Game Plan Reflection

The game plan I put in place during this course made it apparent how important technology growth is to our youth. My focus using the NETS-T standards, is to polish up my skills as a teaching professional and help my students along this path. I chose to work on enhancing my use of technological tools like digital cameras and blogs. I had limited experience with digital cameras and my first blogging experience a year ago was time consuming. As I re-assessed my game plan throughout the last eight weeks, I set up one , gained ideas on the other, and added other goals along the way.

The digital camera was new for me. I was never into cameras. However, I did see it as a tool for my students and something I should know how to handle. I received help from my technology coordinator and sh gave me some pointers. My first project was to make sure I had pictures of all my students for future projects. We just finished Jamestown and my students are taking on the role of John Smith. They are creating a interview product where they can crop in their photo or facial shot to be John Smith or the interviewer. Along the way I learned from this class how to operate and use digital stories. This will be a culminating project for this unit.

Blogging was not new for me, but my first experience was time consuming. I was looking for a faster approach because my school had limitations on blogging. I have not used blogging yet this year, but gained some insight from other colleagues from this course. Many of these colleagues were going through similar situations, however I learned some alternatives to start at the elementary level. I picked up a site called Wallwisher.con which could be a way to start my kids with blogging. When, I felt this goal would not run smoothly I looked to grow int another direction. I decided to focus on providing my students with technological information to help them daily prepare for class. On my web page I added a calendar for homework and special events. I also included links to sites which help students prepare for class. My links were skills, practice, and challenges to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. This has been a success. I started parent conferences and parents offered positive feedback. They said their children were working on these sites ad thanked me providing them with relative learning outside my classroom.

When I look back at these standards in NETS-T, my real goal is provide students with creativity and problem solving skills using technology. For one, students with problem solving skills can do what computers can not readily solve. The second is teaching students how to learn instead of just providing a skill that may not be there down the road (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I want my growth to be the growth of my students. My school as technology standards, but they are weak on follow through. I want to be their guide on how to grow and stay up ith this tool that will lead them to success outside our classroom walls. Instead of skills I hope to hope to provide them with a well-rounded portfolio. Technology will provide learning experiences through face-to-face ad virtual environments. This will promote innovation and the will to learn (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). This game plan has made technology a major part of my classroom. THe tech coordinator now leaves a lap-top cart in my room because she sees me use them all the time.

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