GAME Plan

This week in my EDUC 6713 class I was asked to share a GAME plan for strengthening my confidence with two NETS goals.

Let me start by explaining a few things. NETS are National Education Technology Standards. They can be found at www.iste.org/nets. GAME plan is Goals, Action, Monitor your learning, Evaluate and Extend your learning. This information was taken from the book Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use by Katherine Cennamo, John Ross and Peggy Ertmer, 2009. Other information can be found on GAME plan by a Google Search and sources by Laureate Education.

I teach Special Eduacation grades PreK-3^rd. The following GAME plans are for students that are grades 2 and 3 in a fast track reading program. They work very hard and we are trying to close the gap between them and their general education peers. I hope to have three of the four exited from SpEd by the end of the school year.

The first NETS that I need to strengthen is:

Standard two Communication and Collaboration- Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support in individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

G-Goals:

Students will work together to complete an online and/or on network program.  
Students will be assigned a role by the teacher to help complete the project.
Students will each be responsible for his or her part of the project.
Student will also have to work as a team to complete project.

A- Take Action to meet goals:

I have my students for the longest chunk of time during reading. I would like to use the reading block to have students work together on a project. Students will not only be fulfilling NETS 2, they will be self-directed learners (Laureate Education, Inc. 2012). I would like to expand on the daily lesson by having students work together to complete a Wiki.

Students are currently about to start a new level of reading. The first reading stories and concepts are non-fiction about real and make believe animals. Students can work together to make a Wiki with pages on make believe animals and real animals.

Each student (four students in group) would have to post a real animal with a picture and a make believe animal with a picture. My students are familiar with Google Image search and can easily find a picture to match the animal. Students would also have to put a short description of why the animals are real or make believe.

M- Monitor progress toward achieving goals:

Students will be monitored by teacher. Teacher, (me) will work directly with the small group. The students will be using mobile laptops or classroom iPads. Students will be at a large Kidney table with teacher.  I can move around the group and help each student as needed. 

Monitoring will take place informally. I will help when needed and offer support for higher thinking. I want my students to think creatively and be self-directed learners.

E- Evaluate whether the goals were achieved and Extend your learning to new situations:

Students will follow a rubric to see if all parts of the lesson were met. This is a group project and I do not want students’ grades to reflect if someone else did not do the work. I will also talk with each student one-on-one where they can tell me how they felt the project went.

I also believe that this lesson has real life value. Students are reading about real and make believe topics all the time. It is important that they can decipher the difference.  Reasoning skills are some of the hardest skills for special education students to master. This lesson will help them distinguish the difference.

The second NET that I need to strengthen is:

Standard six Technology Operations and Concepts- Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.

Not only do I need to have a better understanding, my students also do. I need to have a better understanding in order to teach my students. I feel I have a GAME plan to help them with the basic understanding of this standard.

G-Goals:

Students will match Microsoft programs with a given lesson.
Students will pick a make believe project and then choose which Microsoft program would best fit the project.
Students will play with each Microsoft program to get a better understanding of each area.

A- Take Action to meet goals:

Students will be shown each Microsoft program via the SMARTboard. They will then follow along with laptops of iPads. Students will be given time to play and explore each program. After students are familiar with each program the teacher will give examples of work and the students will tell which program should be used.

Examples:

Writing a paper – Microsoft Word
Making a list with numbers – Microsoft Excel
Making a slide show – Microsoft PowerPoint
Making a flier/news letter/banner – Microsoft Publisher

Students will then give examples of what they could make in each of the above programs. Students and teacher will brainstorm ideas. Teacher will write down ideas on SMARTboard. It would be benefit if teacher uses Microsoft Word to write down the ideas.

M- Monitor progress toward achieving goals:

Teacher will monitor students as a group. I will ask questions to constantly check for understanding. If students are incorrect in an answer I will help them find the correct answer to feel successful.  I will use as much repetition as needed in order for my students to feel successful.

E- Evaluate whether the goals were achieved and Extend your learning to new situations:

Students will have a quiz at the end of the lesson (it will take a few days to get through all of the programs). Students will have to match the four Microsoft programs with different ideas/projects/examples. Student’s ideas from brainstorm will also be used.

Students will have a spot where they can write out a lesson/idea/example of their favorite Microsoft program.

When done students will have one-on-one time with the teacher to go over answers and score.

I feel that this would be a real life lesson and skill for my students. Most of the 21^st century is done on a computer. I know I personally rather type notes than write them. I am a faster typer and I can get my ideas down. Words can be looked up and spelling can be checked. My students need skills to help them be successful in the real world. Being able to use Microsoft is a real life skill.

Please give me feedback on my lessons and let me know what you think! I hope that I have made a change for the better with my students. I would really like to implement a form of these lessons with my students.

Resources

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). (2012). Promoting Self-Directed Learning with Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author