Personal GAME Plan

Sorry about taking so long on this, I've been down with the flu for the last week.

As an educator and leader in helping get our students ready in a technology based world, I realize that it is part of my job to be willing to analyze my own strengths and weaknesses and be prepared to implement a plan to correct them, and the most effective means is through a personal GAME plan as described in "Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use" (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).

That being said, I find myself analyzing where my biggest weaknesses lie according to the NETS-T indicators.  I think that one of the areas that I should improve is in NETS 2a: "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity".  How I plan to work on this is by taking steps to find ways to add technology to my lessons, rather than what I've been trying to do which is find lessons that fit the technology that I have.  Tim Best, in the video "Enriching Content Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1" (Laureate, 2010) emphasized that teachers should use the content first (after all, that is what we have to teach) and then find technology which assists in teaching it better.

I need to find technology to better support my lessons, not supplant my lesson which is my first goal, the G in my GAME plan.  How I plan to take Action is by talking with other teachers in my district and seeing how they are using technology to help their lessons and/or taking a good look at my standards for the lesson and thinking how technology can be best used to support the content.  The next step would be Monitoring the effectiveness and that will be through watching how my students interact with the lesson and the Evaluation would be their success on our daily quizzes and questioning for understanding.

The second area of NETS-T that I think I need to set as a goal for development is 5c: "evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning".  This one dovetails into NETS 2a.  Since I, as stated earlier, tend to try to force the technology to fit the lesson, I will need to become more active with keeping up with the research and new technologies that can help me support my lessons with technology.  I have already started taking steps in this direction through enrolling in courses, such as this one at Walden U, and taking part in a technology grant that was offered in my district.  The goal of which was to implement technology in the classroom.  I am making steps to take new training offered by my district and regional education service center, as well as subscribing to blogs such as "If technology moves us, let's use it!" on Edublogs.  How I will monitor myself is through using more technology in my classroom to help facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and I will be evaluating the effectiveness through the learning of my students as reflected through their grades and engagement in my class.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P.  (2009).  Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach.  (Laureate Education, Inc. custom ed.).  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education Inc.  (Producer).  (2010).  Program #3:  Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas  Enriching content learning experiences with technology: Part 1.  Baltimore, MD: Author.