My Personal Game Plan

-->             This week I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the ISTE NETS standards for teachers and evaluate my preparedness and ability to meet the various standards and indicators. As I read through the different standards I discovered that although I possess skills in many of the standards and indicators, I lack confidence in my ability to fully implement many of these standards. This prompted me to choose two standards and performance indicators that I would like to improve on most. I then used the Game Plan model suggested by Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2008) to improve my abilities in these areas.

            The first NSTE-T Standard and performance indicator that I would like to improve on     
             is: "Standard 1- D. Model collaborative knowledge construction engaging in learning with 

 students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and  virtual environments (ISTE, 2008)".

G- My Goal for improving in this area will first be to inform myself of the various technology tools available to me that allow students to communicate with other students across the world. I am aware that there is a plethora of technology tools available to educators that allow students to participate in and create realistic situations while communicating with other students virtually. For example I recently read about video and web-conferencing and am very intrigued. I plan to seek out new technology tools monthly that provide my students the opportunity to practice their communication skills in the target language with other students across the world.

           

            A – My Action plan is to seek out other educators in my field through internet research that have used similar tools in their lessons and inform myself of what worked best, how they applied the different tools, what were the pro’s and cons of using these tools, and any other suggestions they may have. I also plan to seek out professional development workshops on blogging and other communicative software that will be helpful in building my knowledge and confidence in using online communicative tools in my classroom.

            M- I will Monitor my success by keeping a journal of what I have learned throughout my action plan and based on my reflections throughout the process. This will help me to identify what I have learned, what I can use, how I can use it, and what else do I need to know before I implement it. By monitoring my actions and journal my steps and findings I will also discover whether or not I have gained anything useful from my searches, communications with peers, and workshops and make necessary changes or adjustments to meet my goal. I will then begin small by creating a communication project in collaboration with another middle school Italian teacher in my district. Throughout the task I will monitor my ability to guide my students through the activities and reflect “in action” and “on action” with the other Italian teacher on what worked and or what did not work and make necessary adjustments.

           

            E- Lastly, I will Evaluate my level knowledge and confidence gained with the various tools and the activity. I will review my reflections and ask my colleague for her thoughts on the activity, as well. I will also survey the students and ask them to reflect on their experiences using the communication tools. As I gather the different information I will reflect and revise as necessary and plan future activities according to the necessary revisions. As I build my confidence further I will begin to plan communication activities with students in other districts and countries. I will also Extend my knowledge of the various tools and my experience with them to other educators.

However, in order to fully achieve my goal of using communication tools with students across the world I will also need to improve my skills and confidence in:

"NSTE-T Standard 4:A. - Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources (ISTE, 2008)".

            Although providing students with an opportunity to communicate with other students on the Internet can be highly engaging and life-long learning experience that build upon a variety of diverse skills, It can also be a little scary for the educator. This is because it is very important to monitor student communication regularly to ensure that they are remaining within the legal boundaries of the Internet.

            G- My Goal is to inform my self of the various ways that students should be using communicative tools like blogs, wikis, ePals, etc. I will also inform myself of the legal guidelines associated with the school district regarding these tools. Lastly, I will inform myself with the best ways to monitor and ensure that I am effectively modeling proper netiquette and that my students are following the guidelines, as well.

           

A- My Action plan will be to collaborate with administrators and peers within and outside of my district to educate myself on what the policies are and how best to apply them. I will also attend professional development workshops regarding proper and legal Internet usage. Lastly, I will communicate with parents about their feelings regarding these communicative tools and enlist their support in monitoring their child’s communications and work on the web. Throughout this process I will maintain a journal of all of my research and findings.

M- I will Monitor my knowledge towards the accomplishment of my goals by revisiting my journal and evaluate whether or not the information gathered meets my goal. I will then identify areas of concern and make modifications as needed.

E- Lastly, I plan to Evaluate my skills by implementing a communicative classroom task using the internet and evaluate my ability effectively fulfill my goals by keeping a journal of my actions and my students actions throughout the activity. Keeping a typed journal using word processing software will provide me the opportunity to reflect on the entire process and take notes on what I can do differently.

I am confident that with this Game Plan in place I will make significant strides towards building meaningful, safe, and engaging learning experiences for my students that will last a life-time. Any feedback that you can give me regarding my goals will be greatly appreciated. The information highway is a long a windy road with no speed-limit, any support through my travels is greatly appreciated!

Daniela Petruzzella   

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

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards

for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers