Using game play & development to educate
Developing My GAME Plan
Walden University – Course 6713: Week 2 Application
Developing My GAME Plan: Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences
The National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) cover many important markers in which teachers must strive to achieve in an effort to stay abreast of technology advancements and meet the needs of 21st century learners. After examining the NETS-T, I feel fairly confident regarding my proficiency in these areas as a technology teacher, however there are two indicators I would like to develop a GAME plan for.
The NETS-T: A part of standard 3C states that teachers must effectively correspond with parents through the use of current technologies, while a section of standard 4A addresses teaching “legal and ethical use of” technology and online content (ISTE, 2008). Although I am proactive in communicating with parents at the beginning of each semester–the time when I get new students–I do not have a tool in place to keep parents up-to-date on assignments and projects happening throughout the semester. In addition, although I am familiar with the practice of citing information, I have never placed much emphasis on it. Therefore, these are the two areas I will build my GAME plan for.
The following are the four steps I will use to develop my GAME plan:
- Goal setting
- Action planning
- Monitoring progress
- Evaluating/extending progress
Goals & Actions: The goals I will set for myself will be to provide a way to effectively and efficiently inform parents of upcoming assignments, projects, tests, etc., and become better familiar with MLA style formatting. To achieve these goals I will create a course blog where I can easily post pertinent curriculum information, and research and create a classroom reference guide for citing sources in MLA format.
Monitor: For the blog, I will monitor my progress by logging in to the site and posting assignments, projects, tests, etc. at least one week in advance, while updating information on past assignments regarding completion dates. In order to better familiarize myself with MLA formatting, once I have created a reference guide, I can monitor my progress by creating at least one research assignment a month where students must applying MLA citations to their work. Each assignment can utilize a different type of resource so that I can practice recognizing proper MLA formatting.
Evaluate: Through my regular methods of communication with parents via phone, email, conferences, etc., I am able to gather their feedback and suggestions regarding the course blog and make any necessary modifications to better this form of communication. By continuing to develop assignments for students where they must cite their sources and I must verify their resource formatting, I will become better acquainted with MLA style and should be able to easily recognize the various parts and sequencing of this style. In addition, through these assignments, I can also assess student understanding of this practice and if I need to make any modifications to help them master the practice of MLA citing.
Resources:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS for teachers 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx
At my school, teachers edit a wiki page called “homework hotline.” This tool is primarily used for assignment announcements, but we also utilize it to communicate important upcoming dates to our students’ parents. Because it is in a wiki format, any of us are able to edit this page collaboratively at any time. On our school’s homepage, there is a link for parents to click on in order to view our homework hotline page. This has worked very well thus far, and it is provided by our school. However, there are many other wiki sites out there that are free to use, and you could also share the URL address with your parents. We have found using a wiki for parent communication very effective.
Pat,
I like that your school works collaboratively to inform the parents in one area…it makes it easier and very convenient for the parents! Most schools have individual teacher pages where course information, like homework and upcoming assignments, are posted. The idea of a “homework hotline” wiki where all the teachers can post makes it like a “one-stop-shop” for parents to locate all of the assignments their child is working on…instead of visiting every teachers’ individual Web page for this information. Great idea! Thank you for sharing this with me!
Shanna