GAME Plan Reflection

As I look back at the GAME Plan I created during my course “Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas,” I’ve realized that there are several things that I learned by completing the exercise. I had two instructional goals and standards I wanted to integrate into my classroom. My first goal in the implementation of ISTE standards was to “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity” (the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE, 1997-2010). One of the focus areas that I have that the ISTE put in this standard is “exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems” (ISTE, 1997-2010). My second goal in my GAME plan was to create a collaborative learning environment to promote cultural understanding and digital citizenship. One of the first things I’ve learned is that by breaking down a goal using the steps outlined in the GAME Plan format, it makes accomplishing a goal a lot easier and allows me to make adjustments as I see fit throughout the unit. I have also learned that integrating new technologies can be frustrating at times, occasionally a slower process than I want, but overall, seems to be very rewarding.

One of the biggest things that I have learned is that patience is needed when incorporating new technologies into my classroom. As my classroom has been working with a classroom in Hungary in creating a wikispace, we have run into a few road bumps, namely that the classroom in Hungary has been slow to get started. It is somewhat frustrating to both me and my students, but I do feel that once all of the kinks are worked out, it will be a valuable learning experience. I have also learned that there are so many exciting technologies out there that I would love to try and incorporate into my classroom, even if it takes some time. I do feel that I have been exposed to so many new technologies through this course and attempting to meet my GAME plan that there is so much to use in my classroom. Vicki Davis (2009) talked about eduwiki (http://eduwikius.wikispaces.com/) in one of our course videos and I have learned that there are so many new resources that I want to explore and perhaps try to help meet my GAME plan goals. I think watching more online video tutorials before trying to jump right in may help with this process.

The biggest adjustment I want to make in my classroom is integrating more social networking and online collaboration. I have learned that the process can be somewhat slow at times, but overall, I think that student engagement will go up as well as student learning. My goal is to have simply my four common courses (our at-risk team members) collaborating first and then move to outside of our classroom doors. Since I have learned that I should start small and plan big regarding these new technologies, having my common classes collaborate seems like a reasonable start. This could even be done with having my classroom collaborate with their English classroom since I work on a team. Perhaps this would be a good starting point.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program 10. Spotlight on technology: Social networking and online collaboration, part I. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.