As I look at my GAME plan so far, I feel that the actions I have taken so far to meet my goals have been effective, with limitations. They have been effective in that I am learning about more technology and its’ applications to education constantly through the resources I have subscribed to and obtained. The magazine(s) I have subscribed to have been the least helpful. I took the advice of many of you and canceled my subscription to one. The second magazine has given me some interesting ideas, but I maintain that what these publications publish it somewhat dated. The PD community and collaboration with my peers has been the most effective. I have had incredible conversations and idea exchanged with the educators in my building as well as on the web. Besides this collaboration, the time I have set aside just to search the web and look for new resources has been very effective. The wealth of information out there is simply amazing, when you have the time to seek it out.
Yet, not everything has gone according to plan. Time constraints have been slowly increasing and I find that I have less and less time to spend with my colleagues and to explore the web for resources. In addition, as the end of the school year comes about, stress has become another hindrance that has made following my GAME plan very difficult.
Even with the challenges so far, I have been able to take some items back to the classroom with me. I plan for next year, to utilize CPS systems more often in the classroom to access students with selected response questions. I have also requested several iPod nano’s with video cameras in order to allow my students to use film making as a means of assessment in my classroom. So many teachers have expressed how this way of accessing students has opened their minds to more creativity and higher order thinking rather than just paper and pencil exams. These are just a few of the things that I have gleaned thus far.
I still have much to learn. The two main things that have become new priorities for m are how to effectively manage my students and their use of all of this technology? The second question that has become very important to me is how do I reconcile these new and creative ways to access and teach my students with the very traditional approach of our state standardized tests? The latter is extremely haunting to me as I do not want to ill prepare my students for their tests and disadvantage them.
On a side note, I definitely feel that this was the wrong time of year to begin my GAME plan due to the entire end of school year chaos. Yet, I want to continue with it and I believe that much of my growth from my GAME plan will occur over the summer as I have time and begin to prepare for next school year.
Thanks for reading…
Richard,
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree that starting a GAME Plan at this time of the year is difficult. I would have to say the benefit for all of us is that it gets us thinking about what we might be able to accomplish over the summer. I know that had I tried to do this at the beginning or middle of the year that I would still have time constraints because of all the other responsibilities that I have.
I also agree that assessment is an issue with me also when using some technology tools. Rubrics are good but that type of assessment does not test for knowledge the way a state assessment exam would. I try to balance the use of creative projects with standard tests occasionally to help the students stay familiar with that type of assessment.
It sounds like you are slightly frustrated but I think you should be proud of yourself and the research you have already accomplished. The life of a teacher can be overwhelming at times but you seem sincere in your quest for new information. I am sure that you will find that the coming summer months are very rewarding for you.
Dawn