Monitoring my GAME Plan

I am continuing my GAME plan journey with the M – Monitoring my progress as the process evolves. The two professional goals I have set for myself come from within the ISTE National Education Standards for Teachers (2008).   Below is a reflection of where I am in this process, and where I still need to go.  As always, I welcome feedback from my Walden colleagues, as I value their ideas and experiences.

Goal One:  Engaging students in real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources:

I continue to look for resources that will aid me in making my lesson plans more authentic.  I have met with the instructor of tenth grade American history.  We are planning activities in conjunction with the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the Great Depression.  Some things we are considering include a visit to our local nursing home to speak with some people who lived during the Depression, and blogging about segregation issues as they pretend to be certain characters in the book.  We are also going to compare issues from that time period to present day, including segregation, drought (which we are experiencing now), and recessions/economy. 

So far, I am not looking at any modifications of this goal, but am moving forward with many options still in place.

I have already learned a great deal about infusing language arts, other curricular areas, and authentic lesson plans together – through further research, talking with my language arts colleagues, and the history teacher I have met with.  I have also had great suggestions from my Walden colleagues.  For example, Jenny Carroll (2012) responded to my discussion post, “The thing that I feel that Language Arts does have is the ability to make many real world connections.  The themes found in literature can very much relate to real world problems.  For example I know that Romeo and Juliet has been a topic of conversation as of recent.  Topics like teen suicide are very real.  This sort of topic can relate to other texts such as "Thirteen Reasons Why" or can even spark ideas for an inquiry, or collaborative problem-solving group.  I envy the in-depth and higher order discussions, projects and questions you can have about topics like this” (Carroll, 2012, November 20).

Regarding further questioning I have no new questions at this time, but I am still in the planning stage of this goal.

Goal Two: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources:

My progress is more substantive towards this goal, because I am in the process of implementing this right now in my classes.  Some positive things happened in my tenth grade classes these last two weeks towards my students becoming better digital citizens.  I realize some of my Walden classmates are much further along in this aspect with their students, but to me, it has been a time of new discovery for them, as well as personal gratification as a teacher.  In our Media Literacy unit, we have now created a class blog on Edmodo, where we are having meaningful discussion about media literacy.  This last week, the class responded to my post questions about what their digital life is like, and naming one positive and one negative aspect of digital media in their lives.  It was especially gratifying to have them blogging, which they totally got into, and discussing online about their digital lives in a meaningful way. 

Also, in my ninth grade language arts classes, we are beginning our study of Romeo and Juliet. Students did a scaffolding activity where each group took different background concepts, researched them, created a short Powerpoint presentation, and then taught the class.  Each group was required to cite their web sources and include these on a slide in their presentation.  They did a good job of citation overall, AND became more aware of the necessity of giving due credit to online sources, just like they do with print sources.

At this time, I am not intending to do any modifications of my present plan, although I am going to be constantly evaluating sources and activities throughout this Media Literacy unit. 

I have already gained knowledge through these activities.  Not only did I set up a class blog, get students registered for it, set up a monitoring system, and work with our technology coordinator; I also learned that students have a great interest in their own digital lives.  We will be continuing this unit with lessons on cyberbullying, social network etiquette, and more.  I am confident that motivation will not be a challenge, as the students are highly motivated, not only to work with digital technology, but to learn about it.

Again, I am looking forward to hearing any feedback or suggestions from my colleagues.

Resources:

Carroll, J.  (2012, November 20). Supporting and enhancing assessment in your content area. Message posted to EDUC 6713 discussion board, Week 4.

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