Relection

As our course draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on everything we have done in the last 8 weeks. Once again, they have flown by and I am amazed at how much I have gained in such a short period of time. At the beginning of the course, I had never even heard of the NET-S standards or GAME plans. Now, discussing them seems only natural.

While I still have work to do with my GAME plan, I think it has come a long way since I first developed it.

My first goal is to learn what type learning styles/preferences my students have. I have made the most progress with this goal. I have developed a survey that I will administer at the beginning of the new school year. I have discussed some of the questions with my colleagues and will continue to refine them over the summer. I look forward to trying this in the fall. It will be a learning experience for my students and myself. I am sure after I administer and review the survey I will again revise it for the following year. I see this as an ongoing project that will continue to evolve as I grow and acquire more experience.

My second goal is to develop learner-centered lessons that incorporate a variety of technologies. I began by choosing a few topics that I think will easily lend themselves to these types of lessons. I have begun developing lesson plans to work with in the fall and I see this as a goal that I will continue to work towards for some time.

I found the creation and development of a GAME plan very useful. I plan to teach the GAME plan to my students and have them use it throughout the year. I think it will be beneficial for them to be able to see what their goals are and how they are going to work towards them. It is important for them to understand that they can change and adjust their goals as they are working towards them and using a GAME plan makes this easy to do while still keeping in mind what they are working towards.

I have a lot of changes in mind for the upcoming year, including the surveys, new student-centered lesson plans, and the use of student GAME plans. It will be a busy summer getting everything ready and an even busier year enacting it all, but I am looking forward to it. I can't wait to see how the changes will impact my students and our classroom environment.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

Now that I have gone through the process of using the GAME plan, I can see many advantages to using it with students. I would like to introduce the GAME plan format at the beginning of the year, so it will be something we can work with and develop throughout the year. The students will start by setting a goal for themselves for the class which they will post on our class blog. Throughout the year, they will reflect upon that goal. They can discuss if it is still the same, how they are progressing towards it, and any changes they have made to it. By the end of the year, they should have many posts, recording their thoughts and changes throughout the year. One of the most important things I hope they will get out of this assignment is the value of having goals. They should come to understand that it is okay to modify their goals or even change them completely, as long as they have a goal in mind.

Revising My GAME Plan

I am continuing towards my goal of creating student-centered lessons. I have decided to discuss this approach with some of my colleagues to gain their ideas and insights. If they have not used this type of lesson before, I will be interested to see if they become interested in trying it. Perhaps this will turn into something we can collaborate on together, or at least share ideas.

I am also still working with the surveys for student learning styles. It seems like each time I look at them I think of something to add or see something I want to change. I am glad I have the summer to work with them and continue to revise them, so I will be prepared and happy with them when school starts in the fall.