When I began the course New and Emergent Technology at Walden University, I had a completely incorrect notion of what the course would be. I thought that for eight weeks I would spend most of my time searching the internet for new resources that could be used in the classroom. This did happen a little but my expectation of the course was way off. After completing the course I now understand that this class held much much more and now I consider it one of the most important classes that I have taken.
In the course I developed a lesson where students would collaborate with other students through a MUVE (Multi User Virtual Environment). I am actually quite proud of the lesson because of the way it allows me to see how much I have progressed during my time at Walden. I am now capable of looking at new technology and seeing how it could impact the classroom. I am able to find ways to use these resources which will increase student engagement and scholastic achievement.
The biggest skill that I learned from this course, which is also the reason why I hold the course with such high regard, is how to look at the tech industry and hypothesize its direction. With this ability teachers are able to guide administration and peers toward technology that is worth investing in versus technology that will be obsoleted by some other creation. Even though the skill is not full proof I believe that with this economy it is very needed.
I have nothing but good to say about my time in this course or my experience with Walden University for that matter. There excellent programs and educational aids have made me a far better teacher than I could have been otherwise.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Reflecting on Reaching
I have recently completed my second to last class for graduate work at Walden University. The course was called Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology.In the class we discussed how technology can be used to reach every type of student that a teacher may encounter. The first thing that I learned from this course is how students can differ from one another. Usually students have varying levels of readiness level, interests, and learning preferences. Once a teacher knows their students in this way they can begin to construct lessons and activities which will reach them in these areas.
Another interesting idea that I learned is how we can develop lesson with Universal design for leaning (UDL) and Differentiated instruction (DI) as a foundation. These two principles are methodologies for creating lessons that give every student tools for success regardless of their readiness level, interests, or learning preferences.
Still another very interesting tool that I discovered is the possibilities that social networking sites hold for the classroom. I was a member of a group that used this technology and I have to say that I am very impressed. Because my county does not yet have a protocol for social networking sites, I have been reluctant to sign in with sites like facebook or myspace. Now that I have had this experience with my group I am sure that I will be creating class nings and other sites that have social networking capabilities. These sites provide many tools like text-to-speech features, image or video postings, and simply have a place to connect with many people, which help cater to the principles of UDL and DI
Some of my most immediate adjustments for the classroom are to communicate with the homeroom teachers to gain a better understanding of the student's readiness level, interests, and learning preferences, Getting connected with other music teachers through nings and grou.ps sites so that I can stay current with new music education techniques, and continue to find ways to implement UDL and DI principles in the classroom.
Another interesting idea that I learned is how we can develop lesson with Universal design for leaning (UDL) and Differentiated instruction (DI) as a foundation. These two principles are methodologies for creating lessons that give every student tools for success regardless of their readiness level, interests, or learning preferences.
Still another very interesting tool that I discovered is the possibilities that social networking sites hold for the classroom. I was a member of a group that used this technology and I have to say that I am very impressed. Because my county does not yet have a protocol for social networking sites, I have been reluctant to sign in with sites like facebook or myspace. Now that I have had this experience with my group I am sure that I will be creating class nings and other sites that have social networking capabilities. These sites provide many tools like text-to-speech features, image or video postings, and simply have a place to connect with many people, which help cater to the principles of UDL and DI
Some of my most immediate adjustments for the classroom are to communicate with the homeroom teachers to gain a better understanding of the student's readiness level, interests, and learning preferences, Getting connected with other music teachers through nings and grou.ps sites so that I can stay current with new music education techniques, and continue to find ways to implement UDL and DI principles in the classroom.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Reflecting on the GAME plan
While working on my graduate degree I was introduced to a process of self improvement known as a GAME plan. Essentially, you create a goal, plan a course of action to attain it, monitor your progress, and ultimately evaluate your growth. My experience with this process has been very encouraging. Since I started the process around 6 weeks ago I have been able to achieve almost every goal that I have set. I believe that my success is directly related to the monitoring and evaluating process of the GAME plan. I have learned a number of things that I can use to better myself as an educator. Most relate to different ways that I can integrate technology into my core content. One is to use things like wikis or blogs to encourage online collaboration. Using this will let me teach the music concept as well as technological skills. Another is to use certain technology interfaces to help specific students achieve classroom assignments. An example of this would be to use a MIDI keyboard to input notes instead of just the mouse.
