Reflection - EDUC-6715

As this course started I was very cautious after reading about gaming and MUVEs in the classroom in one of our first discussions. I thought that all digital games were the same and that I would never be able to use something like that in my classroom. I still have not come to a conclusion on student creating a virtual world and then playing around in it due to the time constraints. I especially felt this way after reading the article Barriers to Student Learning in Second Life when the outcomes and attitudes they listed of student working on this project as bored and time consuming (Sanchez, 2009). However I did find good applications of some digital games in my week 6 & 7 lesson plan.

The digital game that I chose to use for my Algebra 1 class was Dimenxian by DimensionU. I felt that I was not able to fully understand the usefulness until I was able to actually play a game that related to a class that I taught. The assignment that I developed is one that I feel I can actually use next year in my Algebra 1 class. This course has changed my way of thinking about new technology. Before if I couldn’t think of a use for it I shoved it to the side, now I feel like I owe the technology a try before I dismiss it in my classroom. I will from now on do as much research as it takes and try the technology out as if I had to implement it, before I make a decision on it.

This summer I plan to do more research on gaming as I had a breakthrough (change in heart) on gaming in the classroom. As we (another teacher and I) rework the Algebra 1 curriculum this summer I plan to show all of the different technology applications that we can use in the new curriculum. I would also like to incorporate the more of the NETS into classroom activities.

Next fall as we get back into the swing of school I plan to volunteer for leading some professional development meetings on different forms of technology and haw to use them and incorporated them into the curriculum. I see that technology has offered many solutions to activities that cannot be done in the classroom anymore. For instance, virtual field trips, tangible flags, digital video games, allow teacher the ability to have student experience the World without leaving the classroom.

Sanchez, J. (2009). Barriers to student learning in second life. Library Technology Reports, 45(2), 29–34.

http://www.dimensionu.com/math/

Online Learning Presentation

http://voicethread.com/share/1183820/

Reflection - EDUC-6714

In the last few years I have heard many myths from teachers, administrators, and speakers at seminars talk about UDL and DI in the classroom and never thought that it was something that I could do without revamping my entire curriculum. I also thought that it would be difficult because each year you would get a new set of students that would require different activities than the last, thus improving lessons from year to year would be difficult when the next group of students would need a different lesson. However, in this course I have learned that these myths are just not true about UDL and DI. UDL and DI are not just tools, it is a mindset that teachers must adopt, that not all students work and learn in the same or just one way.

I plan on using UDL and DI in a way that allows student the opportunity and responsibility to learn through variety. In the past year I use preset online labs simulations that come with the course text, however they do not allow the students the opportunity to play around with the simulations and make discoveries on their own. Currently I am planning differentiated learning activities that allow students to learn concepts by doing online lab simulations. The lab simulations are set up so that students can design their own lab procedures allowing them to discover different information and share with other groups or individual students to further their understanding of the concepts. Along with varying the way that I have students complete lab assignments on the computer I am also designing inventories with the help of this year’s students for next year to help determine student interests and learning profiles. I have assigned groups assignments on their favorite activities and ways they can relate it back to physics. So far the students have come up with activities with cell phones, iPods, skateboarding, and marching band. I have also changes the way I group students in my current classes based on the feedback that I have gotten from them on my physics class blog.

In addition to my blog I also plan on using a social network like the Ning site that we used in our group to communicate with other teachers and student. Next year we are starting a freshman academy where four classes of freshmen students will be grouped with 4 teachers for Math, Science, English and History. As one of those teachers I would like to start a network with the other teachers included to discuss unit topics and also to post ideas. When I have worked in groups like this in the past it is difficult to meet with teachers and have everyone bring all of their binders to a central room. Using a social network with a chat option (possibly even a video chat), will allow us to work from our classrooms where all of our materials are. I hope to even get students working in social networks with each other and myself. I think that as a high school teacher I am responsible for getting students ready to go to college and online communication is a big part of college now. I am also planning on using a network for students to discuss activities that they have done in class with other students that worked on different activities so that they can compare what they learned.

Reflection

Over the last 8 weeks because of my GAME Plan on incorporating more authentic assessments I have built a catalog of new ways to assess student learning. From the many teachers that responding in my district to my own personal research I have collected assessments in every subject area that I can use as guides to develop assessments that relate to math and science. I think that the GAME Plan lesson is a quick and easy way to develop lesson plans and staying on task. I really think that writing down the standards that I need to cover keeps me focused on the task at hand. I have in the past taught parts of units that I thought were covered in my standards, however really were not. In the end the students learned about a topic that “technically” they didn’t need to and I was behind for the rest of the semester. I think that my personal GAME Plan really fit into the particular class because I was trying to get new ideas on assessing students and came up with a unit plan that definitely fit into a new type of assessment and I was able to create a unit that I will be using in the next few weeks.

