The GAME Continues...

            Three weeks ago I set out on the journey of accomplishing my GAME plan.  I evaluated my strengths and weaknesses against the ISTE NETS-T Standards to determine areas for improvement.  The first standard I saw room for improvement in is Standard 3c: Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).  The second standard I am hoping to address through my GAME plan is Standard 1c: Promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conception understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes (ISTE, 2008). 

Last week I felt overwhelmed by my GAME plan partially because I have a hard time making decisions when it comes to choosing tools.  I had too many options for creating a classroom newsletter.  Then, I had an epiphany.  Why should I be the one to select the newsletter format?  Why not explore some options with my students and get their feedback?  After all, providing choice is important so students can choose tools to use that showcase their strengths (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).  I also wanted them to take ownership of the newsletter to showcase their learning each week.  In addition I realized that the two standards I chose to create a GAME plan for were starting to merge.

I started out by showing my students some of the ideas I gained from colleagues.  I showed them some example newsletters from other classes as well as showed them tools.  One of the tools they loved the most was Prezi and asked if they could use that one to create their newsletter.  Another student asked if they could change formats as they saw fit based on the material they wanted to include in the newsletter that week.  For example, if it would do better to show the parents what they were doing, they would like to be able to produce a newsletter that allowed for video or links to video stored online.  I think the video idea came from the fact that they had made their first movie about Thanksgiving this week using We Video, an online video editing collaboration tool.  In order to accommodate both, I suggested using a blog.  A blog would allow them to not only create a newsletter in text, but also allow multimedia to be posted to include pictures, movies, or audio commentary.  It was at this point that I realized the two standards I was addressing in my GAME plan were beginning to merge.  Students were going to be using a blog to create a newsletter to inform parents about happenings in the classroom enhancing parent communication.

            I also finally located some good resources for creating a classroom newsletter this week.  One of the resources I discovered was this lesson plan for creating a classroom newsletter.  Although I will not be using that format, I thought it might be a good place to start with my students.  It has students work together to brainstorm a list of 4 or 5 topics they would want to write about.  Then each student chooses one topic from the list to write about.  Each student writes their article individually in three of four sentences.  After engaging in a peer review process, the students copy and paste their articles into a separate document to combine the articles for formatting into a newsletter.  This could easily be accomplished with Google Docs.

            Another resource I discovered was from the Miami Herald.  They created a 5 day unit plan for creating a classroom newspaper.  Although this is longer than what I need, there are some great resources for students in the file to help them think through what is important in a news article.  I also found this Printing Press tool that can format all articles into a newsletter.

            Overall, my GAME plan has changed slightly in that the two standards I began addressing separately, are starting to become one.  By using a blog to create a classroom newsletter, parents will be able to comment on articles as necessary as well as ask questions.  I will use Google Blogger to create a separate blog for my classroom for students to use.  My next step will be to send a letter home to parents explaining what is about to happen and to get permission for students to create their own Google accounts.  Students will then work together to create the look of the blog as well as receive input from myself.  I also realized we will have to spend some time going over criteria for a newspaper article, which makes the above resources so valuable.

            Some of the questions I still have include, how do you get parents to visit and read the newsletter?  Do I leave it up to the student to notify their parents of the newsletter or do I send reminders home?  I plan to send a letter home to the parents telling them what I am planning on doing and to ask for permission to create individual Google accounts to be able to post on the blog.  These accounts could be used for accessing any of the Google productivity tools.  I am open to suggestions!

References                                                     

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Resources for GAME plan

            Last week, I started putting together a GAME plan for strengthening my proficiency in two standards from NETS-T.  The two standards I chose as my weakest areas involved promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conception understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes, and communicating relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats  (ISTE, 2008). 

In order to begin implementing the GAME plan, I need to locate some resources to guide me.  My goal is to find at least three peer reviewed articles about blogging in the classroom across content areas.  By finding these resources, I will have a better understanding of the benefits of blogging or using a wiki to supplement other areas of the curriculum in addition to writing.  I also would like to look at five examples of blogs from classrooms that have successfully implemented blogging with students across content areas.  Then, I can evaluate what worked well for them and what I think might work well for the students in my class.  I would also like to find a mentor for blogging.  This person would preferably be a current or recently retired teacher from around the third and fourth grade level that I could contact to “pick their brain” about the ins and outs of blogging in the classroom.  My hope would also be to invite them to leave comments on the blog once started and to be there as a resource if I become stuck while implementing the blog.  At this time, the only progress I have made in my GAME plan is selecting Blogger as the blogging tool to use with my students.  I feel comfortable with creating anonymous accounts on Google to protect the identity of my students.  I also feel the blog is easy to use and customize so students can make it their own.

Addressing the second standard will follow much of the same plan for finding resources except that I feel I need to narrow down the choices to use to create a classroom newsletter.  Before narrowing down the medium, however, I want to look at a variety of examples and research the software used to create them.  Then I feel I could make an informed decision about what form or options to offer to my students.  After all, providing options for students is important so they can take control of the learning process and appeal to their strengths (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). 

Although I expect my students to build upon their skills, simplicity is going to be the key in the beginning to implementing both blogs and newsletters.  I want them to feel comfortable with the content put into a newsletter or blog and then feel the freedom to tweak using more advanced features of the software or tool later.  However, at this time I have only begun looking at examples of classroom newsletters and blogs as well as looking at different pieces of free editing tools available on the internet.

I know I had some great suggestions last week, but has anyone found some interesting articles recently about blogging or newsletters they would like to share?  Do you blog with your students?  If so, what has been the biggest obstacle?  If you have your own versions of blogs or newsletters you would like to share, I would love to take a look at them.

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards

for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

It's GAME Time!

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed a set of standards for effect teachers in integrating technology into the classroom for 21^st century classrooms.  As I was reviewing the NETS-T standards, I realized I have room to grow in each area.  Using the GAME plan, I can develop a plan for improving confidence in integrating technology in meaningful ways into the classroom through self-directed learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

The first weak area I identified was the following: Standard 1c Promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conception understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes (ISTE, 2008).  My goal for improving in this area is to research how others have used blogs and wikis as reflective tools in their classroom.  I understand a lot about how the tools work, but when it comes to implementing in the classroom, I am confused as to how others have implemented it.  After researching how others have accomplished the use of Blogs and Wikis, my action will take place in two parts.  I want to first model for my students by writing a blog post reflecting on what I have learned about using blogs and wikis. Then I will engage students in a discussion about blogs and implement at least one assignment that involves a blog or wiki.  I plan to monitor my learning throughout by keeping notes about the research I have discovered and asking myself if there is a lesson I could successfully implement my findings into.  Once discovering the where I can implement a blog or wiki in support of the content, I will evaluate the outcome of the lesson to determine whether it enhanced or deterred from the lesson and demonstrating student understanding.  Student surveys will also be administered prior to the lesson and post lesson to analyze their feelings towards using blogs to demonstrate their understanding.

The second standard I chose as a weak area is Standard 3c Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).  Creating some type of classroom news bulletin has been an idea floating around in my head for a while.  My problem is I do not know enough about the tools that can be used to create such bulletins.  My goal is to research tools, such as publishing software as well as audio and video tools, which can be used to create a multimedia classroom news presentation.  Ease of use is important to me as my hope is to hand the project over to my students.  My plan of action is to research classroom tools I could use to create such a publication and look at examples from other classrooms.  I will monitor my progress towards this goal by listing pros and cons about each tool I discover before selecting what I think will work best for my classroom situation.  Finally, I will choose one tool to collaborate with students to create a monthly newsletter.  I will use parent feedback to evaluate how effectively I have achieved my goal.

Although there are more areas I am weak in, I am anxious to receive feedback from others.  I would love especially to hear from others who have created student or parent newsletters before that were accessible to parents via the web.  Do your parents check your newsletters regularly?  How do you engage parents and students in the content of the newsletter?  What type of information did you include in the newsletter?  Did the parents of your students find it useful?

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.