My GAME Plan Reflection

In one of our first media segments Caitlin Thompson (2009) said, “It’s important to realize that the technology enriches the system, but it’s not my daily goal.”  When reflecting on the past eight weeks and my GAME plan, this statement has been on my mind.  Before developing my GAME plan, I have to say that I was bordering on being a teacher who used technology only when necessary.  Throughout this course and developing my own GAME plan, I have learned how important Thompson’s statement really is.  It was my goal to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in two technology standards that are a part of the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T, 2007).  The indicators are:

2b: develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.   

3b: collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.   

In physical education our main challenge is time.  We are under strict activity guidelines so integrating technology can be a challenge.  However, throughout this course, I have learned to manage my lesson plans so that I can offer problem based learning experiences including technology integration.  My GAME plan was specific to our fitness assessments and major physical education events, but I also found that incorporating online collaboration as well as other digital tools as an enhancement to various units was not as difficult as I thought it would be. These tools greatly enrich my gymnastics unit.  Recently, our district has conformed to the guideline that every student has 60 minutes of physical education per week.  We will start a new schedule March 1, 2015 to accommodate this change.  Currently we see each student for 50 minutes per week.  Although the increase is only ten minutes per class, this is time that we can use for technology management as needed.    

In our PE classes we mostly use formative assessments.  When teaching a skill, my colleague and I are constantly “on our feet” providing feedback, modifying, reteaching, and making adjustments as necessary.  However, I have previously not utilized rubrics and other assessment tools as effectively as I have learned to do throughout this course.  I look forward to further progressing and providing my students with technology enhanced learning experiences. 

References: 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009).  Integrating technology across the content areas: Enriching content area learning experiences with technology, part 2. Baltimore, MD: Author. 

International Society for Technology (2007).  ISTE Standards for Students. Retrieved from

 http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_iste_standards-s_pdf.pdf

 

 

 

 

Monitoring My GAME Plan

The last couple of weeks have been busy since we have kicked off our Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser and continue fitness assessments along with starting a gymnastics unit.  Since we administer the fitness assessments twice per year, we incorporate some of the testing with other units.  In monitoring my GAME plan, I feel that I am making progress at a slower pace than I would like to, but honestly I need to use that as one of the insights that I have gained from this experience.  Sometimes, I get apprehensive when we are not moving through a unit as quickly as I would like, and I am sure that the students sense this.  I realized that I have a lot going on within my GAME plan and everything can certainly be accomplished, but with time. 

As far as resources, we have most technological resources right in our building.  Our computer lab instructors, technology integration specialist, and media specialist (librarian) are all willing to assist in any way.  I have set up a Volunteerspot account for our field day activities which will not be until May, but planning for this event takes a lot of time.  Our Jump Rope for Heart activities are underway.  We have class jump rope competitions and we have started those.  We have a scheduled Jump Rope day when each grade level, during their related arts time (music, pe, art, computer) will go to the basketball courts to participate in jump rope activities to celebrate Jump Rope for Heart.  We allow all students to participate, not just the ones who raise money.  This is when we will collect the names of the students who will receive a certificate then we can have the selected students create those.  I have learned that we can access and print more reports from Fitstats than I originally thought we could. 

At this point, I do not feel that I need to modify my plan and have not had any new questions.  I will be glad to take any suggestions or answer any questions.

 

 

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

Last week I posted a GAME plan to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in technology standard indicator 2b. developing technology rich learning environments for my students and 3b. collaborating with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.  Now, the next step of reviewing the GAME plan and asking questions such as:

*What resources are needed to carry out the plan (media segments, reading, experts, or colleagues)?

*What additional information is needed?

*What steps have been taken so far?

The resources needed to carry out my GAME plan for indicator 2b consist of access to Fitstatsweb.com and Google Docs through class set of iPads checked out from the Learning Commons and laptops in the computer lab. The resources needed for the actual fitness assessment include stopwatches, pull-up bar, sit and reach box. The resources needed for indicator 3b are laptop with Google Plus account, Google Docs, and Google Drive.  I will also access the Volunteerspot website using a laptop or iPad.  Publisher will be another resource accessed through the computer lab or regular classroom laptops.

