My Final Reflection
When I developed my GAME plan for this course, I was a frustrated music teacher desperately wanting to integrate technology in my classroom and not sure how it was possible beyond the one simple computer game my students are currently using. I was convinced there was no easy answer.
My original goal was to increase my competency level on NETS-T standards 1 and 2; Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity and design and develop digital-aged learning and assessment. To monitor this goal, my intent was to replace at least one instructional practice with a technology based tool in each class by the end of the current nine weeks. While this was a lofty goal, it gave me a little kick to actually get going and find something, anything, that I could use in my music classroom.
How would I rate my GAME plan now? I didn’t meet my goal of replacing one teaching strategy with technology by the end of the nine weeks. But I did find a wealth of technology, most of it free or something I already possessed, that I can use. I also developed one digital-aged lesson that I successfully used in my piano lab.
The biggest thing I have learned is what I stated in my last blog post, that technology needs to enhance my instruction, not replace it. For example, I used my Zoom H2 digital recorder to let the beginning band hear the advanced band play their same songs and it raised the beginning bands desire to do better. In piano lab, we put away the book and I let my students be creative with their keyboards to develop a soundtrack for a simple one minute stick figure movie I created using Power Point and Movie Maker. The creativity they played with when they were bored found a place in a lesson. And finally, as a result of the content unit plan created over the last few weeks, my choir classes will research, collaborate and present their findings all in preparation to completely produce their final performance for the year. Enhancement, not replacement.
Technology is a powerful tool and when used wisely, students in the 21st century will get a 21st century education. As I sit at the beginning of a two week Christmas break, I am actually looking forward to next semester and many of the technology tools such as collaboration and digital storytelling, I can integrate into my instruction. I am frustrated no more! OK, maybe just a little, but at least I’m headed in the right direction now.
http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The GAME plan and How to Use it!
Over the course of the last seven weeks, I have been working on and re-working my technology GAME plan. Each week I have taken time to analyze the progress made from the original plan. While this has been a frustrating and yet progressive process for me, the overall structure of using a GAME plan in the classroom is a good idea. The National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) and teachers (NETS-T) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) outline technology goals for both groups. These standards are designed as a guide for using technology in a 21st century classroom.
What is a GAME Plan?
The idea behind a GAME plan is simply the “plan”. Too often students know they have an assignment, but don’t quite know the process to complete it other than start at the beginning and finish. A GAME plan helps students, and teachers, plot a course of action. What is the Goal? What Action will be taken to reach the Goal? How will the Action be Monitored? And finally, How will the Goals and Actions be Evaluated? This is a great sequence of steps that will benefit any student, regardless if the NETS standards or the content standards
are being used.
In the Classroom
As I have discovered over these last seven weeks, technology integration takes time. Even my own GAME plan had to be adjusted to accommodate time. The same could be said for using this process to help students become proficient in the NETS-S standards. A look back at the first 10 years of the 21st century is evidence enough of this. While technology has skyrocketed in recent years, integrating it into an education system and structure that is much older presents obstacles. Impossible? No, just a slow process. But if teachers develop GAME plans based on the NETS-T standards that get students creating projects using a GAME plan format, standards will be met and 21st century skills will be taught.
I like the GAME plan format and I think it is a strong instructional tool that I plan on using with my students.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
What is a GAME Plan?
The idea behind a GAME plan is simply the “plan”. Too often students know they have an assignment, but don’t quite know the process to complete it other than start at the beginning and finish. A GAME plan helps students, and teachers, plot a course of action. What is the Goal? What Action will be taken to reach the Goal? How will the Action be Monitored? And finally, How will the Goals and Actions be Evaluated? This is a great sequence of steps that will benefit any student, regardless if the NETS standards or the content standards
are being used.
In the Classroom
As I have discovered over these last seven weeks, technology integration takes time. Even my own GAME plan had to be adjusted to accommodate time. The same could be said for using this process to help students become proficient in the NETS-S standards. A look back at the first 10 years of the 21st century is evidence enough of this. While technology has skyrocketed in recent years, integrating it into an education system and structure that is much older presents obstacles. Impossible? No, just a slow process. But if teachers develop GAME plans based on the NETS-T standards that get students creating projects using a GAME plan format, standards will be met and 21st century skills will be taught.
I like the GAME plan format and I think it is a strong instructional tool that I plan on using with my students.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Enhance, not replace! That is the key...
My originals goals were to research techniques and technology that can be used to replace a current teaching strategy in my music classes. While I don’t think I will ever be able to use technology to replace the element of everyday rehearsal, what I can do is use technology to enhance it. Maybe that has been the goal of this class all along. Either way, my apprehension of finding that golden bridge to take my music classes to the 21st century has started to ease.
I think the biggest progress I have made so far on my GAME plan actually came as I started to develop my Unit Plan for our Application assignments. I am working to develop a plan that will allow my students to use digital aged learning to guide the music rehearsal and final performance that will take place in the spring semester. Students will conduct online research (with the perfect web site I discovered by accident.) They will collaborate to share research with their fellow choir-mates in the very next hour. And finally, they will use online presentation tools to present their final designs. This will have most of the benefits of online collaboration that Vicki Davis spoke about in this weeks’ DVD program from asynchronous teamwork to multiple contributors to a final product. (Laureate, 2009) It will be these student designs that will shape and guide the rehearsal side of choir for the rest of the semester. So, students will be conducting digital-aged learning and using a lot of personal and group creativity to guide this project. To be honest, this entire project was birthed out of the frustration I had with one choir class just not wanting to put forth any effort while the other class can hardly be contained. By giving them the controls that will shape their performance, my hope is there will be greater personal buy-in and thus greater involvement. Their final performance will be one they designed, created and produced. I will merely be the facilitator.
I do realize, as I posted in my discussion this week, the challenge for this type of teaching strategy is the time that will be involved in teaching my students how to do all this work. The technology must first be taught in order to do the work required to use it. So that will take time. It is time I will have to balance very carefully so the technology does not overshadow the end performance.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
I think the biggest progress I have made so far on my GAME plan actually came as I started to develop my Unit Plan for our Application assignments. I am working to develop a plan that will allow my students to use digital aged learning to guide the music rehearsal and final performance that will take place in the spring semester. Students will conduct online research (with the perfect web site I discovered by accident.) They will collaborate to share research with their fellow choir-mates in the very next hour. And finally, they will use online presentation tools to present their final designs. This will have most of the benefits of online collaboration that Vicki Davis spoke about in this weeks’ DVD program from asynchronous teamwork to multiple contributors to a final product. (Laureate, 2009) It will be these student designs that will shape and guide the rehearsal side of choir for the rest of the semester. So, students will be conducting digital-aged learning and using a lot of personal and group creativity to guide this project. To be honest, this entire project was birthed out of the frustration I had with one choir class just not wanting to put forth any effort while the other class can hardly be contained. By giving them the controls that will shape their performance, my hope is there will be greater personal buy-in and thus greater involvement. Their final performance will be one they designed, created and produced. I will merely be the facilitator.
I do realize, as I posted in my discussion this week, the challenge for this type of teaching strategy is the time that will be involved in teaching my students how to do all this work. The technology must first be taught in order to do the work required to use it. So that will take time. It is time I will have to balance very carefully so the technology does not overshadow the end performance.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Evaluating My GAME Plan Progress
Three weeks in and this is the progress my GAME plan has made.
• How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
My original goal was to increase my competency level on technology standards 1 and 2; Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity and design and develop digital-aged learning and assessment. To date, I will replace a lesson I taught last nine weeks in my piano lab class with a more digital-aged lesson. Instead of students performing a song from the book as their final, students will use any of the pre-programmed voices on their piano keyboard to ‘compose’ their own song. While this is not that much of a lesson, they will have to compose this song based on a video prompt. Essentially, they will be composing a soundtrack for a one and half minute video. Their songs and story narration will be recorded and compiled into a Movie Maker video. This video then will be uploaded to the music class web site I have created. So, I feel I am meeting my goal with a monitoring step that was part of my original GAME plan.
• What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
I have learned that I don’t need a wall full of electronics and tech-toys to integrate technology into my lesson plans. Several of the suggestions given in chapter 16 of our course text, Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use, are tools and resources I already have. (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009) Add to that the free online resources I have recently discovered and I have a good base to work from. The strategies learned from this course, such as assessing diverse learners and problem-based lessons give framework to the tools I have to work with.
• What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
I’m not sure about this question. I don’t feel like anything new has surfaced nor do I know what I still need to learn. I just need to kick in my own creative thinking skills to find new ways to incorporate the tools I now have for the variety of classes I teach on a daily basis.
• How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?
I still feel like the only thing that needs to be adjusted from my original GAME plan would be the timeline to implement my plan. This will continue to be an ongoing, slow process and my desire to replace one lesson plan in each class with a digital-aged lesson plan by the end of the current nine weeks has proven to take much more time than expected. But at least I am moving in the right direction.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
My GAME to Date
I feel a lot like my students. I get online to research what other music teachers are doing with technology and I get distracted by all the information I find. Before I know, I’ve lost rack of time, where I started and what I was originally looking for. But none the less, progress is being made on my GAME plan.
As for finding information and resources, I am finding some. Don’t get me wrong, there is a great deal of resources available for technology integration in the music classroom. The difficult part is finding what I can afford or what is already available to me and how to use it affectively in a predominantly performance-based classroom. I feel a little backwards from what Dr. Ross suggested in our DVD this week. Dr. Ross said that educators must first identify the learning objectives then determine the teaching method to express those objectives and then follow it up with a supportive technology. (Laureate, 2009) Part of me feels like I must first find the technology and then find a way to adapt it to what is being taught. Backwards, yes, but it is how I feel right now. But none the less, I did make a new discovery this week. While searching for lesson plans to integrate music and film into a lesson for my piano students, I came across free webinars (yes free!) by www.sweetwater.com for music teachers on integrating technology in the music classroom. I signed up for one immediately! So I am finding resources. Now my backwards challenge is to get them integrated into my regular lessons.
I don’t feel like I need to modify my GAME plan at this time. My goals are still to integrate technology into my classroom on a regular basis. If anything needs to change it may need to be my time table for implementing my goals. While I am trying hard to replace one strategy before the end of the nine weeks, I’m realizing that with four performances to prepare for within the first 12 days of December, there is little time to change gears. But I am looking at how to integrate some new techniques as everyone is preparing for new music at the start of the new year.
To date, I feel I have learned some new things. Aside from the few new programs I have discovered, I’m still trying to find that magic balance between rehearsal and technology. This weeks’ discussion helped when I was able to remember using Audacity and my digital recorder to record rehearsals. So I am learning, but it has been slower than I anticipated.
No new questions have popped up either. It is a fine balance between preparing for a concert, teaching the needed concepts to rehearse the music for that concert and integrate technology all at the same time.
I have come to realize that in my heart of hearts, I’m a general music teacher who loves to put on performances. The two usually don't go together. In a general music class, there is time to build projects, do research and reach beyond the “box”. But in a middle school performance-based class, rehearsal suffers in that kind of environment. It’s not an excuse, it’s just a balance I am still trying to find. But I’m getting closer!
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
My GAME Plan Revisited
Last week, I posted my GAME plan for incorporating technology into my music classroom. (Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P., 2009) Since doing this, it has been interesting to notice how I now look at my teaching through new eyes. With that in mind, here is what I have learned so far.
To summarize my game plan, my goal is to increase my competency level by 1) facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity and 2) designing and developing digital-aged learning and assessments. (www.iste.org ) To do this, I need to evaluate my current teaching practices and determine how technology can be incorporated as well as take a technology inventory of the resources available to me and begin conferring with other middle school music teachers to learn how they incorporate technology.
Goal: To date, my goal has not changed. I still need to work towards improving my music lesson with technology and develop better assessment strategies.
Action: The majority of the work I have done towards accomplishing my game plan has been here. I have been able to take a technology inventory and while I have little technology to work with, at least I have a place to start. My students have access to two music programs; one program can be used only on two computers at a time and the other is on a mobile computer lab with 25 seat licenses. The best part is I am already familiar with both programs. My classroom is equipped with a Promethean Board and my school has a wealth of computer lab access.
The remaining parts of my action plan are in process. Evaluating my current curriculum is much harder than I expected. The problem still lies with my original concern; how to incorporate technology lessons that does not take away from rehearsal time? This has been harder than I expected. I have many great digital-age lesson ideas, but once again, rehearsal stops in order to have students complete the lesson. I’m still looking.
I did come across an internet based program while I was setting up an epals.com account. Another music teacher, whom I have contacted and yet to hear from, wanted to set up a collaborative project using a music composition software called Noteflight.(www.noteflight.com) Whether I hear from this teacher or not, the resource is a great one, it’s free and compatible with the notation software available to my students. While I have not been in touch with my fellow music teachers in my district, I was able to discover how technology can be used beyond what I already knew. At this point, that is a step in the right direction.
Monitor: I still plan to exchange at least one lesson with a digital-age lesson, however, the process is just that, in process.
Evaluate: To date, no changes have been made.
I am excited at the prospect of incorporating technology based lessons into my current curriculum. I think the key for me will be when I can find the balance between technology based learning in band and choir versus standard practice procedure.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
http://www.epals.com
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
http://www.noteflight.com
To summarize my game plan, my goal is to increase my competency level by 1) facilitating and inspiring student learning and creativity and 2) designing and developing digital-aged learning and assessments. (www.iste.org ) To do this, I need to evaluate my current teaching practices and determine how technology can be incorporated as well as take a technology inventory of the resources available to me and begin conferring with other middle school music teachers to learn how they incorporate technology.
Goal: To date, my goal has not changed. I still need to work towards improving my music lesson with technology and develop better assessment strategies.
Action: The majority of the work I have done towards accomplishing my game plan has been here. I have been able to take a technology inventory and while I have little technology to work with, at least I have a place to start. My students have access to two music programs; one program can be used only on two computers at a time and the other is on a mobile computer lab with 25 seat licenses. The best part is I am already familiar with both programs. My classroom is equipped with a Promethean Board and my school has a wealth of computer lab access.
The remaining parts of my action plan are in process. Evaluating my current curriculum is much harder than I expected. The problem still lies with my original concern; how to incorporate technology lessons that does not take away from rehearsal time? This has been harder than I expected. I have many great digital-age lesson ideas, but once again, rehearsal stops in order to have students complete the lesson. I’m still looking.
I did come across an internet based program while I was setting up an epals.com account. Another music teacher, whom I have contacted and yet to hear from, wanted to set up a collaborative project using a music composition software called Noteflight.(www.noteflight.com) Whether I hear from this teacher or not, the resource is a great one, it’s free and compatible with the notation software available to my students. While I have not been in touch with my fellow music teachers in my district, I was able to discover how technology can be used beyond what I already knew. At this point, that is a step in the right direction.
Monitor: I still plan to exchange at least one lesson with a digital-age lesson, however, the process is just that, in process.
Evaluate: To date, no changes have been made.
I am excited at the prospect of incorporating technology based lessons into my current curriculum. I think the key for me will be when I can find the balance between technology based learning in band and choir versus standard practice procedure.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
http://www.epals.com
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
http://www.noteflight.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
My Technology GAME PLan
The International Society for Technology in Education provides five standards for technology use by staff and students in the classroom today. Content standards are designed to give educators direction on the knowledge and skill levels students need to master. (Prensky, 2008) These technology standards are no different.
These standards are: 1) Facilitate student creativity, 2) Design digital-aged learning experiences, 3) Model digital-aged learning, 4) Promote digital citizenship and 5) Engage in professional growth. (http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf )
As a music teacher, technology is a slow addition to my classroom. Not because I am hesitant, but because I am trying to find the right combination of content and how it can be enhanced with the technology resources available to me. The core classes I teach are performance based classes which require music rehearsal. Giving my students a digital-aged assignment more often than not, requires music rehearsal to stop. Add to that the lack of technology based music resources available to me; it is a challenge to give my students a digital-aged experience as suggested by the ISTE standards.
But my classroom challenges are not be confused with what I should know as an educator. With that in mind, when I reviewed these standards, I did find my knowledge and skill levels were lacking. Here is my GAME Plan. (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009)
Goal: My goal is to increase my competency level on standards 1 and 2; Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity and design and develop digital-aged learning and assessment.
Action: The first action I will take to meet this goal will be to examine my day to day rehearsals and content instruction to determine where technology can replace current tools and strategies. The second action will be to take inventory of the resources available such as computer labs, internet access and presentation and music programs like Power Point and Music Ace. The final action I will take will be to confer with other middle school music teachers in my district to determine their use of technology in their classroom. With these lists in hand, I can begin to develop lesson plans using my available resources.
Monitor: To monitor my progress I will try to replace one regular rehearsal or content instruction lesson with a digital-aged based lesson in choir and band by the end of the current nine weeks.
Evaluate: I will be able to evaluate the lesson taught in choir and band by comparing the differences with the same lesson taught before without the use of technology. This can be done by looking at student assessment, engagement and creativity levels.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.
These standards are: 1) Facilitate student creativity, 2) Design digital-aged learning experiences, 3) Model digital-aged learning, 4) Promote digital citizenship and 5) Engage in professional growth. (http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf )
As a music teacher, technology is a slow addition to my classroom. Not because I am hesitant, but because I am trying to find the right combination of content and how it can be enhanced with the technology resources available to me. The core classes I teach are performance based classes which require music rehearsal. Giving my students a digital-aged assignment more often than not, requires music rehearsal to stop. Add to that the lack of technology based music resources available to me; it is a challenge to give my students a digital-aged experience as suggested by the ISTE standards.
But my classroom challenges are not be confused with what I should know as an educator. With that in mind, when I reviewed these standards, I did find my knowledge and skill levels were lacking. Here is my GAME Plan. (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009)
Goal: My goal is to increase my competency level on standards 1 and 2; Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity and design and develop digital-aged learning and assessment.
Action: The first action I will take to meet this goal will be to examine my day to day rehearsals and content instruction to determine where technology can replace current tools and strategies. The second action will be to take inventory of the resources available such as computer labs, internet access and presentation and music programs like Power Point and Music Ace. The final action I will take will be to confer with other middle school music teachers in my district to determine their use of technology in their classroom. With these lists in hand, I can begin to develop lesson plans using my available resources.
Monitor: To monitor my progress I will try to replace one regular rehearsal or content instruction lesson with a digital-aged based lesson in choir and band by the end of the current nine weeks.
Evaluate: I will be able to evaluate the lesson taught in choir and band by comparing the differences with the same lesson taught before without the use of technology. This can be done by looking at student assessment, engagement and creativity levels.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.
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