Reflecting on EDUC 6713

Overall, my experience in EDUC 6713 has been a very positive one to say that least.  I feel that I have learned a lot about 21^st-century learning and how to implement into my teaching.  I am a person who utilizes technology a ton in my personal life, and as a result I have learned a large amount of information about a lot of different topics in a very short amount of time.  If I every want to try something new, whether it be some for of exercise/workout or a new cooking technique (some of my personal passions) I simple do a quick Google search and study up on it and then give it a go.  This class has opened my eyes to utilizing these same processes in my classroom.  One thing that I have also realized, however, is the fact that this type of 21^st-century learning that I am using in my personal life is to learn about things I am greatly interested in.  So when I consider introducing this way of learning to high school math students, I have to remember that the enthusiasm might not be as high as it is for me because for a good majority of them, math is not their favorite topic of study.

Moreover, one of the most valuable things that I have learned in this coarse is how to properly set goals.  You would think that at 27-year old would know how to set goals by now, and I do, but the GAME plan for setting goals is a structured way of setting goals that has checks and balances within it, which make for a more efficient way to set goals.  The GAME plan involves the act of setting Goals, taking Action towards achieving those goals, then Monitoring the progress you are making on your goals, and finally Evaluating the entire process which will ultimately help you decide where to go next (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).  What I like so much about this plan is the fact that it is cyclical and helps you either decide to redefine your goal, or press on to a new one.  As far as the progress on my personal goals that I set at the beginning of this course, I would have to say that I did not fully reach either.  My first goal was to provide more self-directed learning experiences in my classes, which would involve them searching new topics of study on the Internet and learning independently.  I never actually found time to take my students to the computer lab to actually do this, except for two of my statistics classes on one occasion, as each day within a trimester schedule is critical and I have plans for just about every single day before the term even starts.  I was not totally unsuccessful in this goal however, because I did promote this to my students a lot and did show them many examples of how to develop these self-directed skills, and encouraged them to practice at home.  I have not gotten feedback from too many students, but from the ones who did try it said they liked it and really prefer to use YouTube because it has somebody showing how to do the math, rather than just reading about it on a website.  My second goal was to create a classroom website, and again time was the major issue here.  I do have a classroom website, however, the only contents on it are helpful links which include links to Google, YouTube, a couple of free online graphing calculators.  With coaching, taking Master’s classes, being a husband and a homeowner, and not to mention being a teacher, I have quite a few things that are higher on the priority list.  However, I will keep this as a goal until I actually achieve it, because a well-developed classroom website is something I would love to have.  Overall, I am pretty happy with the progress that I have made with all things considered, however I fully understand that this is plenty of more room for me to gain in these areas, but that will come with time.

Continuing with the here and now, there are many great classroom ideas that we learned about in the last few weeks of this course.  The units we developed, which included problem-based learning, online collaboration, and digital storytelling, are fantastic ways to utilize technology in the classroom.  Ertmer (Laureate, 2010a) states that problem-based learning involves students looking at a real-world, genuine problem, and finding ways to recommend solutions to it or recommending ways on how to find the answer.  As a math teacher, estimating or know where to even start a real-world problem is at least half of the battle.  One thing that I am constantly preaching to my students whether we are looking at real-world problems or not, is to think about what the answer should look like before you start the problem.  In addition to having an expectation of what the answer should look like, students should have a good understanding of where to look in order to seek out a solution, whether it be searching online or contacting an expert, they should know how to utilize resources to help them find a solution (Laureate, 2010a).  On a side note, the idea of digital storytelling went over very well with my Algebra 2 students when I showed them a couple of math music videos.  This really grabbed their attention and they even talked about creating some of their own.  I really like the idea of digital storytelling because it allows students to express what they have learned in a creative and genuine way, and is considered by some to be superior to writing papers or essays (Laureate, 2010b).

In closing, my overall assessment on 21^st-century learning and including technology in the classroom has become more positive than ever.  My goals, that I know effectively know how to set, are somewhat unfulfilled, but my thinking on these issues has greatly changed.  There needs to be a sense of urgency in how we include technology and the Internet in education, because it is so fast and effective.  I have also learned that my personal experiences with online learning are very valuable pieces of evidence to my students, as they respect the fact that I will always be a student of something, and the Internet will always be my primary textbook.

