This past week I worked on my second goal primarily of turning my website into a strong resource for the students and parents. I have begun to create a survey and used information that I obtained during parent teaching conferences. A main theme during conferences parents inquired multiple times how they could help build their child's comprehension. (This is the component of the DRA assessment that keeps many students from meeting grade level expectations.) To respond to this request I placed some links to articles and other helpful information. I have already see this to be an effective action because students have come to tell me that they were on my website with their parents.
One thing I learned though is that many parents did not even realize what my website had on it, despite the fact that I gave the address out at Back to School Night and telling/showing the students frequently. One thing I am considering doing in my instructional practices to help alleviate this is to occassionally incorporate my website into homework assignments. One way I can do this would be along the lines of "Use the US Census Data to answer the following questions. The link to the information is on the my website." This way the parents and students would be visiting the site regulary and seeing the additions and changes I make.
I have not really had any new questions in regards to my website development at this point. I also do not see the need to alter my GAME plan until I get the surveys out and gather the feedback from the students and their families.
Here is the address of my school website if you are curious. Suggestions and comments welcome! http://www.nplainfield.org/14912092201835780/site/default.asp?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monitor GAME Plan Progress
So far I have been able to locate a good amount of data on my students abilities. I have been reading their IEPs and the evaluations that were done during the classification process, Learnia test results, NJASK scores and classroom tests. It is a tedious and time consuming process to analyze the data so that all the information creates a meaningful picture. Overall I have learned that my students are stronger in the concrete skills and single step skills and need assistance with higher level thinking, multi step problems. Writing in any shape or form is a major struggle for my students. I do not see a need at this time to modify my action plan. My next step is to perform research to locate technology that can help students with these deeper thinking skills.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Carrying Out My GAME Plan
The first thing I would need to carry out my GAME plan for 2c is multiple sources of data on my classified students. I would need to analyze to see where their strengths lie and where the deficinies are. While doing this I will need to research by obtaining articles, talking with the computer facilitator, case managers and other "experts" to figure what is available for me to use to address those strengths and weakness that I find. If trainings are available that would be an additional resource to utilize. So far I have gather multiple sources of data on my students and began to form a picture of them. I have also reached out to my case manager about speech to text software that may be useful for one of my students who has severe gaps in her reading and writing.
For my 3b goal there are little resources that I physically need to acquire. The most important resource would be self-generated, the parent survey. The only other information I would use for this is websites of my colleagues and other teachers out of district. I have visited a few colleague's websites, but honestly, I have done little else towards this goal at this time. It is an overwhelming time of year here in NJ... we have conferences, report cards and special ed reports all occuring simultaneously and I have not had time to create a survey.
For my 3b goal there are little resources that I physically need to acquire. The most important resource would be self-generated, the parent survey. The only other information I would use for this is websites of my colleagues and other teachers out of district. I have visited a few colleague's websites, but honestly, I have done little else towards this goal at this time. It is an overwhelming time of year here in NJ... we have conferences, report cards and special ed reports all occuring simultaneously and I have not had time to create a survey.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
GAME Plan
After browsing through the NETS-S and have picked the following two strands to focus on:
2c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
3b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.
Below is my GAME plan to help strengthen my confidence in these areas.
2c:
G (goal) - My goal would be to use technology to help classified students access the mainstream curriculum and close the gap between themselves and their on grade level peers despite their learning and other disabilities.
A (action)- First I would have to evaluate my classified students strengths and weaknesses. Once those are I can research different technological tools to help meet their deficiencies. I would not choose to focus on more than one or two new programs at a time because I would want to become an “expert” on the new tool before moving onto the next. After deciding what tool I want to focus on I would reach out to colleagues, administrators, education blogs and message boards to get feedback from peers. Finally I would slowly begin to introduce the technology into my instruction.
M (monitor)- To monitor my progress I would have to constantly be reflecting on my lessons and if students, and myself, are using the designated technology to the fullest extent. If I find that some parts are not working smoothly, I would return to the research part of my action component by bringing the issues to other educators. Another way I can monitor my progress is to invite fellow educators or supervisors into my classroom to observe a lesson. An outside view could possibly help identify what is working and what may be adjusting better than what I see.
E (evaluate/extend)- To evaluate if my goals have been met I would have to compare student achievement prior to introducing the technology and after the use of it. If my goals were met I would extend my learning by in essence restarting at the beginning and choose a new software programs or pieces of hardware to that would address students’ deficiencies or learning needs in the classroom.
3b:
G - One area I would like to focus on in this area is my teacher website. My goal would be to make this a true resource for my students and their families to help further learning. Many websites are unvisited and if I am required to have a website I want it to be a place where parents and students would want to visit.
A - I would begin by creating a survey for my students and then another one for the parents asking them for their thoughts on what they would like to see on the website. While gathering responses I would also visit websites of coworkers and possibly even educators in different districts to get ideas of how to effectively use mine. I would be looking to add report card expectations, class notes and vocabulary, links to educational sites so on and so forth.
M - An easy way to monitor my goal would be to watch the counter and see if the traffic to my site increased.
E - To evaluate the successfulness of my website I would probably send a post survey out and get feedback from the students and parents to determine if the website is viewed as a useful tool. If my goal was met than I would look to a new technology to involve the students and their families into learning such as blogs or wikis.
2c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
3b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.
Below is my GAME plan to help strengthen my confidence in these areas.
2c:
G (goal) - My goal would be to use technology to help classified students access the mainstream curriculum and close the gap between themselves and their on grade level peers despite their learning and other disabilities.
A (action)- First I would have to evaluate my classified students strengths and weaknesses. Once those are I can research different technological tools to help meet their deficiencies. I would not choose to focus on more than one or two new programs at a time because I would want to become an “expert” on the new tool before moving onto the next. After deciding what tool I want to focus on I would reach out to colleagues, administrators, education blogs and message boards to get feedback from peers. Finally I would slowly begin to introduce the technology into my instruction.
M (monitor)- To monitor my progress I would have to constantly be reflecting on my lessons and if students, and myself, are using the designated technology to the fullest extent. If I find that some parts are not working smoothly, I would return to the research part of my action component by bringing the issues to other educators. Another way I can monitor my progress is to invite fellow educators or supervisors into my classroom to observe a lesson. An outside view could possibly help identify what is working and what may be adjusting better than what I see.
E (evaluate/extend)- To evaluate if my goals have been met I would have to compare student achievement prior to introducing the technology and after the use of it. If my goals were met I would extend my learning by in essence restarting at the beginning and choose a new software programs or pieces of hardware to that would address students’ deficiencies or learning needs in the classroom.
3b:
G - One area I would like to focus on in this area is my teacher website. My goal would be to make this a true resource for my students and their families to help further learning. Many websites are unvisited and if I am required to have a website I want it to be a place where parents and students would want to visit.
A - I would begin by creating a survey for my students and then another one for the parents asking them for their thoughts on what they would like to see on the website. While gathering responses I would also visit websites of coworkers and possibly even educators in different districts to get ideas of how to effectively use mine. I would be looking to add report card expectations, class notes and vocabulary, links to educational sites so on and so forth.
M - An easy way to monitor my goal would be to watch the counter and see if the traffic to my site increased.
E - To evaluate the successfulness of my website I would probably send a post survey out and get feedback from the students and parents to determine if the website is viewed as a useful tool. If my goal was met than I would look to a new technology to involve the students and their families into learning such as blogs or wikis.
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