Reflection

Developing a GAME plan has been beneficial to me. In the past, I have always said I would like to xyz for my students or in my classroom but then would become overwhelmed with the scope of the project or simply just let other requirements and stressors take priority over the goal. Having a GAME plan has allowed me to take a larger objective and break it down into smaller, manageable tasks which have moved me closer to actually incorporating new techniques and in the case of my website goal, turn it into a useful tool for my students and parents.

Through my research on technologies to assist my special education students one tool that I have learned about is virtual field trips. NASA offers great programs, where a NASA educator will interact live with the class. Unfortunately through my research I learned that we need a $50,000 piece of equipment, which obviously the district is not in a position to purchase. I have not given up on this project and hope to find grants to apply for to bring this new technology into the school. This would help not only my students, but all students, by giving them a real life, meaningful experience, which will help them learn materials more easily.

As a result of my GAME plan I will not be making any immediate changes to my instructional practices. I will continue to utilize blogs and wikis and possibly increase the use of them throughout the school year. I would like to incorporate a digital storytelling project by the end of the school year as well. As I previously wrote I will be focusing on finding grants for the virtual field trip goal.