Carrying Out My Personal GAME Plan

To review, my two goals that I chose are:

1. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

2. Promote and Modeling Digital Citizenship Responsibly

The resources that I will need in order to assist me carry out these goals are going to be information and data that shows just how crucial the ability to use technology as second nature is going to be for my students. I need to make sure they realize that their Basic Computer Skills is suppose to help them become more secure with computers and how they operate. The tools that I will need in order to "Model Digital-Age Work and Learning" are going to be access to the internet and a data projector which I already have in my classroom. I am in the process of taking a class that will allow me the option to have an interactive white board placed in my room. These white boards give teachers many more options to have the kids becoming interactive with the material than simple data projectors can. I am also able to use Clickers that allow for immediate responses from the students to check for understanding. These are not forms of technology that I wish to have...I currently can possess all of these different technologies and implement by the beginning of next year!

Promoting and modeling digital citizenship is important for teachers who deal with teenagers on a daily basis like myself. I just read a report done by the Pew Research Center on teenagers and cell phones ( http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages) that states nearly 3/4 teens own a cell phone. It is out responsibility as their educators to make sure they realize how important it is to use these devices in a safe manor. Texting and talking while driving is so dangerous that many states have passed laws to make it illegal to do so. Also, sending out illegal material through cell phones and computers is a recurring part of our everyday lives. To make available information on incidents that are happening around the nation of teenagers much like the ones I have in my classroom, I can make these illegal acts seem more real to them. I guess what I would need from my fellow colleagues in this program would be of information on what they are doing technology-wise in their classrooms and how they implement it with their students. Also, I would like to know if their schools teach digital citizenship to their students? If so, does it work and how do they go about portraying that information to their students?

Developing My Personal GAME Plan

While I still consider myself a "newer" teacher as I finish up my third year of teaching, there are still many parts of my teaching that I want to fix and make more engaging for the students. I pride myself on being a strong advocate for integrating technology into the classroom and making it available to my students, but I know that I could be doing a better job of actually implementing technology into my everyday classroom. The two indicators from the NETS-T standards that I would personally like to strengthen my confidence in are :
1. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

2. Promote and Modeling Digital Citizenship Responsibly.

In order for me to put these two standards into place I need to create a GAME plan that will give me the steps I need to take in order to make this a reality.

Goals

1. My goals for strengthening these two standards are to become more understanding of the different forms of technology available to educators and students in the classroom. There is a large market for technology tools that are designed specifically for the school setting. If I can model new forms of technology in my classroom to my students, than they will understand that this is a part of their future as a student and also as a working adult.

2. Most teenagers do not understand the dangers of capturing sensitive material on their cell phones or computers. Students take pictures and videos that are considered illegal in the United States everyday and do not know that what they are doing is considered a criminal act. Also, the ease at which forms of media (television shows, feature-length films and music) can be pirated off the internet and used for personal use or profit is a form of theft. People do these illegal acts all of the time and do not think they can get into trouble by doing it. I can teach my students the facts about these topics and move them to change their digital behaviors than I can hopefully prevent them from getting into trouble with the law.

Actions

1. By introducing new forms of educational technology into the classroom and making computers, internet, Clickers and different software programs a part of my classroom, students will begin to become very familiar with it. If I only choose to implement technology on a rare occasion than the students will not begin to have a strong understanding of computers the internet, etc.

2. By showing my students the consequences of using technology for illegal activities they will be able to see for themselves what could happen to them if they participate in unlawful acts through the use of technology. I believe that by showing them to faces of people just like them who have been caught doing illegal acts through the internet will make it a reality to them the stealing movies and music and sending illegal images or video of themselves through their cell phones or email can actually get them into some real trouble.

Monitor

1. By having my students create projects or presentations through the use of
2. Since I cannot actually monitor my students email, cell phone usage, Facebook or Myspace pages, I will have to count on their honesty when talking to them about their online behavior. I would have them create a blog or some other of online writing format where they can write about their actions online. Maybe keep a log entry of where they spend their time surfing the web and what type of activities they do online. I would trust that they are telling the truth and other students of my could help hold one another accountable.

Reflection on New Literacies

I have been teaching for almost three years now and feel that I have done an adequate job of integrating technology into my classroom. I expose my students to computers, the internet and software programs that allow them to produce projects for my class. However, this class has opened my eyes to a few things that I would like to share. Just because you have your students get on computers and research stuff that you are covering in class and then present their information in some way does not mean that they are getting the full effect of technology. Having the ability to come up with questions, search for answers, synthesize and communicate the information they have gathered is a great skill to have. I have not been asking my students to be doing this type of work so far. The other things that I have began to realize the importance of due to this class is how easy it is to find information online and not give credit to those people who created that information. I will need to model this type of behavior much better in the future for my students.

Professional development goals that I have for the future are to do a more in depth inquiry-based project at least one a year with my students. The skills that they use during these projects are the skills that they are going to need to possess for the 21st century workplace. If we as teachers do not stretch their minds and do not let them settle for complacency, than we can have them ready for whatever comes their way in the future. Not all teachers will follow these same guidelines and it will hurt the students in the long run, but if a few teachers at each school can take it upon themselves to integrate real life skills for their students than they will all be better off for it.



Aaron Davis

Integrating New Forms of Technology in My Instruction Has Modified My Teaching Methods

At the beginning of the course I was mainly using a combination of behaviorist and cognitive theory approach to my classroom instruction. I would make sure the students received the information (mainly through me) and we would build upon what they knew. Often time I would give this information through a Power Point presentation or we would read it from a textbook or other forms of text that I would find on the particular subject we were covering. At the end of the unit, I would have my students do a type of review and then we would take a test. I was not all happy with this approach to teaching, but it was in my comfort zone and “most” of the students were learning. I was using technology in a wide variety but I was not always using it effectively. Dr. Orey states that just because we are using computers or the Internet for learning doesn’t mean we are always teaching in different ways. As I proceeded through the course there were a myriad of ways in which teachers at all levels can implement technology into the classroom. I do mention at the end of the week one application that I do understand the importance of social learning and its effects in preparing our young adults for a real world workplace environment. I have since tried and been successful in using more of these types of lessons.

We are beginning our second semester here in a few weeks and I am going to take one of my classes and “experiment” with them in incorporating technology into most of my teaching. With my new knowledge of VoiceThread, blogs and wikis I am going to use these in my classroom. The reason I am only using one class is because it will be easier to get computer lab time with them. I have 180 students and if I taught every class like I plan on teaching this one class, then the logistics of getting them all computer time will be very difficult. I am going to have this class be more student-centered where they will be teaching most of the class with technology. I want them create a newscast and post it on YouTube or VoiceThread. This is going to be a perfect example of social learning where my students must work together to come up with the finished product.

There are two long-term goals that I would like to change about my instructional practices regarding technology. First, I want my room to be equipped with a Promethean Board and interactive “clickers”. I plan on getting this equipment installed in my room within the school year. I will be able to bring technology to my students instead of having to travel to use computers, internet or any other form of technology. Having the Promethean Board will allow me to get immediate feedback on comprehension where I can have quick informal assessment of my students through use of the clickers. Another long-term goal regarding technology and instruction would be to set up a website where my students can go to see information regarding my class. I want to set up a community message board where I can post questions to the class and have a running conversation with my students outside of the classroom. I would offer some type of participation credit for the class. The reason I have yet to make this a part of my class now is because I cannot expect all of my students to use the Internet when many of them do not have easy access to it. This class has taught my many ways in which to teach my students through the use of technology. I have also discovered ways in which they can learn through many different theories. I will do my best to incorporate what I have learned into my future teaching.

tech

Aaron

Voice Thread: "Teacher's Roaming Hallways Assist in Keeping Students in Class

voicethread.com/share/785637/

Please visit this website to listen to how our school deals with truant students!

Cooperative Learning and Social Learning

If you have not read Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat than you are missing out on what are very near future is going to look like. He emphasizes that Americans must adapt to the fast-paced new global workforce. Jobs are being lost to outsourcing and we must find new innovative methods to keep up with other countries. Besides all of this great information on how to best prepare our future work force and what we need to look out for, he mentions that by incorporating cooperative learning in today's classroom will best prepare our students for their real life work environment. Classroom Instruction that Works states that teachers who use or plan on using some form of cooperative learning methods in their classes need to keep the groups small, do not base groups on student ability and there should be clear expectations on what the objective is for the group. If teachers cal follow these simple steps, using cooperative learning activities will greatly benefit your students.

It is obvious that our society today communicates in many forms. I mentioned this in this weeks discussion question that people of all ages communicate through emails, social networking sites, text messaging and Instant messaging services. Often times the communication is not based on anything of great importance such as keeping up with friends and family. However, there is great potential for our students to use this same technology in the classroom. If we want our students to best be prepared for the future workforce, it is important that we start now. You can easily assign a small group of students to create a wiki on a certain topic. This can be an ongoing assignment where each student is able to add some information over a period of time. When they finish, they can present their information to their class or classes across the nation. There is also the ability with today's technology for groups of students to complete a project together even when they are not in the same state. I feel as though this would be very interesting to gain the different opinions on topics from different regions of the United States.

It is without a doubt that social learning theories and cooperative learning are relatable in today's classroom. Our students need to possess these skills before we release them into adulthood. Thomas Friedman is correct in the fact that it does not state anywhere that the United States has to be world's leading economy. Recent signs are pointing that we are falling behind the likes of China, India and soon to be Brazil. We need to educate our youth to adapt and be able to compete with these foreign economies.