After exploring the NETS, my goal is to strengthen my confidence and knowledge with the following indicators:
1b. Engage students in exploring real world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
3c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using, a variety of digital age media and formats.
5b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating a shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.
The actions for 1b are:
Available Technologies in the district:
- Computers
- Internet Access
- PowerSchool
- Schoology
- Projector
- Microsoft Office
Technologies that I’m comfortable with:
- Computers
- Internet Access
- PowerSchool
- Microsoft Office
- Projector- I now have a remote, the light has been changed, and an IT person has connected it to my computer so I can use it as the demonstration computer.
- Schoology- I have created an account, added all my students, and figured out how the interface works. I have also created and uploaded several assignments.
Now that these actions are completed, I feel that I need to work on tailoring my assignments to fit my students more specifically. In my district, we administer STAR Renaissance testing, which shows the Language Arts and Math skills of our students. It places them in one of four groups and gives indicators of strengths and weaknesses. Now that I am comfortable with using the technology, I want to use it to tailor the assignments to scaffold the students to a higher level.
The actions for 3c are: (the reason I selected this indicator is because I do not communicate with parents often)
I have collected contact information for my students in an excel sheet
I have set up a class website for the two courses that I teach and have provided the access code to students, parents, and administrators.
I will continue to maintain the website with up-to-date assignments and information so parents and students are able to access classwork at all times
The actions for 5b are:
- I have signed up for the leadership committee at my school and have attended their meeting. I spoke with them about the changes I made in my classroom and provided them with access code to my courses so they could see it. I received positive responses from many of my colleagues for incorporating technology, going “paperless” (this is an initiative in our school), and for continuing my own education.
- I have emailed the head of the technology department for permission and will be attending the professional learning community for technology at my school; this will give me an opportunity to see if they have additional resources
I have found the majority of the information that I need so far. There are still a few people that I need to hear back from, but all of the resources that I need access to are available to me. Contained within my action steps are the things that I still need to complete. I will continue working on my GAME plan and will attend the aforementioned meetings.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteNice job so far! It appears that you are doing a great job of monitoring your GAME Plan. How do you like Schoology so far? We have Schoology in my district as well and some teachers are testing via Schoology.
How are you liking your website so far? What are your students and parent saying about it? Do you blog on your website? I have a school twitter but no blog yet. I hope to blog in the near future.
Keep up the great work,
Shannan McCreary
I LOVE Schoology. I have a really great experience with it so far. I have not done testing on it yet, but I have them doing blogs, projects, and written assignments on it and it's fantastic. It keeps the students more organized also because they always know what is due and when. The parents also appreciate seeing what their students are learning, though I only had a few parents join so far. I think it was the right move for me. I had a twitter for the Yeabook because I am the advisor, but the students didn't really pay attention to it so I stopped using it. Thanks for the comments : )
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteIs Schoology similar to Edmodo? I have not heard of it before. Having a projector and smart board in my classroom has changed the way I teach! I do not know what I would do without it. I am actually looking into going to a conference on how to use the smart board more effectively.
How are you getting parents and students to visit your website? I have a website where I post assignments and I have maybe a handful of students who actually visit it, and that is only when they are absent. I was trying to think of other ways to get parents and students to check it, but I am not sure how. We have a school-wide goal about communicating with parents so I am constantly emailing or calling parents. If you are trying to communicate with parents more, maybe you could try one of the texting websites like Remind 101 or Celly so you can give parents updates that way.
Good luck with the rest of your GAME plan.
Nicole
Nicole,
DeleteIt sounds like Schoology might help you! Schoology is similar to Edmodo, but it doesn't freeze as often and you are able to do more as far as creating folders for your materials and you can have your materials personal and hidden. This allows to me to upload assignments ahead of time and only show it to students when I'm ready. Also, once a teacher creates a course, there is a unique access code that is generated for that class. I give that code to students and parents. For my students, I made it a homework grade to sign up, and for parents, I handed it out as a courtesy. I hope that helps!
Heather
Heather,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have taken quite a few steps to get your GAME plan in action, great job! I noticed that you got your projector and computer hooked up to allow you to project whatever you use on your computer to your students. I find that this tool is vital in my classroom. I can also project whatever I put on my desk onto the screen as well. I use this device every single day. It makes modeling and explaining or clarifying instructions that much easier. I think you will find that you are so happy that you took that step. Students really pay more attention to instructions when I have the visual for them on the screen as well. I see that you are using schoology. I will look into this because I want to incorporate more blogging into my classroom. I am also interested in the tool you use to find the indicators of where students are. This seems like a very beneficial tool, especially now that testing has such an emphasis in the classroom. I created a website for students and parents but I need to update it more. Sounds like your website is going well for communication.
Good luck,
Natalie
Natalie,
DeleteThe website is the best part of my GAME plan! I can't say enough about it. I also found out that once you set up the class, it is there forever. This means that you can set up the class once and then adjust your courses to fit your students each year, but the base of your course is still there. You just remove your previous students and add your incoming students. I was so excited to find this out because it is time consuming to start the class. In addition, the students love it, and most of them know how to use it already because other teachers use it also. It allows you to set up tests, blogs, and projects and it has a time stamp for when students hand things in. I truly love working with Schoology. Give it a try!
Heather
Nice! I love that you are being pro-active in searching out professional development opportunities for using the technology and the other resources that are available to you. There are many training's available if we seek them out.Also just simple steps such as getting technology hard ware set up and ready to be used in our classrooms in a wonderful accomplishment. I know that some of the things holding back the technology use in my classroom at the first of the school year was waiting on the ECS to get me a cord to connect the computer to the Elmo and the Elmo to the Projector. I am glad things are going well.
ReplyDeleteBrandon F.