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). [Webcast] Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). [Webcast]. Digital storytelling, part 1. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Second Update: My GAME Plan

Up to this point, I have learned a little and gained a little in achieving my GAME goals.  The fist thing I will say that I have learned and also have had affirmed, is that I am very pressed for time when it comes to implementing something this big into my teaching.  On paper everything looked so easy and tangible, but in reality it requires a lot of time and effort.  I am definitely willing to put forth the effort, but I cannot create more time.  As a result I took some of my classmates' advice and decided to start out small.  My first step towards creating more self-directed learning in my class took place yesterday once students finished their quiz.  Now there was not technology involved, but hey, it was a starting point.  What I had students to was take the next section's note packed and read trough the chapter and fill them out on their own.  It was a fairly easy chapter and all of my students have the prior knowledge necessary successfully learn the material on their own.  My biggest fear was not having students put in a serious effort to learn the material on their own, because they knew we would be discussing it as a class the next day.  My plan was partially successful, because one class took this opportunity in stride and had not problems learning the material and had very few questions when we discussed this the next day.  As for my other class, they did not have too many questions either, but this was because a lot of them opted to do nothing.  This was my biggest fear to begin with, because I know my students well and what they expect.  They expect that their teacher will always explain things to them no matter what, so why should they put any effort in learning it on their own.  This is not the case for all of my student in this particular class, but it is or the majority.  I guess I could have taught them a hard lesson and said that they just need to know it and that they would have to catch up on their own if they did not do anything, but the teacher in me says that it is my duty to make sure I attempt to show them how to do things at least once. 

So I did not make any major progress on this goal, but I feel as if I took a step in the right direction.  It gives me a starting point, and it lets my students know that this is likely to happen again in the future.  My next step is to try this type of self-directed learning a few more times, and then hopefully take it to the computer lab.  Although, this again brings up a new challenge, because I know how quickly students can lose focus when they are on the Internet.  In order to help prevent unnecessary surfing on the Internet, I will try to make sure I am constantly circulating the computer lab just to let students know that we are they to get work done, not play around on the computer.  Once this standard has been established, it is my hope that my students will then know what is expected of them when we go to the computer lab. 

As far as my second goal of creating, well actually updating my existing, classroom website, I have yet to find time to make any progress on that goal.  I know that it is an online component and that I can access if from any place that has a computer and Internet connection, but I am so swamped with school work and graduate homework that it gets prioritized pretty low.  However, just like my first goal, I am hoping to take my first small step soon, which would consist of uploading class notes to my website and updating the class calendar.  Again, I have all the resources necessary for this goal in place, but like the majority of my colleagues, I do not have the time to invest in it at the moment. 

Until the next update!

First Update: My GAME Plan

I recently reviewed my GAME plan goals that I set a week ago, and began to think about how I could start to incorporate this into my teaching.  Justo to briefly summarize, my goals were to include more technology to create more self-directed learning opportunities and to open up the lines of communication between my students and their parents and myself.  These goals are very similar, in the fact that they both involve the Internet.  I am lucky enough to have multiple computer labs in my school that I can sign out pretty much whenever I want.  There is usually at least one lab open at any given period though out the day, and there is also a computer lab that is dedicated to math and science classes only.  This is definitely something that I need if I want to use Internet research to promote self-directed learning.  I am also lucky enough to have a classroom website that has been provided for me by my school district through SharpSchool.  One thing that I have learned from both personal experience and hearsay is that SharpSchool is not the user-friendliest software to work with.  Nonetheless, it at least gives me something to start with.  I did take the opportunity to start working on my individual site way back at the beginning of the school year, but then normal day to day operations took over and the website got pushed to the side. 

