Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Providing Students with a GAME plan

When I began comparing the student’s standards with the teacher’s standards I noticed they were similar in many regards with the teacher’s standards providing ways to teach students the necessary material. The teaching standards look at ways to gain the skills and then transfer them into the classroom while the student’s standards focus more on gaining the skills to prepare them for success in the classroom and after school (National Education Standards for Students, 2007). The overall topics are the same and I feel can be accommodated with minimal issues in class by carefully constructing lessons to use technology in a meaningful way. The teacher can help define the student’s actions to reach their goals and construct lessons providing the opportunity for new learning in through the scope of technology to take place.

I think if I was to use the GAME plan process in my classroom I would use a process very similar to one that I used in this class. I would describe how a GAME plan is used and to what ends we would use the plan. As I teach tenth grade students I feel for the most part that they will be able to handle their own plan and be able to work through their plan in the course of a year. I would present this strategy to the students at the beginning of the year or semester allowing them to formulate their own personal plan with the assistance of the teacher expanding upon their technology skills throughout the course of the year. One of the strengths of the GAME plan is it allows each individual to chose their own goals, define their actions to reach the goals while routinely monitoring and evaluating their progress (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). This would allow the students to work at their own pace and review back to their GAME plan as they are working on projects during class. Similar to what we did in class, I would go over the standards for students and allow them to pick one or two standards to focus on in the GAME plan. This will help keep the students from becoming too overwhelmed throughout their work. I will allow the student to chose what they feel is the best method of establishing the GAME plan but will guide them along the way and will continue to remind them during projects to include a section about their plan. What I foresee is the students writing a two to three sentence paragraph in each project or when they use technology explaining what they have learned and how they will continue to proceed in the future. This will help keep them on track towards their goals.

Lastly, I would also like to bring the student’s parents into the activities. This will be a much stronger GAME plan if the students have support both at school and at home. These are the skills that the students need to use to be successful in the future, providing the students with an opportunity to use these skills in a guided environment will do much to help students learn the content and the technology itself. Overall, I feel that if the students are provided with a way to increase their knowledge in a self guided environment they are more likely to work harder and understand why their work is important. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on providing students with a GAME plan.

Randy

References

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful
classroom use: A standards-based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S). (2007). retrieved December 12, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

4 comments:

  1. Randy,

    It sounds like you are well on your way to transforming all of your students into 21st century learners in your own classroom and beyond! The GAME plan process was a steo-by-step plan that we- as grad students- worked on and assessed ourselves individually and with the help of our peers. This was a beneficial experience that helpd me gain insight into my own learning and how to attain goals. Using this process with tenth graders should yield similar results! They are -hopefully- mature enough to handle thier own action plans and can evaluate themselves. As you mentioned, you will guide their plans and help them along the way to reach their goals, but did you ever consider creating a GAME plan as a class first for a model? In the first few weeks of school you could construct a GAME plan and work on it as a class. Then, when students get the idea they can venture into their own plans! There might be a lot of tenth graders who can handle this task without a model, but it is always good to cover the bases! Good luck!

    Connie Tartara

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  2. Hi Randy!

    Your comments are always so well-thought and written!

    Since you talked about comparing the NETS-T and NETS-S, it made me think that it would be a good idea to provide these standards to students at the beginning of the year/semester and have them posted in our classrooms. They certainly should be posted in the labs (add that to my to-do list!).

    I think you have come up with a great strategy for using the GAME plan with students. I agree that 10th graders should be able to work more independently than my 6th graders but providing conferencing and home support will be very helpful. I hadn't thought of including the parents but what a great idea! That could be another component of our school's home/school connection goal.

    I also love the idea of students including feedback/progress in the GAME plan in final projects and daily lessons. This will help keep them accountable for the work.

    When you say you'll allow students to choose the methods for completing their plans, will you provide resources or possible resources or let them find it on their own? Also, will you include lessons just for completing the standards or do you intend to keep them integrated in your other lessons?

    Good luck with your goals!

    Krista

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  3. Randy,

    What an awesome idea to have your parents involved with the GAME plan! I am jealous that I never thought about that! It is great that we are able to learn from one another through this course. You have really thought out your plans and it seems like you are going to have a classroom that is going to allow your students to grow in their 21st Century skills. Good luck with your future GAME plans and have a great holiday!

    Alisha

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  4. Randy,

    Your blog posts are always very articulate and direct. Considering that many of us are having similar thoughts and feelings regarding our goals, it seems that you have a very good start to achieving yours.

    You mentioned something very interesting about teaching these technological skills in a guided environment. When you mention this, I immediately begin to think of a seminar or workshop where students are given step by step instructions of how to implement and use the skills necessary to complete their work. I find this to be a great idea considering that many students will be new to these types of technological skills. Having an opportunity either before or after school for students to learn as they go in an environment in which students are able to ask questions, explore, and find answers to their own questions simply by doing and practicing these new skills is an excellent idea. I know from experience that students may not ask questions if they feel that their questions may be stupid. Perhaps this is the best way for students to offer feedback on new skills and a great way for teachers to introduce these new skills.

    Good luck with your goals.

    Mike Palo

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