Spotlight on Emerging Technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Men_3acm6Ww&feature=youtube_gdata

Reaching and Engaging All Learners in the Classroom: A Reflection

There will always be diversity in the classroom. Even in the most homogeneous grouping of students, you will find differences in the way each student learns. The challenge then becomes finding their best method of learning and providing instruction and assessment to accommodate those needs.

In my classroom now, I have an extremely heterogeneous mixture of students regarding skill level. Not only do I have to accommodate their interests for motivation, but I also have to meet them at their skill level for each unit and lesson.

I have learned that meeting the needs of all of those students does not have to be as complicated or frustrating as it seems. Technology can help soften the blow of universal instruction and differentiated instruction. It can provide assistance in many areas, such as pretesting, remediation, and providing a challenge for students who need it.

Some immediate adjustments that I will make to my classroom focus directly on the students. First, I will have students complete a survey that will provide a picture of their learning needs, and it will also provide a section with a reflection on how well I am meeting their needs before I put a focus on UDL and DI. This will give me a starting point for my classroom instruction.

My next step is to always provide choices for my students. I have always thought that differentiating instruction meant that I had to provide different alternatives for assessment to all students. But, now, I know that every student could choose a different route and show the same progress in a content area. There is no need for me to give a test, an essay, and some type of project. Instead, students could choose of of those and still offer the same data. Not only will students have choice in assessment, but I will vary instruction more holistically, so students are constantly getting multiple means of instruction, an important part of UDL.

Making these small, yet very important changes, will help ensure that all of my students are getting the instruction in a way that is appropriate and fair to them.

Reflection

I think the GAME process was an interesting undertaking. It is very thorough which unfortunately also means that it can be time-consuming at times. In the future, I think I could utilize the GAME process but in a more informal manner. This would definitely help with time-constraints.

I have learned that I have many strengths when it comes to using technology in the classroom and meeting standards for students and myself. However, with as many strengths I have, I also have weaknesses in specific areas. Using the GAME process has helped me to understand where some improvements need to be made, and through the process, I have also brainstormed solutions to attack those areas where I struggle. The GAME process has gotten me to think in a different way while also reflecting on my thoughts and ideas and failures and successes throughout the process.

Reflecting on the GAME plan Process

Post your thoughts and ideas about how you will use the GAME plan process with your students to help them develop proficiency in the technology standards and indicators outlined in the NETS-S. Reach out to your colleagues in this learning community for assistance if needed.

I think the GAME plan process could be very useful in my language arts classroom. It's always a good idea to make sure students are aware of the standards connected to any lesson so they know their goal for each day. Students often think they know a lot about technology and what it can do for them; however, we know, as teachers, that this is not always the case. Because of this, I would definitely show students the NETS-S standards, so they know what their goals are for using any type of technology in the classroom. I would like for my students to choose a standard where they would like to focus for the year. They could use the GAME plan process much like we did in the class, but of course, over a longer period of time. Students would reflect on what they have learned, how they have learned it, and how they could approach their goals in the future based on their goals for that particular time period.

I think this would be very beneficial for any student. It is not only a lesson for class, but a life lesson that can help them reach goals and/or revise any approach to goals.

Revising the plan..

I’ve definitely learned that you have to take things one step at a time. The goals that I’m reaching for are not necessarily goals that can be achieved in a one-month span, but rather they are goals that must be intricately planned and take time to establish. For my blog, I am sticking by my opinion that it is a routine that must be established at the beginning of the year. If parents know they can expect something from the beginning of the year, they will be more likely to participate. I am not ready to set new learning goals; however, I would like to make an attempt to blog with parents and students at the start of next year.

Next time, I will definitely try to participate in a collaborative discussion with colleagues. It’s very important to brainstorm and bounce ideas off one another. We currently do not have a meeting where teachers can have the opportunity to do this. I know that I have a lot to share with my colleagues and I’m sure they also have a lot to share with me.

Evaluation

•How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?

•What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?

•What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?

•How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?

1. To help me reach my goal of modeling digital citizenship, I have been citing any and all resources I use in my lessons and unit plans. I even cite images and point out to students that I have done so. When I give out assignments, I'm sure to make it very clear that my students should also be following suit by doing the same --citing all sources AND images. I have learned that I need to really force students to take the extra time to give credit where it's due and explain that it may take time and effort but it's very important. For now, everything seems to be going as planned and modeling digital citizenship is easier than I had initially thought it would be.

2. For blogging, I have learned that a lot of parents are really interested in the blog at first, but not much communication is going on the blog. However, even if they aren't contributing to the blog comments, they are getting a good amount of important information just from reading the blog. So, I have to find a good way to get parents excited and motivated to use the blogging comments. For now, I will continue to post on the blog, so parents can read about the progress in our classroom, and in the future, I will speak about the blog at back to school night to get them excited about using it.

Checking my progress..

1. For my goals for promoting and modeling digital citizenship and responsibility, I have learned that for the most part I have not been an appropriate model for my students. I do encourage them to cite all of their sources when completing any project, but I do not do the same for when I use someone else’s work, such as for lesson or unit plans. As far as this goal goes, everything is going as planned. I am spending more time and effort citing sources and explaining to students the importance of giving credit.

2. Model Digital Age work and Learning - So far, I have learned that parents are extremely interested in seeing a blog about the day’s events or plans for my classes. However, not many of them like to leave comments. My goal is to encourage parents to share their comments on the blog, so other parents who may have the same questions can also get answers at the same time. One way I would definitely modify my plan is to notify parents at the beginning of the year or marking period when students switch into their classes. It’s difficult for parents to keep up with paperwork and actually pay attention to all the information going home at random times during the year. I feel that if it were to go home at the start of a class, then parents would be more likely to pay attention to a small detail such as this.