The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) outlines the standards and performance indicators that teachers should meet when integrating technology and engaging our students in today’s curriculum. A set of standards and performance indicators have also been created to explain the skills students should be able to meet too.
After reading through and reflecting on the standards, I have chosen the following two indicators for my GAME plan:
- Indicator 3b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
- Indicator 5a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
Goals:
- I plan to communicate with students via a classroom blog set up through my teacher webpage, and communicate with peers, parents, and community members via email, monthly newsletter, and my teacher webpage. In addition, I plan to attend my school district’s monthly technology meetings to collaborate more with my local community about ways I can improve student learning with integrating technology. Lastly, I recently joined an online personal learning network to communicate with other educators on ideas to integrate technology into the classroom. The personal learning network is: http://www.technologyintegrationineducation.com/
Actions:
- In order to meet my goals I need access to a computer with internet. Through meeting my goals, I will definitely be a self-directed learner.
- To Do List: set up blog on classroom webpage, verify I have the correct email addresses for parents, create monthly newsletter in Microsoft Publisher, contact my ITS (Instructional Technology Specialist) at my school to verify the dates of the district’s technology meetings.
Monitor:
- I will monitor my progress monthly. I will check to see if I have integrated all these communication tools into my monthly practice. Of course, not wanting to get too overwhelmed, I understand that the first month or so I might not integrate everything 100% at once. Realizing this, I will make sure after the second month, I am integrating all of these tools on a monthly basis.
Evaluate:
- In the end, I will evaluate my progress based on records on my teacher webpage—did I communicate with my students through blogs on a monthly basis? Did I consistently email parents about their child and/or send home a monthly newsletter by email? Did I attend each month’s district technology meeting? What tool did I learn each month, or more often, from my personal learning network?
- Through reflecting back on these records, I will be able to successfully evaluate myself on my “GAME” plan progress.
References:
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to start a classroom blog for my class. One of the problems I have is when my students do not have access to the internet at home. I will make copies of the blog and send them home with my students so their parents can review what's going on in our class. Do you have anymore suggestions?
Hi Amy. I am also planning on beginning a class blog. My blog is going to be incorporated into our language arts curriculum and I am also planning on setting up a homepage for my class separately. I like that you are linking your blog to your homepage. I think this is a great idea and I hope to incorporate a blog into my homepage in the future.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned in your evaluation component that you would evaluate whether or not you consistently emailed parents and sent a newsletter via email. Do you use individual emails as a regular form of conferencing or do you send out group emails with more general information? As for the newsletter, do you put it on your class homepage for parents to access in addition to sending in out via email? If so, maybe you could save yourself some work by eliminating the email version of the newsletter and just let parents who need it access the homepage.
I really like and respect your idea of not expecting yourself to integrate everything at 100% the first month. It is important to be comfortable with what you are doing in order to do it well and in expecting yourself to keep it up. You can always add components one at a time as you gain experience. I am going to try this strategy myself.
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ReplyDeleteRoderick,
ReplyDeleteWhat about just doing the blogging at school? How often do you have access to the computer lab at school? I also have the problem of students accessing a computer at home. We do all of the blogging at school. I sent a parent letter home explaining the blogging experience in the classroom.
-Amy
Linda,
ReplyDeleteI sent out group emails weekly if not, bi-monthly. It takes a little bit of setting up at the beginning of the year. I use an Excel spreadsheet or just a Microsoft Word document to paste the parent emails there so I can make up the group emails. After that set up, it makes it so much easier for communication throughout the year.
As far as the newsletter, yes, I put it on the homepage, as well as sending it by email, and by hard copy for those students and parents who do not have internet access regularly.
Good luck! :)
-Amy
Amy,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great plan you have here. Blogs seem to be the new phase in education. I think it is a great way to keep students interacting with each other through a digital realm. I feel a nice aspect about blogs is students can reply and post to them at any time from any computer. Would you only have your student’s blog during class time, leave it open to them, or a mixture of both?
I agree with Linda, where you do not expect to be 100% for the first month. When working with technology, especially if you are new to it, there are always going to be a hick-up that occurs. Learning to crawl before walking is always a good idea to keep in mind.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI like your GAME plan, and your ideas of creating a blog. One of my goals in the near future is to also create a blog for my classes. We have homepages as well, but I don't quite keep it updated because it does not provide us with much space. It would be great to keep, especially for the parents sake. I teach sophomores and seniors, and parents of both grades are constantly emailing me asking me for future assignments, projects, tests, etc. It gets frustrating because you would think at that age they can be, or at least should be, responsible for that work. I find myself emailing several parents daily on assignments. Having a blog like this would put both students and parents in the responsible seat at that time.
I would also like to set up one just for students on content related subjects too. Do you think this is too much?
Good luck with your blogging. It seems like you know what you would like to do and how to go about it!
Michael,
ReplyDeleteI would require my students to blog in class, but leave it open for them to visit the blog site at home. While I understand not everyone has internet access at home, at least those students can have the opportunity to blog in the classroom.
Grace,
If I were you, I would set up a homepage first. All of the teachers at my school use "Blackboard" for our homepages. Blackboard is great because it gives the teachers a place to post homework, assignments, powerpoint notes, and even incorporate blogs, wikis, and discussion board. It's pretty much everything rolled into one. I think by having a Blackboard page, it would cut down on the amount of work you are having to do with emailing several parents daily. If they do email you, you just respond "Please see my Blackboard page". Good luck!
-Amy