I am very happy to say that just recently I have been able to propose some of these ideas to my principle who responded by providing me with the funds to start my own MIDI based recording lab. I am confident that the reason he was so willing to grant me the funds is because of all the things I have been learning through my professional learning activities, which were attended so I could become a better teacher and, truthfully, reach my GAME plan goal.
With the inclusion of the MIDI lab in my class room I will be spending a great deal of time over the summer fine tuning some project-based learning activities which will use the lab to its fullest. As for now, the year is almost over. I am planning to introduce the project-based lessons to my students within the next few days in an attempt the get them ready for what is to come next year. I am so excited about this that I can hardly wait.
I am very happy to say that just recently I have been able to propose some of these ideas to my principle who responded by providing me with the funds to start my own MIDI based recording lab. I am confident that the reason he was so willing to grant me the funds is because of all the things I have been learning through my professional learning activities, which were attended so I could become a better teacher and, truthfully, reach my GAME plan goal.
With the inclusion of the MIDI lab in my class room I will be spending a great deal of time over the summer fine tuning some project-based learning activities which will use the lab to its fullest. As for now, the year is almost over. I am planning to introduce the project-based lessons to my students within the next few days in an attempt the get them ready for what is to come next year. I am so excited about this that I can hardly wait.
Monday, April 12, 2010
GAME Plan With Students
Over the past few weeks I have been carrying out a GAME plan based on standards from the International Society for Technology in Education. I have been very engaged in the process of bettering myself by making goals, implementing actions towards them, monitoring my progress, and evaluating the results. This GAME plan process has been extremely beneficial to me. I have been able to achieve a great number of my initial goals through the monitoring and evaluating process. Since I have had so much success with this method I am considering instituting this process into my class so that my students would also receive the benefit.
To start this I would like to allow my students to see what I have been doing in my graduate school. I want for them to see that this not just some extra assignment that I am requiring to complete my course. Instead it is a authentic method used by many individuals, including their teacher, for self improvement. As I am showing the students the posts and monitoring data that I kept in my journal I would then begin to suggest that they use this as a tool for growth as well.
This process could be used for anything that the students want to grow in. I love the thought of it being used in connection with the technology standards, but I know that these method could also be used in correlation with the music standards to. I would implement this process in much the same way that it was to me I.E. the beginning of a course. As the students progress I would set aside certain times within my lessons where they would monitor and evaluate their growth. Actually, I would love to create lessons which allow the students to perform the steps of the GAME plan without them even realizing it.
To start this I would like to allow my students to see what I have been doing in my graduate school. I want for them to see that this not just some extra assignment that I am requiring to complete my course. Instead it is a authentic method used by many individuals, including their teacher, for self improvement. As I am showing the students the posts and monitoring data that I kept in my journal I would then begin to suggest that they use this as a tool for growth as well.
This process could be used for anything that the students want to grow in. I love the thought of it being used in connection with the technology standards, but I know that these method could also be used in correlation with the music standards to. I would implement this process in much the same way that it was to me I.E. the beginning of a course. As the students progress I would set aside certain times within my lessons where they would monitor and evaluate their growth. Actually, I would love to create lessons which allow the students to perform the steps of the GAME plan without them even realizing it.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Revising the GAME plan
After evaluating my Game plan I now want to take another look at the NETS standards and reconsider which areas need more attention. Since I have had so much success at meeting standard 5 (Engaging in professional growth and leadership), I think that it will be safe to completely remove this and replace it with a new standard. The next standard that I would like to focus on is standard 3 (Model digital-age work and learning).
The reason why I want to include this standard to my GAME plan is because I am music teacher and I don’t see the students as much as some of the other courses. That being said, I find it hard for me to move away from the tried and true lesson plans that I use and include moments where the students get to watch me model the digital-age learning process. Still, with the ideas and techniques that I have been learning in my professional development sessions I will be able to grow in this area by including myself in the learning process. By allowing for more problem-based learning experiences I can move out of the teacher role into the new facilitator role. This will give me the opportunity to grow and learn as the students do. My goal for this standard will be to use myself as an example of how to go about the digital-age learning and creating process.
