I believe that I am on track with meeting my GAME plan goals. I have been implementing more technology into my lessons and into the activities that the students are completing. My actions have been effective in helping me meet my goals because I have been taking more time to research and use tools that I have never used before. My students have also showed me some tools that they use and I have been planning activities that will utilize those tools that they enjoy using. I was hesitant to use some tools at first because I have never used them in my classroom, but my students have been positive and enjoy learning new tools and teaching me things that I didn't know. They have been more engaged in classroom activities lately because we have been using new tools. I have learned that bringing technology into my classroom is relatively easy and it does engage the students more in my lessons. They enjoy working on their own and being creative with the tools that they are using.
I still have to learn to let the students have more freedom and free reign with some of the technology. I find myself a little apprehensive when it comes to letting them go and work. Once I see how well they are doing, I feel better about letting them go because it is helping them learn to be self-directed learners. I have learned that some students still need lots of guidance using the technology. They sometimes get frustrated when they don't know how to do something, but they feel better once I show them how easy it is and they are more likely to try it on their own before asking me. This is teaching them a great skill that they need to be successful. I want them to be able to be self-sufficient and not want to rely on my assistance on everything that they have questions about. I encourage them to explore on their own and try the tools on their own after I give them the basics.
I do not feel that I need to adjust my plan at this time, but I would like to spend more time researching ideas for engaging lessons using technology, especially with my sophomores now because they are not very excited about reading Shakespeare. I plan on presenting them with a project where they will work in groups to create a newspaper on Julius Caesar when we are finished reading. I think that this will engage them more in the reading and activities that we do while we are reading the play. I would also like to find technology to use during my lessons while we are reading the play that will engage them more in the reading. If anyone has any suggestions on cool ways to bring technology into Julius Caesar, please share!
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI found myself nodding my head a great deal when reading your blogpost this week. I can relate to much of what you said. You said that you have been spending more time researching for technologies that you can use with your students. That is great! There really is so much out there, if you can take the time to research, the results will be amazing! I also like that you mentioned asking your students about technologies that they use. That really shows that you care about your learners and want them to be motivated. You should be proud of yourself! I am certain that you are keeping your students highly engaged with your new lessons that incorporate technology! Keep up the great work:)
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI can literally feel your excitement about how much more your students are engaged in your lessons because new tools have been explored in class. I had similar experience too with my lots especially when they took their turns to demonstrate using different tools, they are actually quite excited to be ‘student teachers’, I can see their proud face!
I can fully appreciate your anxiety about letting the students free on what they want to do. Though you are right, we have to give them room to explore on their own. It’s a bit like us learning how to swim, if we worried about this and that, and how we won’t be able to; we will never be able to learn it. This experience of entrusting them the ability to perform up to standard is benefiting both teachers and students. I think as long as clear rubrics and teachers making sure they are meeting all the deadlines which means the structure of the PBL progress is kept on track. I think under these circumstances, we can surely allow them to explore and be creative on their own. At the end of the day, the higher the expectation we have for our students, the better they can perform!
By the way, have you tried getting your students to do drama for your Shakespeare and then put their performance (on stage with costumes) into a digital story? I am sure they’ll have so much fun performing it!
Wishing you good luck with your GAME plan.
Sarah
Thanks Sarah and Stacy for your input! My students are definitely excited to use technology in the classroom. I do have plans for doing a fun activity with Shakespeare when we are finished. I would like to find some cool ideas to use while we are reading the play. I need to take some more time and search for some refreshing ideas to spice up my lessons!
ReplyDeleteDanielle,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that your GAME plan is going so well. I can truly sympathize with you about having trouble letting go and giving the control to the students!! I have the same problem. I am an organized person and letting the students go off on their own sometimes ends up looking like organized chaos!! I also think that allowing your students to teach you about techology tools is a great idea! They are such a valuable resource to us at this stage in our learning. They know so much about this technology and it would be smart to let them teach us. They would get a kick out of teaching the teacher and it would help them be more engaged in their own learning and understanding.
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that your integration of technology is going so well. I was thinking that a simple way of integrating technology into your Julius Caesar lesson might be to have kids tweet about what they've read, or tweet as a character from the play. I think it's a fun way for kids, in 140 characters of less, to have fun with Shakespeare and show what they've learned.
Good luck!
I think it is great that you are allowing the students introduce you to other technology that they are using. I think we sometimes forget that we can learn from them as much as they learn from us. As you mentioned, I am sometimes apprehensive about giving them to much freedom though I have decide to slowly let go depending on the tool and the lesson involved.
ReplyDelete