Week 5: Game Plan Update

Oops! I have two blogs and put my update on the wrong one. I am know on the correct one. :-)

I have been able to accomplish three of my sub goals such as having my students identify the math skill they would like to learn and setting up the sites or curriculum that will help them. My students wanted to be generic in their goals but in talking to them individually, I was able to help narrow down to a specific skill that was doable within a week. Having this conversation was quick but insightful. It helped to open communication between my students and me about what they felt were their weak areas instead of identifying them myself. I am curious to see if that translates into a more motivated learning environment. I was concerned about being able to manage finding individual skills for each student within my class but there appears to be groupings of specific skills among students such as multiplying and dividing fractions. By them filling out the forms and from the conversations, I am able to find more specific help for them as my goal is for them to be able to design and develop their own academic plan. I also want them to monitor their goals and the form allows them to keep track of what they have accomplished as they keep it in their math file.

They are in the process of setting up their blogs as I was able to get them into the computer lab. The blogs are meant to be their tool for reflection and communication. I want them to be able to evaluate their learning progress and determine if they are successful in meeting their goals this is the last step in the GAME plan and is very important for the students to become a self-directed learner (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). Flexibility is the key to getting my goals met as we are having late starts due to weather. Once they are set up then the students will be able to access them from the classroom.

I have the knowledge to now post tests on line but if the skills I want are not in the current question bank then I will have to write them. If I want the questions to take advantage of the features of the program such as cloning problems with new numbers or toggling between multiple choices and writing the answer in then I have to learn the programming aspect of the program. It does not appear to be difficult but time consuming. Like Peggy Ertmer stated I have to have the confidence that I can learn this program so my students can access it (Laureate Education, 2009).
I have learned several things about my students and needs for myself. Organization and management are always issues within the classroom and a learning curve for new projects. I need to allow for more time between when students identify their goals and when they need the necessary technology, programs and/or sites to work on their goals. I was trying within the one period to identify their goals and find appropriate technology and realized that I needed at least a day or two until I develop a better repertoire. I was surprised that I only have about four students that had Google accounts and had to help students with setting them up. These students are digital natives and yet I have more technology skills than they do.
I have several questions that come to mind this week such as should I rely on them telling me when they have had enough practice and are ready to move on? How am I going to assess these skills so that I know they are mastering them? How often do I need to assess them? How important is it for me to assess these skills if I am checking their work quickly or am providing technology that gives them instant feedback?

Some of the adjustments to my plan include having students creating an avatar before setting up their Google account. Also discussing safety issues on the internet about what information they should and should not display. I really need to back up and do some assessments of their computer skills. I am going to have the students fill out the computer survey from Reading the Web by Eagleton and Dobler (2007). Another adjustment I have made is to focus on accomplishing one thing at a time instead of try to tackle all my sub goals at once.

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use. Mason: Cengage learning.

Eagleton, M., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web. New York: Guilford.

Laureate Education, I. P. (2009). Ingtegrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.