Thursday, September 13, 2012

Developing my GAME plan

Developing my personal GAME plan

So sorry folks.  Something odd happened with my old blog account.  I was having difficulty posting and when trying to resolve the issue, I no longer see my original blog.  I am updating as fast as possible. 

When looking through the Technology Standards I realized I would like to be more proficient in many areas, but I decided to focus this year on:

1.      Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats

2.      Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

In order to share information with families about my students, I will learn how to create digital portfolios.  I am very intrigued at the simplicity this can create and the organizational factor is huge.  I used to keep portfolios on my students, but when I began having such large class sizes, it went to the wayside.  As far as pursuing my goal with integrating more digital creativity, I will contact a colleague of mine that uses digital story-telling for a unit we put together.  I see her dedicating a large amount of time for students to create their story, so I need to definitely plan accordingly. 

It will be evident whether or not I am able to pursue my goals or not.  My hopes are to have students using a lap top to share they work with families by spring conference.  As well, the unit I want my students to use digital story-telling with begins in the spring.  I will keep track of my progress initially by creating these two items on my own. 

In order to properly evaluate the two goals I have set for myself, I would first like to have a family evaluation about how they felt the conference went using the digital format.  As for the digitial story-telling project, I would seek out critical feedback from my colleague that has used this previously and attending many trainings on implementation.

5 comments:

  1. No that I have created a second Blog, they continuously flip back and forth. I have no idea what is going on at this point so I will continue to check both and update both.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kelly,

    You have some great goals to work towards proficiency in the two standards you stated. I am very interested in how the use of digital portfolios goes. It sounds like a great way to share important information with families about their own children. Will the portfolios be available only at report card time or will the parents have access year round?

    As far as using digital story- telling, having your colleague who is familiar with the program will definitely be beneficial. Our technology coordinator held a staff development on using digital story-telling to help us begin using it. It was well worth it. Students love using the program. As far as your comment on the time it takes for students to create the stories depends on how in depth you want to take the project. While they are learning the program they could do a smaller project that would not take as long and then progress towards a larger project. You could even do a class story. Digital story-telling is definitely a way for your students to be self-directed and to think creatively. Good luck!

    Daneen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for asking such specific questions. You have me thinking now about a few things that have not yet crossed my mind. This year I intend to only have students share portfolios during Spring conference. I need the time to figure out how time consuming it may before I commit to having them posted for parent access. Also, I think I will use your idea of a practice run with a simple project first. More than likely it will save time in the long-run.
      Kelly

      Delete
  3. Hi Kelly,

    In reading through your entry, particularly your goal on “communicat[ing] relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats” (McIlrath, 2012), you highlight an instructional element that is far too often overlooked or undervalued in terms of importance to overall student success. When addressing the weighty task of improving student achievement effective classroom teachers have long recognized the influence of positive relationships on increased student achievement and meaningful parent-teacher communication. In addressing the challenges associated with home-school communication, research, such as that of McCoach et al. (2010), affirms that actively developing an environment of teamwork and open communication between parents and school faculty positively influences school demographics and student achievement.

    In setting your goal to develop this level of effective communication your actions will work to generate communication that is responsive to the individual needs of students and aid you in developing trusting and positive relationships upon which educational support and parental collaboration can be developed.

    Trevor

    References

    McCoach, D., Goldstein, J., Behuniak, P., Reis, S, Black, A, Sullivan, E., & Rambo, K. (2010, Spring). Examining the Unexpected: Outlier Analyses of Factors Affecting Student Achievement. Journal of Advanced Academics. 21(3), 426-468. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database. ISSN: 1932202X.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your thoughts. A sense of being a productive community member is my main goal for my students.

      Delete