Blog 1: Week 2

After visiting the website (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx) for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and examining the National Education Standards for Teacher (NETS-T), I analyzed my comfort level for each of the five standards. Of the five NETS-T, I am most comfortable with 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, and 4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. The two areas where I do not feel as confident or proficient in are 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and , and 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. Using the GAME (Goal, Action, Monitor, Evaluate) method (Cennamo, 2009), I have created a plan on how to improve my comfort level in these two standards.

My GAME Plan for Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Goals: For World History, I only have a few chapters left to cover. What I plan to do is examine the current lesson plans for at least 1 section per chapter and adapt them by redesigning instructions, activities, assignments, and assessments so that they are authentic, self-driven, and utilize technology.

Action: Since I am new to the curriculum, I have to examine lesson plans anyway before teaching them. What I will do is determine which lessons would most be benefited by the inclusion of technology. Since I would be redesigning the lesson, I would start by redesigning the assessment and go from there.

Monitor: I will be able to monitor my progress by ensuring that I do make technology changes to at least 1 section lesson plan per chapter. This can be done by compiling a list and writing up changes to each lesson plan.

Evaluate and Extend: At the end of each altered lesson and unit, I will examine the assessment scores to see if the desired goals have been reached. As I teach the lesson to 4 different classes, I will make adjustments as I deem them necessary and may make modifications for the next year I teach these lessons. Eventually, I would like to be able to do this with all of my lesson plans.

My GAME Plan for Standard 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Goals: Since I am new to the school, I wanted to get a feel for my colleagues and the school before I got involved in the leadership at the school. However, I did become part of the technology team so I could learn about the technology available at the school. My goal is to develop the technology skills of others. I will also participate in exploring creative applications of technology.
Action: I will participate in technology related seminars at the two conferences I am scheduled to go to this year. Upon my return I will schedule a meeting to teach my fellow Health Academy teachers what I have learned. That small group situation will prepare me to teach the technology ideas at the beginning of next school year. Since my Academy peers and World History PLC group have demonstrated an interest in applying technology to their classrooms, I can try out technology classes on them.

Monitor: As part of the technology team, we are planning on offering several levels of technology instruction as well as a variety of types of technology education. When we get together for our PLC meetings I can check off which classes I have worked on and am willing to teach next year.
Evaluate and Extend: After I teach my fellow Academy teachers and World History PLC group what I have learned, I will ask them to evaluate what I taught them and look for feedback in order to make next year’s classes more effective.

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.

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