As I monitor my GAME Plan progress, I realize this is no small matter. There are several steps that are needed to accomplish an effective GAME Plan. I have been able to find a lot of good information and resources to help employ a collaborative project with a different school as well as educational technology blogs to help implement new assessment strategies within my classroom. I am comfortable searching the Internet so I typically can find what I am looking for when given the time to do so. As such, I don’t feel that I need to modify my action plan at this point as I am able to currently stay on track with the goals I set to accomplish.
What I have learned so far is that while creating a GAME Plan may seem a little overwhelming at first, when it is broken down into its smaller components it is not as daunting. To me it has similar characteristics as the research paper we created in a previous Walden course. Additionally, I have learned that the time needed to accomplish my GAME Plan goals is higher than I had hoped for, but that is also largely in part to the fact that I have a very busy summer schedule. Things really don’t slow down for me once school starts back up as I coach two sports (football and basketball), am the student council advisor, and am the sophomore class sponsor. My major concern is how to find time to stay current with new technologies and undertake a large collaborative project while fulfilling my duties within my school and trying to avoid burnout at the same time. I have done a fairly decent job of keeping balance with my professional and personal life, but I am ever fearful of becoming overwhelmed with too much.
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Go to my blog: artrendipity.com and go to the links in this weeks post. I found a fabulous link to a reference booklet you can download and print. I am going to print it, make copies and laminate them for my classroom computers. As students try out the new skills, it will be really empowering for them to be able to use a guide without having to wait for me to answer all their questions. Hope you find it useful too.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeffrey,
ReplyDeleteI understand the feeling of needing to stay current with all the technology that can be integrated into the classroom as a teacher. And good teachers are busy teachers! Avoiding burnout is very important. I find using meta sites to learn about new technologies helps a lot. I use:
http://www.edutopia.org
http://www.isteconnects.org/
What has worked for me is to constantly ask myself the following: "Is what I am doing now engaging students and getting them to think deeply, critically, and creatively?" I have found that the tool doesn't matter, what matters is the answer to that question. I have focused on using inexpensive software to get students engaged in learning and not tried to become distracted by the new app or webapp that is the newest or latest. It is a full time job to know all the new technologies that are out there. Another place I have gotten a lot of great ideas from is my students. They know if a site or app would be useful for learning and are willing to give advice.
Hope all goes well and you have time before football to rest and relax!
Tom
Hi Jefferey,
ReplyDeleteDuring my development, I have discovered as well that the steps needed for my own GAME Plan has required alot of extra time and research. In your post, I read that you would like to stay current with new technologies without the challenges of altering your professional or personal life. I am currently registered to a free professional development site called http://www.thinkfinity.org/webinars that provides live Webnairs on digital-age information for educators. I hope that you will be able to use this site for your future endeavors.
F.Dozier