As far as standard 2 (design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments) goes, I am still growing and creating. I believe that this will take me a while to achieve but I am willing to keep going. I am still doing a lot of research on the internet and having discussions with my mentor teachers. I know that when I get farther down the road all of my efforts will be worth it.
The reason why I want to include this standard to my GAME plan is because I am music teacher and I don’t see the students as much as some of the other courses. That being said, I find it hard for me to move away from the tried and true lesson plans that I use and include moments where the students get to watch me model the digital-age learning process. Still, with the ideas and techniques that I have been learning in my professional development sessions I will be able to grow in this area by including myself in the learning process. By allowing for more problem-based learning experiences I can move out of the teacher role into the new facilitator role. This will give me the opportunity to grow and learn as the students do. My goal for this standard will be to use myself as an example of how to go about the digital-age learning and creating process.
As far as standard 2 (design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments) goes, I am still growing and creating. I believe that this will take me a while to achieve but I am willing to keep going. I am still doing a lot of research on the internet and having discussions with my mentor teachers. I know that when I get farther down the road all of my efforts will be worth it.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Evaluating the GAME Plan Progress
Last week I monitored my GAME plan, so this week I wanted to take a moment to evaluate my GAME on a much grander scale. By continually monitoring and evaluating my steps toward achieving my GAME plan goals I will be able to see which actions are moving me forward and which ones are not.
As I look back in the previous weeks I see that I have been able to attend three professional Learning activities which are related to the areas that I was most concerned in. This fact alone satisfies my initial goal of engaging in at least one professional learning activity each quarter. I believe that this goal has been so easily met thanks to the information that I have been able to gather from teachers that have agreed to advise and mentor me. Unfortunately, I still have not been able to start creating a new designed digital-age learning experience this week. Despite my last post I just can’t seem to set aside the time I need to create these lesson once a week. This particular issue doesn't really concern me that much because I know that when I am finished with grad school this will be a breeze.
I have learned quite a number of things at the professional learning activities that I have recently participated in. One is the new Georgia performance standards for elementary general music. We have been using the national standards for the past couple of years and now we have finally completed our own. I have also learned about the curriculum and procedures for the Yamaha keyboard lab. Understanding this has actually changed my mind on purchasing one.
I do feel that I still have many things to learn. I would like to learn more about appropriate elementary level music recording projects and even video productions. Learning these areas will ultimately give me ideas and tools for achieving my initial goal of creating a new digital-age learning experience each week.
Since I have seen tremendous success in participating in professional learning activities I think that it would be wise for me to increase my goal from one PLA a quarter to four. The next change to my GAME plan needs to be to create one digital-age learning experience each month instead of each week. Still, I do feel that more is possible when I have less on my plate.
As I look back in the previous weeks I see that I have been able to attend three professional Learning activities which are related to the areas that I was most concerned in. This fact alone satisfies my initial goal of engaging in at least one professional learning activity each quarter. I believe that this goal has been so easily met thanks to the information that I have been able to gather from teachers that have agreed to advise and mentor me. Unfortunately, I still have not been able to start creating a new designed digital-age learning experience this week. Despite my last post I just can’t seem to set aside the time I need to create these lesson once a week. This particular issue doesn't really concern me that much because I know that when I am finished with grad school this will be a breeze.
I have learned quite a number of things at the professional learning activities that I have recently participated in. One is the new Georgia performance standards for elementary general music. We have been using the national standards for the past couple of years and now we have finally completed our own. I have also learned about the curriculum and procedures for the Yamaha keyboard lab. Understanding this has actually changed my mind on purchasing one.
I do feel that I still have many things to learn. I would like to learn more about appropriate elementary level music recording projects and even video productions. Learning these areas will ultimately give me ideas and tools for achieving my initial goal of creating a new digital-age learning experience each week.
Since I have seen tremendous success in participating in professional learning activities I think that it would be wise for me to increase my goal from one PLA a quarter to four. The next change to my GAME plan needs to be to create one digital-age learning experience each month instead of each week. Still, I do feel that more is possible when I have less on my plate.
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