Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Evaluating my GAME plan

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Instructor: Virgil Kirk



“Patience is a virtue” could not be a truer statement with regards to my GAME plan. I feel as if I’m at a stand still on Goal 1. I have created the staff survey and sent it out but only seven people have responded. With the end of the quarter and holidays my staff is very busy and the last thing they want to do is fill out a survey. Some of them stated that they couldn’t open up the form so I’m going to put some paper forms in the lounge to see if I can get more responses.


I have come to the conclusion that these seven colleagues will help spread the news and get the rest of my staff excited about learning new ways to infuse technology into their lessons. Next Monday I will be meeting with my Building Tech person to start our “Infused Technology” plan. I’m excited about organizing what we want to do and that will help guide my “Tech Café.”


My students did fill out their “Learning Style” survey. They were very excited to learn what their learning style was. I was surprised by some of the results but for the most part I had figured out what style they were. This week we began the webquest I wrote for EDUC 6712: Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom.


One of the tasks was to communicate with an Elder from their assigned region. They had to ask permission to explore the region. As a class we brainstormed different methods to communicate and the teams were allowed to pick which method they wanted. After it was created they had clues on the location in the school their elder was at and the team delivered the message. The different methods were: word processor, comic life and create a post card, or write it out on a piece of paper. All the students used comic life and even imported a picture for the region they are studying.


I was very proud of the results but more than that, my students were excited about the lesson. I talked to each of my “mock” Elders and they reported back the enthusiasm my students had when delivering their message. I still want to brainstorm a list of different ways to infuse technology into our lessons but this first experience was top notch!

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11 comments:

  1. UnknownDecember 4, 2009 at 11:54 AM

    Hi,

    I really like the idea of asking students to work on the issue of their own learning styles. This is what they really should profit from as knowing what way one acquires knowledge best is of crucial importance. This should help to be a success in the general sense of word.

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  2. The Stere FamilyDecember 5, 2009 at 5:25 PM

    Dawn,

    Hopefully you will continue to get surveys from your colleagues. Do you ever have everyone together at a staff meeting that you could just hand it out and give everyone time to fill it out...maybe you would get a better turnout? It is good that you completed the part with your students and that they enjoyed it along with helping you in the process! Hopefully your Tech Cafe will be enjoyed and inspire many! I was sharing your idea with my ITRT.

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  3. KDawnBellDecember 5, 2009 at 9:18 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. KDawnBellDecember 5, 2009 at 9:18 PM

    Hello Ladies,
    My kids really like finding out about their learning styles. Our staff meeting are so packed to try and fit one more item in is almost impossible. I am going to be teaching an imovie workshop thought my TTL (Teacher Technology Leadership program) grant that I received last year so I will address the Tech Cafe at that time. In the mean time I think I will give my staff a break from tech until after Christmas. :)

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  5. MarkeetaDecember 6, 2009 at 2:03 PM

    I think that it is great that you are going to push forward with your goal of forming a "Tech Cafe". I am sure that once you get started they will see what a great resource this is and you will get a lot more interest. I am planning on mentioning my idea for something similar at our faculty meeting this week.

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  6. Karen GreeneDecember 6, 2009 at 4:10 PM

    Dawn, what an excellent lesson plan. Using technology to connect your students to other people, their culture, and the content of your curriculum, sounds just fantastic. The feedback you received from the Elders is a wonderful formative assessment tool also. keep up the exciting work and please keep sharing your progress!

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  7. FrankYDecember 6, 2009 at 4:18 PM

    Hi Dawn,
    In the past few weeks, I have noticed a change in mood among our teachers. Due to the recarpeting schedule, end of the quarter and holidays, teachers have mentally checked out. I'm sure that the "Tech Cafe" will fly in the new year.
    Frank

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  8. mpoweringDecember 6, 2009 at 5:38 PM

    I am sorry to hear you are at a stand still with goal one of your GAME plan. Have you considered giving some sort of incentive once the surveys are completed by the teachers? This worked for me when I was running professional development for teachers. I even had raffles for prizes when teachers completed doumentation or lessons I needed. I don't know if this would work for you, but it may be worth a try.

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  9. KDawnBellDecember 6, 2009 at 6:22 PM

    Hi Markeeta,
    I tried to send you a copy of my survey for my teachers and it came back as unknown person. It was very basic. 1. what day of the week, 2 AM or PM work better. 3. What would you be interested in learning: google docs, One Place (this is an ASD site), imovies, podcasting, comic life, and kids pix. I used Google Docs to create my survey and it will compile the information for me. I hope that helps you out. Good Luck, Dawn

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  10. KDawnBellDecember 6, 2009 at 6:24 PM

    Hi Frank,
    My staff is the same way (and we didn't get carpet). I'm sure you right.
    Dawn

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  11. KDawnBellDecember 6, 2009 at 6:25 PM

    Hi Melodi,
    I like your idea of a prize. I think I will try it. :)
    Dawn

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