Blog Reflection

As a teacher, I’m not new at setting goals for myself. Whether taking classes, developing my teaching skills, or working on life skills, I am no stranger to developing goals that will increase my knowledge and abilities. But with my hectic life and busy schedule, I haven’t always had the time or chance to carry out my goals. Many have fallen to the wayside, with the intent of coming back to them later. But we all know how new things arise and we don’t always revisit our goals, despite our best attempts. By using the GAME plan model, I feel as though I found a system that helps me keep up with my goals, and I look forward to using this model in the classroom.

The easiest part of the GAME plan is setting the goal. Like I said, I’ve done that enough in the past to know how to set a good goal. Yet, as I said, goals aren’t always realized for a lot of different reasons. In this course, I learned that goals are never set in stone and that revision is absolutely vital. As I worked to take action on my goals, I figured out that my goals weren’t easily achievable over summer vacation, and while I did attempt to take action towards meeting my goals, it was really the monitoring and evaluating steps that proved most valuable. As I learned this in this course, I really came to see how important it is to teach this process to my students. Students need to understand that they aren’t trapped in their goals. Vicki Davis tells us that using the GAME plan model can help students evaluate the process of learning and document their progression as they become self-directed learners (Laureate, 2009). What I think the GAME plan model really allows for is for both the teacher and the students to learn creative and critical thinking skills in a way that is automatic and instantaneous. If students are constantly making goals, taking action, monitoring, and evaluating their learning, critical thinking will be “infused in content and used in context” in a way that leads to truly meaningful learning (Laureate, 2009).

An immediate adjustment I plan to make is to keep the NETS-S and NETS-T in mind when creating and carrying out lessons in my classroom. Of course, much of this course has been based on integrating those standards into lessons, and the GAME plan model lends itself perfectly to developing technology skills in the classroom. Another adjustment I hope to make in my classroom is to use some of the tools presented to us in this course to turn my students into self-directed learners. Whether I use problem-based learning, online collaboration, or digital storytelling, my students will learn higher order thinking skills and discover how they learn best. With so many options available to present knowledge, I must give my students the opportunity to “show off their strengths” in unique and exciting ways (Laureate, 2009). I’ve created many hypothetical lessons in both my undergrad and graduate careers, but the unit plan created in the course is one I plan to actually carry out. I think this course has been incredibly useful in my professional development and I look forward to taking what I’ve learned to my students and create the kinds of learners needed to run our global society.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Programs 1-10. [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

When it comes to meeting goals in my classroom with my students, one thing I really believe in is making students a part of the goal and giving them some responsibility in meeting it. Students need to know where they are going and where they need to end up. So like any other educational goal, the first thing I would do is share the NETS-S with the students and explain how I would hope to meet the goals with them. By giving the students a quick snapshot of the tools and methods we would use the meet the goals, I know they would be very excited to be a part of the goals and would work hard to meet them. At that point, I would work with them to develop a GAME plan for each goal. We might not do all the plans at once, but instead pick one or two to create a work on before moving on to the next. For example, I would start immediately with digital citizenship to teach safety and ethics at the beginning of the school year because it is crucial that students learn that skill right away and have plenty of time to keep developing it throughout the school year. As we met goals, we would move on to the next, and more than likely work on two or even three at a time, depending on our curriculum and unit of study, and plus some must be practiced continuously. Using the GAME plan is really just a method that will help keep us focused as we work towards. Actually, it will be more about keeping me on track and keeping the students involved in their learning. I think really it’s all about what Vicki Davis refers to as “Intentional research and development.” As long as my students and I make a conscious effort to create and stick with goals, and using the GAME plan will help accomplish this, we will be successful in the end.

It’s been quite a journey moving through each step in my GAME plan and I think I’ve learned quite a bit that I can apply in my instructional practice. First of all, this course has introduced me to some new tools like problem-based learning and online collaborative based learning. While these don’t relate directly to my GAME plan goals, they have given me some new ideas for the ways in which I might reach my goals and teach students about computer safety and ethics, and especially, integrating real-world issues into my curriculum. Furthermore, just the idea of the GAME plan has helped keep me focused and organized, and although I might not always write down my plan like we’ve been required to do in this class, I will definitely be able to move through the process instinctively. I think the process is also helpful when planning lesson because it ensures that you keep your goals for students clearly in mind and stay on the right track. The lesson template provided for us in our course text is a great tool that I will be able to use in the future.

Because I do not have students at this time, I have not met either of my goals. But with school starting soon, I’m very excited to get in the classroom and apply what I’ve learned and move forward with the things I’ve already started. Also, I have two new grade level partners who are also excited about technology, so I plan to sit down with them soon and begin to map how we plan to teach about and with technology this coming school year. At this point, I have not set any new goals, but I do know that after learning about all the new technology tools presented in the course, I would like my next goal to deal with “Designing and Developing Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments,” the second NETS-T standard. While I feel as though I’ve been able to integrate technology use into many of my lessons, I’m sure I can do an even better job. I’m very excited to learn about digital storytelling, so I think my next goal will revolve around that.

To improve my learning, I would definitely set goals that I would more easily be able to reach in a short term period. I feel as though I’ve just postponed many of my ideas to reach my goals, but I’ve had to, since I can’t really move forward without students. One approach that I used that I will definitely continue using is social and educational networking. Through this blog, I’ve gained some valuable insights from my classmates that have really helped me figure out where I’m going and what I need to do to get there. As Vicki Davis points out, teachers are connectors. But we’re not just connectors for our students. We’re connectors for each other and my colleagues have been a tremendous resource throughout this process. Thanks everyone!