Reflection on my GAME plan

Developing, updating and evaluating my GAME plan have increased my awareness of the need to incorporate real-world issues and relevant statistics into my math and science lessons. Additionally, I need to make a shift in the way that the students acquire knowledge and facts, increasing the students' involvement while limiting my dispensing of information. Cennamo (2009) suggests that the computer should be used as a " support for conversation." Choosing, or letting students choose, a story, topic or set of facts to anchor a lesson engages the students and provides a reason to learn the course content.
In my physics class, the concepts of physics are explored through a modeling method of instruction. I received training and have access to support materials through the Modeling Instruction Program out of Arizona State University. My GAME plan goals align nicely with the tenets of this program in which students design and interpret lab investigations which model authentic applications of physics in the real world. The idea is that students learn best by asking questions, finding solutions and not just recalling memorized facts (Cennamo, 2009).
My GAME plan also involved improving my use of technology to communicate more efficiently with students and parents. Although I do not think I will be able to get this going this school year, I definitely plan to use blogs and wikis in my classes next fall to record assignments and notes, display student work and monitor student discussions and collaborations.
The immediate impact on my instruction is that I will now consider a wider range of tools when planning my lessons rather than relying on only the traditional ones. Cathy Petty

References

Arizona State University, Modeling Instruction Program (http://modeling.asu.edu/)

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, Pp. 254,265.

GAME Process for High School Students

Teaching my students the process of setting a GAME plan could be helpful in helping them realize the goals set forth in the National Education Standards for Students. After going over the students' ISTE standards, http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm,students could rate themselves on a scale from one to five as to how well they met those standards. Then each student would select one standard to try to improve throughout a grading period. Students would set one or two specific goals related to the selected standard, then list the actions they needed to complete. Throughout the grading period, students would monitor their success in meeting their goals either through oral reports, blogging or written paragraphs. Near the end of the grading period, the students would work in pairs to evaluate the success of the GAME plan for each.
The ISTE teacher standards place the teacher in the role of facilitating the development of the student standards of working creatively, communicating and collaborating, becoming fluent in research, being able to think critically and to make informed decisions, being a responsible user of digital technology and knowing how to use the many types of technology. Ideally the teacher and students would work together, combining their different strengths to change the environment of the classroom into a more open, dynamic forum where both student and teacher share the responsibility for learning.

Extending What I've Learned

I realize from reading the posts of others that I have only begun the process of integrating more technology and problem-based learning into the classroom.I am only learning about many of the tools that some of you use regularly. I find the many possibilities interesting and have good ideas for how they might be implemented, but creating the time to do so seems to be my most pressing issue. For example, this week at work is busy with last unit tests, make-up work, exam review, making out exams, book checks, students returning from alternative school, etc. There is no time to try something new, research or read about a new technology or prepare a class project. I am exhausted trying to keep up. I had a formal observation Tuesday that I had completely forgotten about until the administrator showed up in my classroom. Under stress, I find that I retreat to familiar forms of teaching so that I am in my comfort zone.
To radically change a teaching style is difficult and unsettling. I will have to take small steps at a time. Working on this degree was a big step and implementing some use of computers into my classes was a small, but necessary step. Even though many of my Walden classmates are using much more technology than I am, I do find that I am using more than quite a few of my colleagues at work. Six math teachers share a mobile computer cart and the cart has remained in my room for the entire semester with no one requesting it. I have used the computers almost weekly, so I am slowly changing my methods. Ideally, this summer I will be able to plan some time to learn more and at a deeper level, so that next year the students and I can move to a higher level of learning. I am not ready to set new goals since I need to fully achieve the current ones. I am trying to make a habit of regularly looking up, trying out or using a technology that is new to me.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of my GAME Plan

A GAME plan is a technique to help guide self-directed learning, with the outlining of goals, taking actions toward those goals, monitoring the results of the actions and, finally, evaluating the progress (Cennamo, 2009). My GAME plan focuses on seeking, finding and filing computer sites and digital tools that I can use to involve my students in realistic and self-motivated learning. A related goal is to expand my communication with students, parents and colleagues through the use of digital tools. The following questions will help me begin to evaluate my plan.

• Effectiveness of actions taken. I have only been able to carry out some of my actions so far. I have added several good sites to my folder. I found these by my own research, from colleagues and from presentations at a math convention. I found two very good sites and am currently using them with my classes. Although I have not had the time to work on developing my class blog, I do hope to eventually implement that as well.
• Applicable Learning.

The two sites that I have been using, www.physicsclassroom.com and
www.mathisfun.com, seem well-liked by my students and allow me to walk
around the room to keep students on-task and to answer questions.

• Still to learn and new questions.
  

I still need to decide on how to use a classroom blog so that the students can discuss
homework and the problems on the websites. I don't have new questions as much as the
need for time to spend working with what I've already learned.

• Adjustments to plan.
  

I need to provide more opportunities for creative thought and for real-life applications of
the topics I'm teaching. As my students become more accustomed to using the tutorial
sites, I will need to expand the types of digital tools they are using to include options which
allow the students to create and design solutions to real problems. As the old proverb
states, " Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will
understand" (Cennamo,2009).



Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Pp. 3,31.