Reflection

My plate tectonics lesson plan demonstrates my learning from this course because it takes advantage of the video game culture present in today’s students and uses it to teach. This course has introduced or further explained many different technologies that today’s students will more than likely be using in tomorrow’s workplace.

Adjustments for new and emerging technologies are fairly easy for me at the moment since I’m still in my 20s. However, as natural as it is for me now to use most of the same technologies that my students use, the future could be quite different. Unless I am committed to learning each new emergent technology as it arrives, I could easily find myself outdated and out of touch. In an effort to avoid this I will continue to push for more technology in my classroom and search for grant money to procure technology for my students. The digital divide is growing wider, not shrinking with time.

Online Learning

I created a podcast to discuss the advantages and possible problems in using online learning. It's chopped into three parts, but I'm traveling and my phone will only let me email 2 minutes of audio at a time.

If you click on the podcast link it will bring you to my school's Moodle page. You have to click on "log in as guest" then "7th grade" and then "Mr. Harreld's Science Class." The podcast links will be at the top of the page. Sorry about the overly complicated process.

Podcast



Part 2



Part 3

Reflection

The resources from the differentiation stations will be a useful tool for me as I seek to implement UDL and DI in my classroom. I think the way I will end up using it is basically as a reference tool for implementation. As I seek to align my classroom practices with the principles of UDL/DI, the resources summarized and referenced on the social networking page will be an invaluable aid as I adjust my teaching stragtegies and integrate new ideas.

As much as I would love to immediately make more use of technology to differentiate my current instruction, it is not really possible. We have two computer labs at my school and one of them has computer classes taught in it and the other one is booked most of the day for Study Island for reading and math classes. So I think where I really need to spend my time is looking for, begging for, or stealing new technology for my classroom and school. I am already in the process of applying for two different technology grants, but even if those are approved they will not be immediately available.

Student Plans

My idea is at the beginning of each year for each student to make their own GAME plan. I will have to simplify it somewhat to make it more maneagable for them, but it would be very similar in the end to what I have done. I will turn the GAME plan outline into a worksheet that each student will have to complete. When they are done the students will have some goals to work towards and we will check their progress at various points throughout the year. At the end of each quarter we will check our progress and the students will be able to re-evaluate and adjust their plans as neccessary. Doing this should give the students a better idea of the skills and knowledge they should be developing as the year goes along.

Still Going

How's it going?

Well, over the time this course has been going I have basically come to the conclusion that if I am going to integrate technology into my classroom I am going to have to acquire my own technology for the students to use. I have a list of websites with educational grants to look through and am going to have to learn how to write a good grant. My students need to learn to use computers to do more than just Study Island and Facebook. To this end I am going to start ecaluating grants to see what I can qualify for and what sort of resources are available. My goals I suppose have changed from integrating technology, to aqcuiring technology so I can then integrate it into my classroom.

Grants Needed

How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
Not very. I am still unable to do much with technology due to the limited availablity to technology at my school.

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I am learning that I am not the only one in this situation and that other people are trying to answer the same questions and solve the same problems. It seems as though the solution is grant writing. There is money out there to be had and I have to find it.

What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I need to figure out what technology grants are available and what I need to do to apply for them. I need to learn how to write a good grant and what resources to go to for information.

How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
It seems as though my plan is going to have to become less about actually integrating technology and more about acquiring the technology to use. I have to learn where to find grants and how to effectively write them so my students can gain access to technology despite the community's indifference to the resources availabel to their children.

Progress?

Are you finding the resources you need?
No. At school the resources I need to further integrate tehcnology into my classroom are not available. What I do have (a projector), I make extensive use of, but new technology is difficult to come by in a district that hasn't passed a school levy since 1992, and is facing large budget cuts due to the failure of the most recent levy.

Do you need to modify your action plan?
Possibly. One of the steps my action plan required was the acquistion of new technology. I have been denied one grant and the grant my school was approved for gave teachers projectors, which I already have. I may have to change my plan to take into account the fact that my students may not be able to use computers in school during science class.

What have you learned so far?
That many teachers, even some of the younger ones are not comfortable with, or do not even know how to use technology in basic ways. Of the five other science teachers in my department at school, I would say that three of them have very limited ability to use computers beyond email and word processing, one of them is adequately computer literate, and the other one is very computer literate. So my second goal of teaching other teachers to use technology is a definite need in my particular school.

What new questions have arisen?
How do I deal with trying to integrate technology into my curriculum when I have no access to computers? We have two computer labs in my school that are blocked out for use by the important classes (math and reading) and never available for use to my students. I could get a couple classes in during the course of a week, but there are some periods where the labs are literally never available when my students would be in my class. Do I just say some is better than none and forget the kids that are in the wrong period?

Enacting the Plan

What resources do I need?
In order to accomplish the goals outlined in my gameplan I am going to need more computers to start. Getting computer lab time as a science teacher is basically impossible at my school so one step I need to take is getting some sort of computer access for my students.

What info do I need?
Once I have access to computers I will need ideas. I have a few already, but in order to "seamlessly integrate" technology into my instruction I will need more and more ideas for how to use the technologly and not let it get stale. If you do anything enough the students will get tired of it.

What steps have I been able to take so far?
So far I am in the process of acquiring ideas. This course has made me think about different scenarios and ways that technology can be used in the classroom. I have also filled out a grant and am supposed to be getting a new classroom projector and possibly a SmartBoard, which is great, but it is student access to technology that I am really struggling for.

GAME Plan

Goals
~To be able to integrate technology more fully into my teaching
~To be able to teach other teachers how to use technology effectively in their own classrooms

Actions
~I need to acquire more and newer technology for my own and other teachers' use
~I need to learn new strategies and techniques for using my school's current technology more effectively
~The possible formation of a committee or work group needs to be discussed for teacher who are interested in learning how to effectively use technology

Monitor
To monitor my progress towards these goals I will set up periodic peer evaluations from my collegues. Their feedback will provide me with information on my progress towards these goals. I will also give a student feedback survey at the halfway point and end of the year to ask how the use of technology has impacted their learning.

Evaluate
At the end of the year we receive the students' scores from their state achievement tests. Now obviously these tests are not the be all and end all of student evaluation, but a positive performance trend after a year of introducing new technology into the curriculum would be a nice indicator of success. Not to mention the fact that my school is evaluated basically only by performance on these tests.