My Personal GAME Plan

Cennamo (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010) emphasizes the importance of being a self-directed learner when it comes to technology, since everything changes so rapidly.  In order to be a self-directed learner (or teacher), there is a four-step process: (1) set Goals, (2) determine what Action you are going to take, (3) Monitor your progress, and (4) Evaluate what went well and what did not.  This results in having a GAME plan.  To this day, I can still hear my high school swim coach telling me, “It is easy to get lost if you don’t know where you’re going.”  Although at the time, it was applied in an athletic manner, it can easily be applied to many other facets of life, included self-directed learning.

Thus, I have decided to develop my own GAME plan to improve my teaching by selecting two indicators from the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).  First off, I am going to work in standard 1b, “Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008, p. 1).  Secondly, I would like to improve on standard 3b, “Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008, p. 1). 

In order to achieve these goals, I plan to take action.  In order to make standard 1b attainable, I am going to focus on the area of mathematics in begin.  Next school year, in each unit of study, I am going to embed at least one authentic problem-solving task using digital tools for my students.  Even though all of my students have an identified disability, King-Sears and Evmenova (2007) state that, “technology must be part of students’ instructional programs because the students’ futures will require proficiency in technological skills” (p. 7).  In order to meet standard 3b, I am going to update my web-site at least once per week to post information, resources, and open communication with students, parents, and community members.  By adding these resources at least once a week, I eventually strive to have my own database of resources that students and parents can use for additional practice outside of school. 

The next step of my GAME plan is to monitor progress.  I do not feel that simply giving students a problem to solve will serve justice to ensure that the standard is being met, so I am going to use two forms of assessment.  In order to monitor progress of myself (and my students), I will use a rubric to track student progress on authentic learning tasks as they become more acclimated to digital tools.  In meeting standard 3b, I simply will track the number of posts/resources I post, along with the number of connections with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools.

Finally, I need to evaluate my progress.  I will track the progress of my authentic learning tasks through the rubrics and a reflective journal.   Additionally, I will look at the posts on my web-page and evaluate how many students I have reached outside of school through informal student and parent interviews.  As a result, I will adjust accordingly, most likely leading me to my next goal and GAME plan!

 

 

References:

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards

for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-

teachers

King-Sears, M., & Evmenova, A. S. (2007). Premises, principles, and processes for integrating technology into instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(1), 6–14.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Promoting self-directed learning with technology [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3397615_1%26url%3D