lesson plans are written, activities have been chosen, pre- and post-tests have been created, and supplies have been ordered. I literally am just stepping into the class and teaching. That is, as soon as I learn how to work all of the equipment! There are some things that I want to change/add, but I am not in a hurry to do that. My plan is to start out with the status quo. Your suggestion of modeling is a good one. There will be some students who have been in this class before, for different modules. I am counting on getting some help from them, too. They can model for other students in situations where I may not be able to. I think that will be interesting! This year will be a case of the teacher learning from the students!
Deb