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
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
Erika,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I applaud you for teaching kindergarten. Every teacher has their passion, mine being in fourth grade. I think that working with students on iPads is amazing. I know that they are able to manipulate and maneuver around new technology tools so easily. I have also looked into ePals. I was wondering how challenging it would be to get in contact with a classroom from another country as well. I am currently email and paper and pencil classroom pals with a teacher in a different school. I still have students write traditional letters and envelopes. I think they get excited getting their letter in the mail as well. Have you thought about even partnering up with a classroom from a neighboring school? You can still Skype and connect. To gain some global discussions with your students you could show video streaming clips of places and concepts. You could also have students create a voicethread with things that they have learned from lessons.
DeEtte
Hey Erika,
ReplyDeleteLike DeEtte said, kudos to you for teaching kindergarten. I found it to be difficult adjusting my style of teaching after I had already taught the older ones!
The school I am at now has also recently purchased an ipad lab. It;s fascinating that students who are that young (and even younger) are able to manipulate a piece of technology so easily.
I checked out the site you recommended, and it looks great. In case you haven't seen these, here are 2 more sites that I subscribe to on my Google Reader:
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
http://teacherswithapps.com/blog-the-ipad-helping-shape-the-future-of-education/
Occasionally I find a good app that I can use in my classes.
Have you tried just doing a google or alta-vista search instead of ePals?
Josh