Week 4--GAME Plan

One area of concern I have is implementing technology into units as well as an assessment tool.  With access to the internet at the disposal of every student’s reach, incorporating a computer activity worries me about receiving original work from students.

 For instance, in a unit on cell structure that is coming up in a couple of weeks I want to implement an assessment where my students construct a three dimensional diagram of a cell.  I first wonder is the activity rigorous for the task at hand.  Students must be able to understand the function and description of each of the cell organelles.  The challenge I face is that students will copy and paste descriptions from the internet as opposed to learning them and writing them in their own words.  If there were a way to disable the internet while in the computer lab then this task would be easy to accomplish. Any ideas how to disable the internet while my students work on this project?

GAME Plan in Action--Week 3

After reviewing this week's resources on Universal Design for learning, it is important for me to bring technology into my classroom.  I understand that all students learn differently and in order to meet the needs of all our students we need to implement technology into our classrooms.

I know I need to attend a porfessional development workshop. The ideal would be to attend a workshop where I can go and see technolgy in action (because I am a visual learner) in my content field.  Due to budget restratints and lack of interest in my district, going to such an event is not feasible.  Leaving me with endless searches on the internet to help me. 

Next, I am asking my Walden colleagues for assitance.  Maybe, someone knows an educator who teaches Biology and can pass on some ideas how he/she use technolgy into their classroom.  Secondly, is anyone else on block schedule?  How do you implement technology in a fast pace classroom? 

Jennifer Potter

My GAME Plan

The two standards that I need to improve on come from Domain 2 in the NETS-T.  One thing that interferes with improving anything in my blog is school policies.  The school policy is to do the same exact thing that my colleagues are doing to ensure consistency.  This enables me to implement any technology into the classroom.

The first strand is 2.a which states "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity."  My goal is to incorporate one technological activity into each of my 10 content units.  During collaborative planning with my colleagues at work, I will suggest activities that can assist in the learning of that unit.  After an activity is established, an assessment will be provided to evaluate the learning of the student and the validity of the activity. After the lesson has been played out, my department will collaborate once again to look at the results and determine if the activity will be kept.

The second strand is 2.d which states "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."  As a teacher, I am tired of giving paper/pencil assessments.  I would love to incorporate more technology but my calendar does not allow it.  My goal this semester is to implement informal assessments through the use of technology such as a blog or student journal.  This semester I am going to start off having my students make entries once a week.  From there, I will increase it more every semester so I can slowly increase my and my students involvement.

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

Jennifer Potter