So basically I have everything I need to achieve my goals, as far as resources, information, and physical equipment (computers) goes.  The only thing really holding me back is time.  I have spoken with many of my colleagues both in and out of the math department, and they all say that they simply do not have time for it.  Most of my colleagues are graduate students, coaches, parents, volunteers, etc. in addition to being a teacher, and they all admit to wanting to do more, but they simply do not have the time to do so.  I also have found that in a trimester schedule (which is what my school is in) does not allow from much deviation from the curriculum because time is so precious.  As a result, I am faced with the dilemma of risking valuable class time to take students to the computer lab and trust that they will learn something while they are there.  My biggest fear is that I will take my student to the computer lab to have a self-directed learning experience and all they will do is surf the internet and either not find anything about the topic we are studying, or have no desire to look anything up that is relevant to the class.  Part of my idea for setting a goal to promote self-directed learning is because of how much I do it myself.  However, I only do this when I am super interested in something or I have to do it for my job or schooling.  I am an adult and understand what is at stake, however, and many high school students do not have this mentality (at least not where I teach).  So my goal within my goal is to try and find ideas, strategies, lesson, you name it that can help me get my students to want to learn math on their own. 

Setting Technology Goals

As a teacher who loves technology and uses it on a daily basis, believes in it, and really cannot see living with out it, you would think that I would incorporate in every lesson that I could.  However, this is not the case, and is probably most unfortunate for my students because most of them are just as in love with technology as I am.  I am a high school math teacher, and part of why I do not incorporate technology all that much (in fact it is very rare that I do) is because I think you should understand what the technology piece is doing before you go ahead and use it.  In my personal experience, I primarily use the Internet to teach myself about concepts that I have a personal interest in.  As for my math students, they want to use technology to make math easier, which means find a piece of technology that can do their work for them.  For instance, I have not found one yet, but I am sure there is a calculator some where on the Internet that can factor polynomials for them.  This idea that there is technology out there that takes the work out of things is what scares me the most, however, I know that technology has must more to offer than making things easier and letting it do all of the work for us. 

I recently reviewed the standards set by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which they dub the NETS-S.  They have five main standards, and all of them have a number of performance indicators that teachers can use to help just their progress on incorporating technology into their teaching.  I have identified two performance indicators that were of particular interest to me, and seem to fit where I am at in my willingness and readiness to bring more technology into my classroom. 

The first performance indicator that I am setting as a goal falls under the second standard:

2.  Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

b. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity (International, 2008)

Part of why I chose this goal is due to the fact that it seems to reflect why I love the Internet so much.  I use the Internet to delve into topics that I want to learn more about and I always seem to find something about whatever it is I am looking for.  I will be using GAME model to help set my goals, which involve me setting Goals, taking Action to achieve those goals, Monitoring the progress on achieving the goals I have set, and finally Evaluating the progress on my goals (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).  So for this goal, I would like to try and provide more opportunity for my student to use the Internet to learn the content of my course.  This will provide opportunity for more self-directed learning, which I feel will ultimately inspire creativity.  In order to achieve this goal, I will have to take time to bring my students to the computer lab and cut down on the lecturing and direct instruction, which is currently the my main method of instruction.  In order to monitor the progress of this goal, I will look at students’ assessment scores (both quizzes and tests) in order to see how well students are doing with this new style of learning.  Finally, I will evaluate the overall effectiveness of this goal to see if I will continue on with my original plan, or make a change in order to improve on the process.

The second performance indicator that I am setting as a goal falls under the third standard:

3.  Model Digital Age Work and Learning

c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats (International, 2008)

The main reason why I want to set this as a goal is because I want to make things more convenient for all, which includes my students, their parents, and myself.  Part of what I want to do to achieve this goal is to create a classroom website where I can upload different kinds of classroom information.  Whether it is class notes, homework assignments, tutorial videos, or math help websites, I want a ‘central hub’ where my students can go to access information for my class.  So my goal is to incorporate a classroom website where I can openly communicate with students and their parents, as well as provide classroom materials and math support.  In order to achieve this goal I will have to find a software that will allow me to create a website.  Next I will have to upload various classroom documents and links to websites and videos for my students.  In order to monitor the progress of this goal, I can periodically ask students if the website is helpful or not, and also allow student to give feedback and suggestions on the website to improve it if necessary.  Finally, I can evaluate all the input I get back from students and parents to decide if the website is working or not, and also fix any flaws that may have been pointed out along the way.

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.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers