Week Two Application: Developing A Personal GAME Plan

After looking at the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) I feel that I would like to set goals for strengthening my confidence and proficiency in (Facilitate and Inspiring Student learning and Creativity) and (Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership). I believe that this is a good place to start for me and I feel that these are two areas in which I could improve in. To accomplish these goals I must come up with my GAME plan. In this plan will stet goals, take action, monitor these goals, and evaluate and extend on what I have learned.

To accomplish this first goal I will need to learn how to integrate my subject matter with different technology tools that will help facilitate student creativity and learning. To start, I will make a list of the tools that I would like to use in my classroom, and then learn to use each of these tools within context of my curriculum. To do this I will do research on the Internet and look for tutorials that will help me gain experience with the technology tools that I plan on using. I will also start to experiment with these tools in the classroom. Meeting with the technology department in our district for support and guidance is another way that will help me acquire the necessary knowledge to use technology in the classroom. To monitor my progress, I'm going to  incorporate and use the technology tools in my lessons when it is appropriate. As I collect information from these lessons, I will look to see if the technology tools are helping the students meet the learning goals. With this information I can see whether or not I need to make adjustments or modifications to the learning strategy. To evaluate and extend on my learning of these tools, I will reflect on each of the activities and will look to see if the technology tools help me meet the leaning goals. By reflecting on the different approaches that I used, I will be able to determine whether or not I should modify the lessons in the future.

To accomplish the second goal of Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership, I will need to identify a piece of software or technology tool that I would like to use in the classroom and look to determine if it aligns with my instructional goals. To take action, I will research the internet and our districts professional development calendar to see if there are any available classes, seminars, or conferences that may be offered. After I locate and select a professional development opportunity, I will make the necessary plans to attend. Once I complete the PD activity, I will monitor this goal by slow introducing the technology tool into my lessons. In addition, I will look to see if the technology tool is helping my students understand the class concepts and achieve the learning targets. With this information, I will be able to modify or make changes to the lessons. To evaluate and extend on my professional growth I will continue to reflect on my professional development experiences and evaluate which types of professional development work best for me and my schedule.

I believe that this GAME plan has given me a starting point in developing my ability to actively plan, monitor, and evaluate my learning progress throughout this course. I feel that this GAME plan will help me self-assess my current level of skills in relation to the NETS-T Standards and allow me to continually learning and integrate technology into my classroom.