The two areas I need to address from the National Education Standards for Teachers are 1b which states that teachers promote student reflection using collaborative tools and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
I chose this area because I realize that too often when we teach mathematics it is abstract to the interest of our students. They do not see the relevance. If I use digital tools and resources such as virtual field trips and blogs and wiki and voicethreads not to mention interactive games I am giving them a creative medium in which they can reflect on what they have been taught. This will help them to remember the concept in years to come.
The other area I need to address is 3b where the teacher collaborates with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. I will also tie this with 3c that states the teacher communicates relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.
I like this area and I am looking forward to addressing it since we want our students to be creative and successful. Digital tools will be around for a very long time. One of my ninth grade students was very pleased when I asked the class if anyone knew what blogging was all about. She was able to share her blog page with me. This is something she will have for the rest of her life to show to her children and grandchildren. Parents can be kept up to date with the projects their children are working on without even visiting the many classrooms the student is in. Administrators can use the tools to keep the school informed of the daily happening and as a reminder of upcoming projects. We can use tools such as virtual field trips to bring the community into the classroom. This will enable our students to understand the link between what they are learning at present and the relationship that exists between it and the real world.
Hence my GAME Plan.
My Goal is to promote success and innovation using digital tools.
What Actions will I take
I want to include student, peers, parents and the community since this is the cohesive unit. We will set up a class blog and discuss the parameters for blogging -no cursing, correct use of the language, no OMGs etc. This blog will be made available to their parents who can help in the monitoring of comments. This blog will serve as a medium for them to reflect on daily lessons and post their comments, answer a question, offer help to a classmate who is struggling. My peers will be encouraged to use this as a tool in their lessons also to peak students interest and creativity. We will comment on virtual field trips where the community florist gave a run-down of what her typical day is like.
How will I Monitor my progress
I could have students set up an RSS feed to follow their classmates blogs and offer constructive feedback to at least 2 members. I will also communicate with my peers on the effectiveness of this in their classes. I will also be in contact with parents via email and through discussions and progress reports and school newsletter I will be able to monitor the effectiveness.
Evaluate
I will evaluate based on feedback from parents and students. I will also look for some improvement in their scores. I am not saying that everyone will be getting perfect scores however, there should be some improvement even if their grade went up by only 5points that is an improvement to me and an indication that this method is helping.
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Nicky,
ReplyDeleteYou are working at the high school level which has it's own issues. To include the parents in with the blogs is a great idea. Many students will not push the borders if they know their parents may be watching. I really like the use of parameters in what they are doing. Some feel this will stifle creativity but the truely creative student will find something inside of your parameters that was not what you intended. Good Luck. Cindy
I think you are definitely on the right track when you discuss the importance of setting up the blog as a class and discussing proper etiquette on a school forum. I especially like that you will discuss proper writing techniques such as not using "texting language" which is not appopriate for a classroom. Getting parents involved is very important and blogging allows parents to see what their children are doing as well as keeping up with students' assignments. I also like how you would encourage the students to respond and offer help to one another. Another great thing that you coul do would be to post a screen capture or voice thred on your blog in which you show students step by step how to complete math problems that they could acess and look at while at home completing homework or studying for tests.
ReplyDeleteCindy and Megan
ReplyDeleteI have to get parents involved so that students can continue practicing at home. I have to teach them the language since they think that internet=text=coded language. I like Megans idea about the voice thread or screen capture. When we are not together they could still have my voice as reference and they would be able to keep playing it until their misconception or error is cleared up. I am looking forward to this. Instructor L also suggested creating their own websites. These ideas should be very interesting.