Reflection

Reflection can mean many things. An image of something that is reflected from a mirror. How many times a day do we take a look in the mirror? The next time you look in the mirror, really look at the reflection being shown back. Now take that same concept and apply it to your teaching practice. As you teach, look at the image that is being reflected back.



Throughout this course, we have developed, changed, adapted and now reflecting on our GAME Plans. When we were first presented with the GAME Plan, I was not really for it or against it, I just was not for sure how it was going to work for me or my students. Now after having been through it and seeing the possibilities of the GAME Plan, it is really something that everyone does at some point in their life. This is just an actual way of writing it out and putting it into action. When coming up with my goals for the NETS-S, it was quite easy after reading through them and seeing where my strengths and weaknesses were. After the GAME Plan was wrote and put into motion, I had issues with getting the initial involvement I needed to reach my goals. My main issue was with the parents of my students. Most of them were not interested in getting involved in the classroom, so I needed to adapt and change some things up.

The biggest thing I take away from the GAME Plan is when we set goals and set out to accomplish those goals, our path my go in a different direction then we first anticipated. We have to be ready for a curve ball or ready to adapt at any time. This is something I have always tried to do, but honestly I have to admit that I fail at this a lot of the time. I tend to get frustrated and upset if things do not go the way I plan, and really hit my head against the wall--not really--but still try to get them to work the way I want them too. So from this I realize I have to adapt and overcome the obstacles that are placed in front of me by taking a different route around those obstacles.

I have learned some new ideas and ways for technology to be integrated into my classroom. In reading our course text and looking at the different content areas, I have been "reborn" in a sense of becoming creative in my lessons and looking at different ways to collaborate with other teachers in other departments. Immediate adjustments that are being made to my instructional practice is the continuing process of utilizing new and advancing software and digital tools. I want and need my students to be able to know how to use the latest digital tools because it will only help them be better in their chosen field. I also am going to continue to show my students how the GAME Plan can be effective for them with their goals.

Reflecting is an important part of every one's lives. As we look in the "mirror", we need to really think about what we see and if we actually like what we see. If not, it is time to change things and make them better. We need to be examples for our students and everyone else around us. For me, I need to let my students see me being a lifelong learner and continuing down the path of learning. Here is a quote I thought I would share about being a role model for your students.

"You are in charge of your feelings, beliefs, and actions. And you
teach others how to behave toward you. While you cannot
change other people, you can influence them through your
own behaviors and actions. By being a living role model of what
you want to receive from others, you create more of
what you want in your life." -Eric Allenbaugh-


So remember, someone is always watching and paying attention to what you are doing. The question is, Do you have your GAME Plan ready?

GAME Plan and Students

The GAME Plan is a great tool to use, not just for ourselves, but to have our students use too. I can see myself having my students create GAME Plans for each unit we do. When we switch gears and start a new unit, I give students an outline of what exactly is going to happen and what they are going to learn. At this point, I believe it would be beneficial for my students to create GAME Plans. Students can create their goals around what they want to learn or what they hope to do with technology.

Over the entier GAME Plan process, my favorite part if the Evaluation. I really get to reflect at this point. It really helps me to look at everything and to see what I can continue to do to make the goals a success. This is definitely something that I want to instill in my students.

The NETS-S are very important for educators to continue to look at and learn about. Not only should we focus on them, but our students need to know about them as well. I have already shown my current students these, and plan on doing this with future students.

Revising Your GAME Plan

So here we are, another week at accomplishing our Goals and completing our GAME Plan. I must say that I feel great about my GAME Plan(s) and am prepared to continue them out to their completion and to start some new ones. Looking back over the
NETS-T standards/goals, I feel pretty confident in the other areas. I really feel that I meet those standards/goals and can appreciate them for what they are. The two that are in my current GAME Plan(s) I feel need my attention the most and I really need to keep working at them.

Some new developments have occurred over the past week or so. While I was away on Spring Break I had some time to go back to some home roots and really look into my family history. One of my goals is: I would like to collaborate with students, peers, parents and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. (NETS-T 3b)(International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). I started thinking about different ways my students could look into their family histories and how we could incorporate families and community members into this project. There is a TV show on NBC called 'Who Do You Think You Are'. I started with that title for a collaboration project. Students would interview family members about their family history. Get back stories, find names of people generations back. I looked at how much money I had left in my budget, and I have enough resources to be able to get my students an account with ancestry.com. I talked it over with my administrators and they were excited about it and really wanted to be a part of this adventure. So I said they could do this project with us too. A letter was sent home to parents asking if they would like to collaborate with their child on a family project. I have received a great amount of support and willingness to do this. Students are to research as much as possible through the use of family interviews, pictures, videos and with the help of ancestry.com. Students will then put together a multimedia presentation/project of everything they have found. I am really excited about this because it really will help to support and fulfill my goal.

I have learned that no matter what, learning is an ongoing process. You hear the term Professional Student or Lifelong Learner, and honestly that fits every single person. There is not a moment when we do not learn, I even find myself reflecting and learning as I sleep. In terms of setting new goals, I am going to stick with these goals, at least until the end of the school year. At that point, I am going to reflect on all the NETS-T standards and look at what ways I can improve on all of them. From there I will set some learning goals for the next school year. As I learn, I realize I need to lean on the shoulders of my colleagues, peers, and students. They really help me to look at all different aspects and to appreciate the information I have and do not have. Bouncing ideas and thoughts off one another help to open new views that I had not thought about before. Reflection has been a big part of these GAME Plans. I will continue to do that as I complete these goals and go on to other goals.

References
International Society for Technology in Education, Initials. (2008). Nets for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx