Brooke Sieg's Blog

By completing the week 7 application, I found a great digital game and designed a plan to implement it in conjunction with the 2-4 grade curriculum in my school district. I intend to download the free trial for my colleagues and administration so they can experience the game first hand in an effort to gain their support for purchasing it. As a direct result from this course, I learned how valuable positive peer pressure among teachers can be. If only a few teachers get on-board and see the benefits that the digital game could have for students, we can use our influence to persuade others. It’s a strategy that I will use as I continue to research emerging technologies. I will need as much support as I can get to write grants and encourage administrators to purchase technologies to provide 21st century learning tools to students and teachers. One immediate approach I intend to pursue is to ask my administrators if I can conduct an in-service about emerging technologies and the importance of integrating them into our curriculum.

Please click on this fileApp4SiegB to view my Application 4 Power Point presentation.

In using the differentiation station each week, I was able to learn about new resources and tools that were previously unknown to me. My group did a great job of sharing meaningful ideas that can be implemented into the classroom right away that coincide with the principals of UDL and DI. Since I’ve gained many new ideas, I’ve signed up for additional time in the computer lab each week in an effort to allow my students to experience them!

I have always thought that technology could provide meaningful opportunities to students, but through this course, I now understand how to integrate it using the principals of UDL and DI and why it plays such an important role. My students have diverse needs and technology can easily be used to meet their needs. The UDL and CAST websites provide great numerous resources, many of which I have already tried. I will continue to visit these websites, even after the end of this course.

One thing that I’ve struggled with is allowing students to choose their method of demonstrating their knowledge. However, since I’ve been taking this course, I’ve been motivated to let my students choose between a Power Point and Voice Thread, which they did last week. I was amazed at what a great job they did! I liked giving them the choice because it got them excited about learning and even though everyone wasn’t use the same method, I was still able to grade them on the same criteria.

The most important lesson I’ve learned from creating my GAME plan is that I need to create goals for myself and my students. I have achieved each goal I set in my plan and continue to tweak and modify as I go along. As a direct result of my plan, my students and I have gained new knowledge and experiences. I’ve researched many exciting ideas and have already introduced several of them to my students, It’s a wonderful experience to be learning right along with my students! I’ve also captured the attention of some of my colleagues, as well as my principal, because of the extra time we’ve been spending in the computer lab and the learning that’s taking place.

One immediate adjustment I’ve already made to my instructional practice is that I’ve signed up for two sessions per week in the computer lab. I did have to rearrange my daily schedule a little bit, but it’s been worth it! I’ve also asked a few other teachers If I can have their time in the computer lab if there’s a week they won’t be using it (which is quite often). Before this class, I was satisfied with using the computer lab once a week so students could play literacy or math games, but now, I’ve learned that there are so many other possibilities for my students to learn the same skills. Not only have I enjoyed my students enthusiasm for learning, but I’ve also enjoyed learning about the vast opportunities I can provide for my students.

I will use the GAME plan approach with my students to help them develop proficiency in the technology standards and indicators outlined in the NETS-S. I feel that second graders are a bit too young to create a GAME plan on their own, so with my assistance, I will help them create one.

The first step will be to create a goal to meet each standard. I will let my students have choices of how they want to accomplish their goal. For example, meeting the goal of Creativity and Innovation, students would choose from creating a Power Point or VoiceThread. Or, meeting the goal of Communication and Collaboration, students would choose from interacting through a wiki or blog. They will then put their plan into action by creating their project. For most projects, they will be working in groups or with a partner. Then, I will provide them with a checklist so they can monitor their progress.  This will help them guide their own instruction and make them accountable for their learning. In turn, I will become the facilitator. The last part of the game plan will be for them to reflect on their experience as a means of evaluating their process after each goal is complete.

At this age, I won’t expect my students to master any of these standards, but rather, gain knowledge and experience.  If every teacher used them, students would easily have each standard mastered by the time they graduated high school; therefore giving them the twenty first century skills they need to be successful in college and/or their career.

Thus far, I have learned that my GAME plan is an ever changing plan! I set goals for myself and I have accomplished them, but they are still an ongoing process. I’ve kept up with my reflections about my lessons, but I realized I didn’t like the way I had it set up. I found it was very time consuming, so I modified it to a simpler format. I know that I will be more likely to stick with my reflections if it’s easily accessible, time efficient, and I, along with my students, are benefitting from it. I will continue to work towards my goal of reflecting on my experiences, as well as seeking out engaging activities that integrate technology.

Since I have been working on my goals, I feel I am now ready to incorporate another based on the NETS-T. I think I’m ready to work on modeling digital-age work and learning. With all the new resources I’ve found, I need to learn how to use them myself, so that I can model for my students how to use them. I can transfer my new knowledge to them and communicate this information in a way that they will understand.

One way that I can improve my learning is to spend more time researching the resources I’ve found. I find myself locating one idea after another, without allowing adequate time to learn more about each source. If I don’t thoroughly do my research, then I won’t be able to effectively model how to use these ideas to my students.

I feel that my actions were extremely effective in helping to meet all of my goals because I worked diligently to accomplish them. I tend to procrastinate, but I have found in the past that I do not accomplish what I need to when I do so. Since I have created my GAME plan, I have been very mindful in taking steps to achieve my goals and planning my lessons accordingly, as well as following through with my reflective journal. Not only do I realize that this is helping my current teaching skills, but it will also improve them next year when I make the necessary changes to my lessons after reading my reflections.

I have learned thus far that for most new technological ideas, such as a virtual field trip, I need to allow more than just one trip to the computer lab. Allotting more time is something I can apply in my instructional practice the next time I introduce a new concept. A very encouraging lesson I’ve learned is that my students are going home and telling their families about how exciting it is for them to be spending more time on the computer. I’ve had two parents tell me that their child has enjoyed learning via the Virtual Field Trip and the Internet Scavenger Hunt (which we just started yesterday). My hope is that once parents start talking, they will voice their opinions about wanting more teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms.

Although I’m on the right track, I still have a lot to learn. I need to learn how to “teach” my students how to utilize programs such as PowerPoint, VoiceThread, or even something as basic as Word. I know that most of their learning will stem from their own trial and error, but I do need to teach them how to use these programs so we can use them more in the future. My question is: How do I find time to do this? Not only do I need to allow more time in my lesson plans, but I also have to try to figure out how to get more time in the computer lab.

One way I  could adjust my plan to fit my current needs, and to possibly finding an answer to my question, is to pair my students up with fifth grade students. The older students have a lot more knowledge and experience that they could share with my second graders, which would save instructional time on my part. I would become the facilitator during this process. I think both grade levels would greatly benefit from this collaboration and also enjoy the process!

As I continue to implement my GAME plan, I am finding an abundance of information! I’m pleasantly surprised at how many great ideas I’ve found so far for my classroom. I’ve found a great ocean webquest I want my students to do, an interactive literacy website that I can integrate during my centers, a website with 100′s of books that my students can listen to, and a scavenger hunt that my students can complete to practice locating accurate information via the Internet. I have also discussed upcoming units/themes with my grade level. I explained to them that I want to integrate more technology within the themes and I was surprised that one of the other teachers was very interested in hearing my ideas.

The only part of my GAME plan I want to modify is that I want to implement more than just one new technology-related project a month. With all of these new ideas I’m finding, I want my students to experience as much as possible. However, I understand that I need to plan carefully so that I don’t rush through these projects. My new goal is to implement three technology-related projects a month.

So far, I have learned that my students truly enjoy the time they spend using the computers at school. They are very excited about any new ideas I tell them about and let them experience. (They LOVED the rainforest virtual field trip they took this week!) I’ve also figured out how to set up my reflective journal so that it’s easily accessible and manageable. I’ve already reflected about my experience teaching students about virtual field trips and letting them enjoy it for the first time. I noted that I definitely need to allow more time for the next one! Another important lesson I learned is that I need to keep telling my co-workers about my ideas, even when I get discouraged because one day they might surprise me and want to try something new.

As of right now, I don’t have any new questions. However, when questions arise, I will know to jot them down in my journal so I can find the answers and come back to them.

In order to carry out my GAME plan, I will need several resources. The first resource I will need is a a method to locate new ideas to implement into my classroom. I currently rely heavily on Google to find almost all information I need. However, I might want to look into searching Amazon for books I may want to read regarding how I can best use technology in my classroom. Another resource I will need is a journal. I intend to keep a digital journal on my portable “junk” drive so I can save my thoughts at school, home, or wherever I may be. The final resource I will need for my plan is a blog account on teacherlingo.com.

Before I get too far into my GAME plan, there is some information that I would like to get from the other teachers within my grade level. Since this is my first year teaching second grade, I want to get a list of themes/units we still have left for the remainder of the school year. I will use this information in an attempt to integrate technological activities that pertain to the topic on hand. While I understand I could come up with my own topics, I think it’s important that I’m a team player within my grade level and try to maintain some consistency. I like to be onboard with my colleagues, even if I do “ruffle a few feathers” because I present my students with the same information in a different manner than they do.

The only step I have taken so far in my GAME plan is that I have lesson plans written to take my class to the computer lab tomorrow (our regularly scheduled day/time) to take a virtual field trip through a rain forest by visiting: http://passporttoknowledge.com/rainforest/main.html. I’ve never taken my students on a virtual field trip before, so I might find that I need to schedule another day for them to get through their trip.  I will also be sure to include my thoughts about the experience in my reflective journal.a

The two indicators I want to strengthen in my GAME plan are: design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments and engage in professional growth and leadership.

My goal for designing and developing digital age learning experiences and assessments is to implement one new technology-related activity or project a month. In order to achieve this goal, I will need to actively search for new and engaging ideas. I could have my students do something as simple as take a one time virtual field trip or engage them in a web quest, which could take a week or more. When assessing my students, I would use a rubric, however, I wouldn’t need to formally assess them every time we visited the computer lab. I would monitor my own progress through my lesson plans. I would set aside a specific day each month for my activity, and then incorporate additional days if needed. I would evaluate and extend my learning through my students. If my students are understanding the concepts, engaging in the activities, and applying what they’ve learned, then I will know that I have done my job as a teacher. A good way for me to keep track of my learning, and theirs, is through a reflective journal. I could write about what went well, what didn’t go well, what I would change next time, etc. This would extend my learning and better prepare myself to teach the lesson again the next year.

My goal for assessing and engaging in professional growth is to stay abreast to the latest technological advances and decide how, or if, I can use them to better myself as a teacher. To achieve this goal, I will set aside time for at least two, 30 minute periods each month to research these advances. In addition, I will also continue my classes at Walden and attend conferences when possible. I will monitor my progress by maintaining a blog on a professional website, such as teacherlingo.com. In my posts, I can include websites that I visited and want to revisit, cut and paste helpful information, and my own reflective thoughts or ideas. I will evaluate and extend my learning through my blog postings and comments that others’ may leave.