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.
James- I totally agree that when we have completed our course work we will have more time to reflect and implement technology into our classrooms. It is a juggling act to balance life, school and grad school at the same time. I like you focus on finding elementary appropriate technology to implement into the classroom. I seem to keep finding great art programs that would work great for high and middle school grade levels. Just a side note, I recently found out the my school is getting of our computer lab in order to accommodate another classroom next year.
ReplyDeleteJames, sorry about the late response here. I think your last point is a good one. It's easy to get caught up in all the great things you can plan for and get excited about, but often it's best to work into things slowly and find a comfort level. This is especially true when working with new technologies or skill sets. I think it's really important for a teacher to seem organized and knowledgeable. True, there are times when we're learning as we go just like the students, but I think it's best to try to take baby-steps and build a program over time that you are comfortable with and can best guide your students so they can get the most out of it. And frankly, if you're killing yourself to come up with "new cool stuff" you may be losing ground on some other really important content items that are falling through the cracks. That's one of my fears anyway. Perhaps it's just me. I fear change. ; )
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