Week 8 Reflection

After learning more about the GAME plan, I realized it is a new way to plan all together! I like to organization that comes with the GAME plan, and I also like how it makes you think of 'things that could go wrong' or anything else you may forget!

As I continue to build my GAME plans, I reflect on my past ideas and try to integrate new ideas. My original plan was to have my students respond to the class blog by Wednesday and two classmates by Sunday. I still want to have that as a goal, but I want to do more! My new plan is to add digital story-telling to my blog. I want to show students how the possibilities are endless! I feel if I slowly show them more and more tools, they will appreciate technology even more... and they will also see the positive side of technology with positive exposures. My hopes are my students will come back to school someday and show me something new that I did not know!

So far, my students have really hooked on to my new technology style of teaching. At first they were a little uneasy, but after they got to the computer lab and realized how much they could do... their attitudes turned around! I think the most important thing was that I took it slow (at first I talked about my whole blog goal which overwhelmed them... but then I realized I needed to go one step at a time). Once my students built the confidence in themselves to create their own and upload their own pictures, they discovered the joy in blogging!

I am also very, very excited to incorporate my unit plan that I developed throughout this class. My number one love in life is to be creative! I always wanted to incorporate that to my lessons. With the help of this course, I now created 3 lessons that use technology, lessons from my subject, current events, and creativity! I can't wait!

Week 7 GAME

As I view the NET-S and the NET-T, in a way I see the similarities and in a way I see the differences. In the NET-S, it looks more like the standards we would expect to see. It is what the students should be expected to know/do after the lesson is taught. For example, Digital Citizenship. After the teacher incorporates a lesson for this standard, students should be able to exhibit leadership, use technology appropriately, etc. Now with the NET-T, I feel it shows us how we should teach... how we should teach so our students learn what we expect them to learn. I feel this is more of the ethics behind what we want our students to learn. It also shows us how we need to act and demonstrate. We cannot teach our students one thing and act against what we are teaching.

This goes along with my GAME plan, because after creating my game plan, I would think of how to incorporate these. I am using digital citizenship with my blogging project. I want them to have a positive experience with technology and I want them to use and speak appropriately while using their blogs. In return, I also need to speak and use my blog and the class blog appropriately. It goes hand in hand!

Week 6 GAME

Throughout the GAME experience and chapter 12 in our book, I learned a lot! I really like how our book has each subject individually discussed with specific ideas and goals for us to learn and use. Through the Stories from Practice and the GAME lesson plan formats/examples, I feel my teaching has already improved.

I want to work towards standard 1 and I feel I am doing a great job. Standard one says to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. I think I am doing this through the creation of our class blog and individual blogs. My students are learning in a new way. Plus, they tell me it is fun! If you can combine fun and learning, you are doing your job!

This standard came easy for me, I believe, because I am a creative person and I always want to see creativity shine in others. I just never thought of using it towards technology in the classroom with science... but it is great so far!

Week 5 GAME

I am a Marine Biology teacher, therefore I read the chapter for Integrating Technology in the Science Classroom. I learned a lot! Some things I am already doing, which makes me feel good, and other things I learn to do, which makes me excited!

I like the stories from practice. The first one I read was incorporating technology into the labs. I don't know why, but I never thought to incorporate technology to the labs. (I have used them for many other things, though!) He also gave each person a specific job. I like this idea, too. I let my juniors and seniors pick their own lab partners, but I think it would be neat to have a project where students had a specific job to create one final lab.

As I look at my goals for integrating technology into my classroom I am pleased with my actions so far. My blogs are up and running, and my students are excited about them! It makes me smile when I get to school and a student runs up to me and says, "Ms. Shrift did you see my blog? It is really neat! Did you read it, did you read it?" And these are students I never saw excitement in before! (Plus they are 'cool' high school students.) Their research blogs were due October 5. That was the first assignment on their blog. Hopefully within the next 2 weeks I will have the weekly discussions started! That is my next goal.