Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Monitoring My GAME Plan

After the development of goals and actions, it is time to monitor the progress of my GAME plan. This allows me to evaluate resources that I have found to determine if they will provide the necessary information that I need. The results will assist me in modifying my action plan if necessary.
Finding real-world issues related to science has been fairly easy because some aspect of science is all around us. I have created a folder that includes information found from newspapers, magazines, or ideas that I write down from the news. My classmates have provided me with multiple websites that have enabled me to not only locate ideas, but link to other websites that provide more information. I have created a blog for my classroom, yet it is a blank slate at this point with nothing more than a title. As far as the progress on my technology committee, it is at a standstill due to summer vacation. I do have one colleague that said he would be on the committee as long as there are detailed expectations for the members. Creating this sort of list is something that I need to add to my action plan. I also need to develop a presentation for the administration for approval of this committee. I have not yet created a survey for the students on survey monkey. One of the questions that I would have for this action is how exactly does this work? This is something that I will have to create with the technology personnel at the school. I will need to develop a plan of action as to how each student will take the survey.  I do not teach every student in the school so I will need the assistance of other teachers to complete this task.
As I continue to progress with my action plan, I realize that it is definitely a living document. As I created my goals and developed my action plan, there were key details that I did not even consider until reaching the stage of monitoring. I have learned that communication and collaboration is key in order for me to successfully achieve all of my goals. The questions that arise as I monitor my plans relate to the unknown. Will the students be engaged in the classroom blog? Will they provide input related to technology use in the school on their survey? Will the teachers jump on board and become a part of our technological world? Only time will tell.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Jennifer,
    It sounds like, even though it is summer time, you have really been working hard to accomplish your goals for you GAME plan. You are fortunate to have someone already interested in jumping on board. Within my school, I have contacted my principal about an increase in technology tools and usage. She also sees the need so I am hoping with her support, we can really get the ball rolling in my school. Your idea of a professional committee really interests me. Next year I am starting a technology club and that will consume a great deal of my “extra” planning time. As a result, I will probably follow through with such a committee the following school year. I am changing positions as well next year so I do not want to overburden myself with a new grade, a new club, finishing my masters, and using new approaches to teaching using technology more so in my daily routines so I think I will hold off one year for a PLC. Like you had mentioned, communication and collaboration will be key to your success. To help you better engage your students in the blog I think you will need to thoroughly model your expectations of usage, providing several opportunities for guided practice. Creating a checklist while blogging and a requirement to respond to classmates blogs will also be important to ensure communication occurs in a timely fashion with appropriate frequency. Informing students of how they will also be assessed when using the blog will be another required piece to ensure quality performance. When you inform students of the assessment format, students will be involved in learning goals and gain a better understanding of standards being met (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2010, p. 139). I wish you the best of luck in your GAME plan. I would also be curious to hear the results of your student survey so please inform me once school is in session. I am blogging with my students during the literacy block so it would be great to bounce ideas off of each other. Best of luck.
    Kourtney

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  2. Jennifer,

    Just like you, I am realizing that as I continue to monitor my GAME plan I keep creating new mini-goals to get me there. It seems that every time I get over one hurdle another one faces me. This is good practice though for what we expect our students to do as we guide them towards being self-directed learners. Through practicing the process ourselves this summer we will serve as the most accurate model of what we expect from them. Good luck and it sounds like you are making great progress!

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  3. Jennifer to Kourtney,
    One of the things that I worry about the most with blogging is that students will not use academic language; meaning they will use texting language. This, as well as due dates and word counts, will be important. It is hard to have a productive discussion if students are writing one word sentences or 2 sentence paragraphs. I completely agree that I will need to model my expectations so that students have a clear understanding. A checklist is a simple resource that students can look back to when creating their own blogs, making sure they have covered all of the expectations. I never really considered the assessment portion of the blog. I would use the ideas that I have listed, plus other expectations, and create a rubric similar to the one we have in our courses. I would just tailor it to a high school level of learning.

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  4. Jennifer to Nikki,
    My mini-goals remind me of my to-do lists at home that continue to grow. I walk around the house and find something new to add. Through communication with classmates and reading the posts of others, I add to my GAME plan. This really helps my plan become more solidified and without the others around me, there are many things I would have failed to do, leading to failure of my goals.

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  5. I have never created a survey for a whole student population, but I just took the online tour of survey monkey and it looks like a great resource in which to make a survey of that caliber. I was interested in how you retrieve the results once the survey has been taken, and it appears to be pretty easy. There is a tab for response collection, managing responses, and analyzing the responses, which will allow you to keep your data organized. I wanted to speak of an online survey our school administers every year called the “Olweus” Bullying Survey. It is a bullying system that our school pays for and starts with a survey to assess the rate of bullying in our school. The way my school makes sure all students participate is they bring the students down to the computer labs by homeroom. Each homeroom teacher administers the survey for their class and it allows for them to be responsible for their class. I can’t imagine trying to teach and conduct a survey simultaneously. The more collaboration and help you can get from your staff, the more successful it will be. Our students really take the survey seriously and like the opportunity for their opinions to be heard. Every year we get a very accurate reading of how much bullying we have in our school, where the hot spots for bullying are in the building, and ways bullying situations are being handled. I would love to hear about the outcome of your survey. Good Luck!

    Emily Williams

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