The GAME continues-
Reflecting on the GAME plans that I initiated at the start of this course, I am proud of the progress I have made in my action plans, and I know that the problem based learning unit we planned in the past three weeks has provided a valuable resource in helping me continue to follow the steps in my GAME plans. While I still have a long way to go in fully meeting my original game plans, I know that I have started on the right foot and have been able to see the positive impact following a GAME plan has had on my instruction as well as my professional development. One thing I learned during the implementation of my GAME plans was that although I had the best intentions when I crafted each plan, relying on other people is central to the execution of any GAME plan. Even though both involved specific participation and reflection on my part, neither of them could find any success without the my students and colleagues "buying in" to the process as well. One other thing I learned during this process was that I need to make sure I am incorporating measurable and specific ways of monitoring and assessing achievement. Some of my original elements were somewhat broad, and I found them to be more difficult to measure accurately. Now that I have become comfortable with the GAME plan format, I know that it will be one I choose to use in creating lessons as well as professional goals in the future. I am confident that my experience with the GAME plan process will allow me to create more detailed and focused lesson plans that will allow me to more successfully reflect on student learning as well as my own teaching practices.
When considering how I might revise my original GAME plans, I honestly would not make too many changes because I am currently finding success in the plans as I am currently in the process of following each one. One major revision I would make to both is to revisit the monitoring and assessment sections and make sure I am considering differentiation with the student focused GAME plan and that I am revising to be more detailed with both plans. Finally, when considering the use of GAME plans more consistently, I know that they will be a wonderful tool in helping students become more self-directed learners. Now that I have used GAME plans in my unit planning and have become more familiar with their use, I would be more comfortable in modeling its use for students. This would be a great resource for students to use especially with collaborative learning as they would be able to set their own goals and monitor their own progress through the learning process. As problem based learning emphasizes self-directed learning, it is only natural that the GAME plan process would fit easily into the problem based learning process.
With an overwhelming new confidence in incorporating technology, social networking, and problem based learning into instruction, I know that this course has provided many tools I will need as I create lessons covering all of the elements we have practiced over the past seven weeks. While I was rather reluctant and admittedly nervous about these new forms of technology, I am now a firm believer in the positive impact they can have on student motivation and comprehension when they are connected to content learning. Just since week one of this course, I have already started integrating some of the technologies we have been introduced to, and I have no doubt that my immediate future will include the incorporation of as many of these technologies as possible. Even with limited technology resource in my school building, I am dedicated to utilizing at least some form of technology in all lessons to help motivate students or promote their critical and higher thinking. One immediate change I have already made is creating a class blog site for everything from small homework posts to check for understanding to bigger more formal threads and discussions, and I know that I will continue to expand this use of technology by creating a blog site for all three of my classes.
Finally, when considering how I might incorporate the specific types of technology we have worked with in this course, along with class blogs, I know that I will make every effort to include more problem based learning in my lessons. In creating the unit plan for this course, it became evident that connecting problem based learning to my curriculum is a much less complicated task then I first thought, so I know that I will be able to weave problem based learning into instruction more frequently. Especially in conjunction with the persuasive units and with specific writing projects. Social networking will be a part of regular instruction as students participate in blogging, and I can include digital story-telling more frequently into the background learning for authors and texts as well as using it as a sharing tool for writing pieces or smaller individual or group projects. Overall, I have to admit that my eyes have been opened to the possibilities for connecting technology to the curriculum, and whether it is just having student visit an interactive grammar website or having them construct a digital story on an author we have read, there is not technology that does not have the potential to impact student learning, and I am excited to see how I can become the model for technology use in my own building!
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