And Action

Since establishing my game plan I have been researching local organizations, businesses, and conferences that can help further my knowledge of technology applications for student’s success. We were recently told our placements for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year and I will again be teaching in an inclusion fourth grade classroom. To ensure that I am able to help each learner meet their potential I found a local Assistive Technology conference and have filed the necessary paperwork to attend. I have also found valuable web resources and blogs to keep abreast of up to date research and methodologies at http://www.assistivetechnologycenter.org/ I also went on the New Jersey State Department of Education and found links to state sponsored sites as well at the following address: http://www.state.nj.us/dcf/divisions/operations/education/assistive.html

To meet my goal of using technology to increase communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community to nurture students learning I have paired up with a fourth grade teacher from another in district school. We plan to collaborate between classes by setting up a podcasting site. Students will create podcasts of content material covered and will share it across schools. The receiving school will then be the audience that will be able to provide feedback to the creators. Since this will be done using the internet, parents will also be provided the web address and will be better attuned to what their students are learning in school and will also be able to provide feedback.

The question that remains is when working with students and publishing work in a public domain how can I stay within the confidentiality parameters? I have tried to collaborate with my schools technology specialist, but have not been successful getting support. My next step is to venture out on my own by seeking clearance and guidance from my building administrator. I will keep you posted!

Time for Action

In order to meet my goal of using technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community to nurture students learning, I need exposure and practice with current technology programs. The resources I will need are continued research of current trends and attendance to conferences and seminars. Success with technology will come with patience and practice.

To be successful with technology one needs to be flexible and confident in experimenting with different soft and hard ware. Therefore, what I need most is the time to experiment and implement technology into classroom practice and communication. My main goal is to meet the needs of all learners and to prepare students to be successful in the uncertain future.

The steps I have taken so far are familiarizing myself with blogging and podcasting sites and functions. Also, I am earning my degree in integrating technology into the classroom which has exposed me to many new programs and allowed me to practice using them. I am also registered to attend a conference this summer on how to support the 21st Century Learner. I plan to continue to implement new programs each year and to seek out support from colleagues and professional organizations.

GAME

The two NET indicators I chose were II-A: Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability and V-D: Use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community to nurture students learning. My goals are to learn how to better evaluate technology for use in the classroom setting and to find a way to use technology to communicate outside my classroom.

The first action I have already started is to work towards earning my masters degree in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. I have learned about blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, voice threads, and the level of engagement that can be reached through implementing technology in the classroom. I also plan to attend a summer seminar on the Excitement for 21st Learners. The seminar is to introduce free technology resources available for all teachers to use in their classrooms. I am hoping to learn about programs that can be used to enhance the curriculum to increase student engagement and interest (Laureate, 2009).

I will be able to evaluate the resources presented for appropriateness in my classroom by asking 3 questions; what content information do my students need, what instructional strategy will I use, and what resources do my students need? (Cennamon, Ross, Ertmer, 2009). My district has a strict privacy policy that does not allow access to blog sites from school computers. Therefore, I will have to appeal to my district or access my communication site from home. I will monitor my progress by my success rate with implementing both programs to enhance my students understanding of the curriculum and my ability for my students and I to communicate with an audience outside the boundaries of the classroom.

Each year teachers in my school are asked to develop and evaluate their PGIP, (professional growth implementation plan). My plan for this year is to research and implement technology to both enhance the curriculum and to globalize student work. I will extend my learning by continuing to search for and attend seminars based on implement technology and problem based learning. I also plan to research articles that will introduce me to new methods and software available. Technology is forever changing and therefore, staying abreast of current trends takes constant effort.

References;

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program four. Enriching content area learning experiences with technology part I. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/
2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf