Monitoring Your GAME Plan Progress
This week, thanks to other Walden’s student’s blog, I went to
different websites to check them out, and signed in to www.Epals.com and contacted two classes in
France. I want students to find a teenager of their age to be able to
communicate and exchange cultures. As of today, I am still waiting for people
to respond. I also created a bookmark with new websites that I can use for
project or as tutorials. I am trying to determine and categorize them to make
sure it is adapted to my students. I have not found a tutorial
yet that goes
along with what I am doing.
I have many ideas on how to incorporate technology and authentic
learning in my class, but I need to write a GAME plan to make the lesson
efficient. When I get an idea, I get excited and want to implement it right
away. Then the lesson ends up not being as engaging for everybody as I hoped.
As far as my second goal, introducing my work to the staff, I am
taking pictures of my students working in groups on a project integrating the
laptops. I am starting the PowerPoint presentation. I still have to talk to my
principal to get his authorization to talk to the staff.
As
I was sharing my project with the librarian, she asked me to send an article to
“The Heritage”, a school district newspaper to let the community know about the
project and to represent our school. This would be another way to promote my
program and the integration of new technology in the classroom.
Finally,
I am starting sharing my projects with my department, and they are interesting
on doing the project and asked me to teach them how to use the technology. This
week I have a meeting with my department chair and I will tell her about my new
project. I would like to set up a meeting with the other foreign language
teachers in the district where we all would share new technology integrated in
the classroom.
I
feel that once you start integrating technology in your lesson, it gets very
difficult to stop thinking of activities/projects I could be doing. I think I
am on the right track; I would like to find a colleague on the same page so we
can work together and share the workload.
Helene,
ReplyDeleteI sounds like you have been doing some great work. I too have the tendency to get excited about new projects and often jump into it before I have really taken time to step back and create a plan. While there are times when these projects work well, I know that if I would have taken a little longer to clearly write my lesson objectives and align my assessments, that the lesson/activity would have been more intentional and result in higher levels of students understanding. I am fortunate to have taught the same subject for the last few years, so I have had the opportunity to reflect and improve upon many lessons taught in previous years. While the content has stayed the same, as I learn about new technology I have changed they way students access new information and communicate new understandings. I think that Epals is a great way for your students to practice their language skills while communicating in a clear and efficient way.
I am glad to see that your staff is getting excited about technology and what you are doing in your class. I have found that when teachers see how students are using technology and how it motivates and engages them in critical content, they are then motivated to try it themselves. I was the first person in my building to start exploring technology with students and found myself struggling with the lack of support in my building. After sharing a variety of projects my students had done, a few of my colleagues jumped in and began to integrate technology within their classrooms. We have since developed a technology PLC, where we share ideas, read articles, and discuss current best practices. I have found that having this support has greatly encouraged me continue with my journey with technology and has improved the quality of learning in my classroom.
Good luck with your GAME plan and keep sharing what you are doing. I have also found that having an authentic audience for student's work enhance motivation and engagement. When they know I am going to be sharing their work with other teachers/classes I find the quality of work is greatly increased.
I am like you too, I teach the same curriculum every year and I get the students two years in a row. That is probably why I do not mind trying projects because I know that the following year it will be much better after the experience nad the reflection on my work.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great idea to have a PLC to share lessons that integrate new technology. I will work on that next school year. I feel we could learn so much from each other, just like we are doing with this class.
I agree with you about the authentic audience, that is also why I want to get my students involved with Epals. If they can talk to another teenager and build a relationship it would be so great for the students and to enhance their learning.
Helene James
French 7th & 8th
Helene-
ReplyDeleteYou are the second person who is using e-Pals and I am excited to see how that works out. I would really like to use this resource also, so I am following both of you to see how it works out. I know the other teacher who was doing this had not heard back from a school yet, I hope you do!
It is funny that you mention how excited you become about integrating technology, I am the same way. I start thinking of all of these great ideas that I can implement, but I have realized lately that I need to slow down and take time to get to know and understand the technology before I just jump into it. Sometimes I have implemented technology quickly and it works out well, but not always. My grand plans fall short. In these last two classes dealing with technology I was a little nervous about how I was going to implement technology into my lesson plans, but now I realize that even though I am limited in computers, does not mean that I need to be limited in my technology use. I have tried myself to use technology more in my teaching practices, and when available, sign up for the computer lab. I actually found a really cool website for reviewing literary terms a couple of months ago and was able to implement that into my lesson. I am starting to become more and more comfortable with technology and find it is easier than I thought to integrate into lessons.
I think it is a great idea to contact your school district newspaper to share what you are doing. What a great way to inform the community about what you are doing.
Good luck!
JenZ
Hello,
DeleteI have not heard from anybody from Epals. Could be because it is the end of the school year. I will be changing my profile and write more details about what I am looking for.
Thank you for your comments.