In the beginning I thought that these lessons were going to take much more time to complete in class however once I finished designing my 3 lessons (problem-based learning, online collaboration, and the digital storytelling) I found that I covered the same number of standards in 4 weeks with my new unit plan, where I taught the same standards in 4.5 weeks last year. I was very surprised and actually inspired to look at the next unit and design the next unit I am teaching in physics type up another unit plan using the GAME Plan template. I think that the planning stages when incorporating technology into the curriculum takes more time than what I was doing however I feel that the time that I spend developing is saved when it comes time to grade these types of assignments. I normally would have given a small worksheet or practice problems in class with some type of notes and then possibly a short quiz every other day. However, when it comes down to it the students are probably learning more with the different technology based activities and it save them from doing monotonous drill and practice with the same outcome.

This class has impacted the way I teach and design lesson plans more so than how the students learn, at least for me. I learned that technology based learning does not take more time and since I am more aware of the standards the students are learn the content while learning how to research, develop, produce, and present a product which is the curriculum standards/content area standards.

Using the GAME Plan process with Students

After using the GAME Plan for the past few weeks it seems that it has gotten easier for me to determine what I need to do in order to keep up with today’s youth. Teachers that have not taken into consideration the NETS-S and how these will play out in our student’s college experience and job searches are really doing a disservice to the teach profession. Content is only one aspect of school, preparing student to do well in their lives whichever way it may take them is the other piece to the teaching puzzle. I would like to look at my units more closely and use the GAME lesson plan template for my curriculum map companion document. I like seeing all the standards that I need to cover and then designing lessons that use technology as a tool to accomplish my goals. By having my content standards right there will the lesson I am working on I have found that I am able to combine like standards that I have in the past wasted time covering individually and the meaning is not always there.

I think that the students would actually benefit from using a document like this to develop projects that they are working on to remind them to review and evaluate what they are doing on a daily basis. If a student fills out a Game Plan I would think that they are more likely to follow through on the evaluation and revisions because they were the ones that included that step, rather than having a teacher asking them to revise it (most students would give it a once over and be done).

NETS-S (for students) as seen in the website: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf

The NETS-S are an important aspect of using the GAME Plan. As I said above, content is only half of the puzzle, the rest of the puzzle are having students apply what they have learned and show that they really understand the material. By incorporating NETS-S like collaboration and problem solving in a technology based environment we are doing more than just teaching the content the students are experiencing the content which will take them much further in life (anyway, when has an accountant or financial planner ever really needed to memorize Newton’s Laws of Motion). However if they every needed to find out about Newton’s Law the NETS-S provide many avenues for them to locate that information.

Revising My GAME Plan

So far I have collect many different assessment types from my own personal research and from the teachers in the district. I have also learned new ways in which to assess (grade) students based on the content and the effort that they have put into an activity or project. I am still working toward incorporating technology influenced activities into my daily class plans and new ways for students to learn and show that they have learned important content based information.

I would like to set some new goals for the upcoming year to incorporate into my class. Based on the NETS-T I would like to incorporate at the beginning of the year more activities on digital citizenship and technology concepts and operations with my students. I feel if I start out the year by having them learn how to use different types of technology and use it appropriately then by the end of the year when I assign the final exam project for all the juniors in physics they will have a catalog of technology example that they can use and I will not need to teach these new programs to the students, rather we can do a refresher on them and then they can choose how they want to proceed.

This time I would really like to go to some seminars (as my new learning approach) and have hands on training with web 2.0 and so on. I feel that I do ok with personal research however if I want students to use all these different technology avenues I need to also be an expert and I am a hands on learner.

GAME Plan Update

My research has been going well, this has been a really busy week for me with grades being due and getting an entirely new set of students, it’s like the beginning of the year but worse with all the extra stuff going on (spirit week, student council meetings, grades, new students to learn…).

However, I took the advice of some of my classmates and I really looked into rubrics and did some searches on using rubrics and developing them. I have gotten some great responses from the other teachers that I work with, as I reached out for their help in building a catalog of different types of assessments.

In this week’s DVD, Dr. Ertmer actually discussed using rubrics in problem based learning activities and referenced rubistar as a free online rubric developer. I checked this site out and found this to be helpful. I still have a lot of work to do on developing a rubric as this is imperative to me designing new types of assessments. Some questions that have come up that I am still looking for feedback on is how do other teachers fit in effort and all the extras in a project/presentation. I have the content part of the rubric down; I am looking for feedback on the other parts that teachers include in rubrics. For example, referencing material, the actual effort put into the presentation.

I have tons of great ideas for new ways to assess students, now I am focusing on my part as the teacher and giving the students a rubric to follow so that they can be creative and also follow a set of guidelines.

Monitoring my Game Plan

In looking for information on assessment types I feel like this week’s learning resources really tie into my individual Game Plan. In my research I have found that I really did know more about the different ways that students learn, and when I sat down and started making a list, I discovered that I actually do incorporate different learning styles into my teaching. My focus has now really become assessment types. I teach to different learning styles and assess students in different ways throughout each unit, however I really only use paper and pencil examinations and quizzes.

My action plan does need to be modified in the sense that I feel that I do teach in multiple ways to meet the needs of all students. However, I really am interested in varying my formal assessments and making them less formal. In the past I have always gotten students in my physics classes that want old fashion examinations. They all excelled in the academics, and just wanted me to tell them the information, in previous years when I would try new activities some of the students would lose interest because they just wanted the information because they were great at spitting it back out to me, they really didn’t care about the learning experiences. I have seen a major shift in students learning styles and them needing the experiences to understand the information.

This way of learning is much more conducive to varying my assessments and incorporating more projects and individualized learning activities. Some new questions that I have started to think about more are:

· In what ways can I assess students learning without having them write it down?
· How can I assess students on the same material but with different media?
· How do I grade different types of media projects and use the same points scale?
o If we think that students don’t notice that their neighbor got 1 more point than they did, we as teachers are kidding ourselves?
o How do I explain to a parent what I expect of their child, and get them on board to learn along with us?

Carrying out my GAME Plan

In order to carry out my own personal GAME Plan of developing new assessments that reach all of the students diverse learning needs I am going to do the following:

· Research different learning styles
· Find different types of technologies that correspond to the type of learning
· Search the internet and lesson planning sites for ideas in my specific content areas of projects and assessments that other teachers have used
· Learn and practice the technology on my own time and model the technology in class that I expect my students to use.

In conjunction with my own personal research I am going to need addition information on my students. A survey seems like the easiest way to gather information about students; however I have my doubts that some students will take it seriously and be able to answer preset questions with the kind of detail that portrays the way that they learn. I will use a survey to gather information about what student like and dislike, and also experience in which they excelled in. However, I want to use some of the activities in class and record information of students that take more interest in these activities, and come up with some different areas that students excel in.

I have been able to do some research online about different learning styles. I have also discussed this GAME Plan that I have developed for myself with some of the teachers at school and now having teachers sending me ideas in different subject areas of ways that they assess student learning. I plan to send out an email, starting with just the high school where I work for assessment ideas and then plan to contact the middle and elementary schools. With this information I hope to build a file of assessment types that are used all the way through a student’s education k -12.

My GAME plan:

After reading through the web site for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and looking over the different NETS-T (see website below) the areas that I feel fairly confident in are:

· Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
· Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
· Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
· Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

In the classes that I teach I try to incorporate the modeling process of technology use whenever possible. In teaching Physics for the last few years without a book or many printed resources I have become creative in getting students to learn the information without relying on a book as a reference. My students know that when they take my class they are going to be using technology as a primary source of information. From the beginning we look at how valid information is and make sure that it is appropriate for high school use. I thought I would be so excited this year when our district purchase books for my classes, however I have found myself going back to the inquiry based lessons that I have come accustom too in the years past.

The area that I feel the least comfortable with is Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. I feel that I am making progress in designing and developing learning experiences that incorporate technology however I do not feel confident when trying to design an assessment that is comprehensive of the entire unit.

Goal: To incorporate assessments that utilize the vast amount of technology that my school provides.

Action: I am going to design a few different assessments that will meet the needs of the different ability levels and learning styles of my students for the first unit in my second semester physics class. I will give the students the option of choosing what type of assessment they are interested in and allow them to explore the many variations of how they can show me that they understand the overall unit.

Monitor Progress: I am going to set weekly goals of coming up with 3 new ideas for assessments. At the end of the week I will make a short presentation to the students and get feedback.

Evaluate/Extend Learning: I am going to use a variety of resources to evaluate the process that I will be participating in such as student feedback and department feedback. I value the opinions of my peers and my students. I think it would be a great idea for students to share their assessments with other teachers (possibly not in our department) to see if their project conveys and understanding of material. I feel it is also important to talk to students about how I could have helped them reach their goals in this assessment differently.

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf