Week 4

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

To review, my GAME Plans focus on two standards:

Standard 2a: Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. 

Standard 4d: Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching. 

With suggestions from my colleagues, I have been able to find a great deal of resources for Standard 2a. My goal is to create meaningful learning experiences that are age appropriate for kindergarten. I want students to be enthused about being on the computer, regardless of what age they are. The classroom teacher I currently work with always sends them to three staple websites: Tumblebooks (local Library's read alouds), Education City (Math or Reading games), or Learn to Type Jr. Of the three programs, the one I feel most benefits them is Learn to Type Jr. Students are learning how to type with their fingers on the correct keys and this is so important for when they begin typing papers, doing internet searches, etc. 

To modify my action plan with this particular standard, I need to create a more realistic timeline that includes the tools being learned, how I will teach them, how students will use them and when they will be able to successfully use these tools either independently or with the support of  a classmate. When I mention timeline, I need to have a more purposeful plan on how I integrate technology to already existing content standards. I would like to have project goals set up throughout the year. Here is a rough sketch:

August/September: Learning the parts of the computer, How to turn on, use the mouse, navigate through the school district programs. 

October-December: Learn to illustrate using TuxPaint, save and open saved image for future uses. Also, learning how to upload image into a Word Document.

January-February: Using VoiceThread to look for  information about Science and Social Studies content and present using Digital Storybooks.

March-April- Use Microsoft Excel to graph survey results.

May-June- Use Powerpoint to share what they've learned in Kindergarten. Comparing their own experiences with that of a partnering classroom we will Skype with throughout the school year.

I realize that this may not go exactly as planned. Students may learn how to use the digital tools more quickly or take more time. The key is to be flexible. As far as new questions that have risen, I would like to know if there are any other Kindergarten, or K-2 teachers in the is course, what their suggestions are for teaching digital tools. How you taught them? When you taught them? Was there a plan you followed? Any blogs that had great ideas or how you taught students how to use the computer appropriately and effectively. We will no longer have a computer lab next school year, so I will need to improvise. 

For Standard 4d, it is my hope to use other forms of assessment to help drive my instruction. We currently use the mclass Wireless Generation TRC, NWF, PSF, BURST, and Math programs to benchmark and progress monitor our students. Along with using this technology, I would like to incorporate the use of clickers. I was thinking, to introduce the use of clickers, we could use the math concept of giving and reading survey results. I could ask a question, students respond, and then we could look at results. For a more summative approach, I could have students respond to any content area with questions displayed on the board, and students would have to choose the best answer with their clickers. I would then use these results to drive my instruction. Another area I would like to investigate further, is the use of Google Forms. Here I can create open ended assessments, multiple choice assessments, spelling assessments and it will be accessible at school or at home. I am interested to hear how other teachers are using assessments in kindergarten. What works well? What doesn't work so well? I really want to showcase authentic learning with real case scenarios so it is more interesting and motivating for my students.

Week 3: Carrying out my GAME plan

     This week I will be reflecting upon the resources I will need to carry out my GAME plan and the steps I have taken on fulfilling that plan.

     To ensure that I promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility, I have begun to review the program NetSmartz that our school uses to introduce internet safety  This program contains games and other helpful resources for teaching students about how to stay safe while using technology, from the Web site www.netsmartz.org. The key is using resources that are kindergarten friendly and suitable for the goal that I have. For me, it is important that students have realistic opportunities in which to practice their learned internet safety. The first month of school will be spent introducing students to the different parts of the computer and appropriate conduct when on the internet, within issues that kindergartners are most likely to face. Netsmartz also provides an online safety education kit that includes lessons, guidelines and even pledges for students to sign prior to being allowed to use the internet.
   
        The other goal I set is to design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments. I want to create authentic learning experiences for kindergartners that allow them to not only play games and watch tutorials, but to also create. Technology can be used in so many ways, but it is important to use technology as an additional resource to learning content subjects. Currently, I work in a classroom with a teacher who puts students on two programs- a listening center on the computer or Education City. Both are great programs, but unfortunately students are not excited about using the computers. To me, that's a sign that we aren't doing our jobs as educators. I recently showed students how to create a graph using Microsoft Excel and they loved it. They were amazed at the graphs they created after plugging in the data from their Math surveys.
     
        Currently, my plan is not very concrete. I am still waiting on a couple of factors. One of those being that I may be teaching 5th grade next year, total other end of the elementary spectrum. This in part will change my GAME plan. 
     

Walden University

Course # EDUC 6713

Week 2 Application: Developing my Personal GAME Plan

     After skimming through the National Education Standards for Teachers and making a mental checklist of the indicators in which I felt proficient, I came across two indicators that I would like to become confident while developing my personal GAME plan.

     One indicator that I felt needed improvement is located under Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. Indicator a states that teachers must design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity (NETS-T, 2008). Being in a kindergarten classroom this year after working with grades three through five, I often feel challenged in an attempt to find and use age appropriate technology tools. It is my hope that students learn that the computer can be a place to create, instead of just a place for interactive games.

     In an attempt to begin working on this goal, I recently subscribed to the blog: Adventures of iPads in Kindergarten due to the fact that our computer lab recently received a class set of iPads. The blog is full of some great ideas and I want to initiate the use of these devices at least four times during the fall semester of the 2013-2014 school year.

    The second indicator I would like to work on falls under the Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility standard. Indicator d of this standard states that teachers develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration skills (NETS-T, 2008). I want students to have the opportunity to collaborate within the classroom, district and even world wide, as part of the 21st century learners skills.

    I have been working a long time to find a partner classroom from somewhere outside of the United States through the program ePals. Unfortunately, I have not been very successful. It is my hope that I would be able to have students correspond via Skype and even create a project together comparing and contrasting their countries. Basic items like language, location, in kindergarten friendly terms. For the 2013-2014 school year, I hope to have a partnership established, but am open for suggestions on how to get the ball rolling.

References:

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education 
    standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-
      teachers