Final Reflection

As I reflect on my GAME plan that I developed at the beginning of this course, I am reminded once again that I tend to jump feet first into projects that I plan.  The framework of the GAME strategy  (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer 2010) helped me to set goals, take actions toward learning, monitor progress and evaluate whether or not the goal was met.  Although my GAME plan involves quite a few steps and collaboration with other teachers, I have been able to take steps toward reaching my goal of creating a first grade collaborative online project with learners from different regions of the world.  There have been some obstacles that have kept us from staying on the initial timeline, but having the plan written out helps us to stay on track and keep our focus on the end goal.  

I plan to teach and use the GAME plan with my third grade students when they research important United States monuments and landmarks. Students will choose a state monument to research, gather images and then create a digital story. I will great a template with a place for students to record each of the four steps of their GAME plan.  I have also created a GAME plan poster to hang in my classroom as a reminder to students of the steps.  

As a result of my learning from this course, I have implemented the use of digital stories into multiple grade levels.  Although I had fifth grade students do digital stories last year, I was inspired by the many examples of using digital stories with students as young as kindergarten.  I also revised current plans which involved younger students creating Powerpoint presentations, to creating digital stories by recording student voices with USB microphones that were recently purchased for our school.  Students can then save the PPT presentations as Quicktime movies.  These can then be shared on our class website for parents and family members to view.

Dr. John Ross (Laureate, 2009) suggests that technology is a tool to differentiate instruction in order to meet the diverse needs of all learners. Through problem-based learning, online collaboration, digital storytelling and the use of iPod touches and iPads, students in my classes are able to be successful in their learning.  Although I may scaffold a lesson to help organize and support the student investigation or inquiry, students are engaged and motived when using technology as a tool.

This course has shown me that the same steps that are necessary to carry out effective planning and implementation of projects for adults are also essential to be explicitly teaching our students. 

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author