The additional information needed at this time for both goals is to access the computer lab schedule, determine the amount of time needed, and sign up.  I will also need to collaborate with classroom teachers and computer lab instructors to find out if the students have already been instructed on how to use Microsoft Publisher.  If they have not, I will need to find out if that is a task that the computer lab instructors can carry out or if I need to schedule a time to do so in the computer lab.

The steps that I have taken so far:

*Completion of first round of fitness assessments.

*Setting up class rosters on the Fitstats website.

*Signing up for Volunteerspot account.

*Signed up for Google Plus account and requesting and accepting colleagues as friends.

My GAME Plan

In my current Walden class, Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas, we are learning about the GAME plan which is a strategy that is recommended to guide self-directed learning (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). The steps included in the GAME plan are setting goals, taking action, monitoring progress to achievement, evaluating achievement, and extending learning.  I am developing my own GAME plan to strengthen my confidence and proficiency in two technology standards indicators that are a part of the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T).  

The first indicator that I have chosen is 2b: develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.  We administer fitness assessments in our PE classes twice per year and have previously recorded their scores on our attendance roster.  The goal is to teach and demonstrate how to use technology tools such as Fitstats and Google Docs so that my students can monitor their own process and progress.  They will have access to technology through iPads in the gym, computer lab, and the regular classroom. Hopefully they will become more motivated to set fitness goals, research ways to improve, and manage their progress.  I will be able to monitor progress and help them evaluate their progress through access to these programs.  Collaborating with the computer lab instructors and classroom teachers will be imperative to extending the learning experiences.

The second indicator I intend to work on is 3b: collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.  To improve in this area, I will utilize our district wide communication tool through Google which offers collaboration tools such as the groups (google plus), google docs, and google drive.  All of the PE teachers in our district utilize our google plus accounts to collaborate and share ideas with each other.  I plan to be more involved with sharing ideas through this collaboration tool. Each year we participate in Jump Rope for Heart and Field Day activities.  This year, I plan to use the online tool Volunteerspot to assist in getting information to the parents as well as an online volunteer organization tool.  I will model utilization of these technology tools to my students by allowing the fifth graders to assist in monitoring the Volunteerspot and organizing Field Day activities.  We also have jump rope competitions during Jump Rope for Heart and I will allow my fifth grade class to assist in organizing and printing certificates for this event using an online certificate maker or Microsoft Publisher.  Once we have completed the activities, my colleague will evaluate the achievement and develop goals for the next year’s events.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use.  Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

Reflection

Upon reflecting on the past seven weeks of my current Walden class, “Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology,” I took a journey back to the first week when we had to define our personal learning theory.  In defining my learning theory at that time, I said that in my Physical Education world and on a personal level, the learning theories that I think help our students to be successful in the experiences that we offer are the Constructionism and the Social Learning Theories.  In all activities and sports skills, there is a building process as well as understanding and storing of information. The Social Learning Theory naturally is a great fit for my Physical Education classes due to the high level of conversation and collaboration (Orey, 2001).   After a more in depth study of the learning theories, I still feel that I primary rely on the Constructionism and Social Learning Theories.  In our classes, we have our students participate in Cooperative Learning activities almost on a daily basis, and this strategy aligns with the Social Learning Theory.  Most of our units involve team sports or team building activities, so this theory and strategy work well for our classes. 

 In studying various resources for learning theories, I found that I love an idea by Dr. Judy Rink, one of my former professors at The University of South Carolina.  In an article written in The Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, Dr. Judy Rink (2001) states that “we need to be wary of appeals for wholesale adoption of particular teaching methods” (p. 113).  This solidifies the fact that we need to adopt a variety of teaching methods to ensure that our students succeed through the learning experiences that we provide for them.  Even though, I still feel that Constructionism and Social Learning Theories are predominant in our classes, even though some aspects of the Cognitive and Behaviorist Learning Theories have to be present. 

Immediate adjustments that I have made regarding instructional practice and technology integration are to incorporate some of the technology tools that I have learned about through this course.  Before this course, I had not used VoiceThread or Concept Mapping.  Both of these tools would greatly enhance our lessons and contribute to student success.  Utilizing these tools would help our students think more deeply about the skills and activities being taught.  This class has given me a greater understanding of how the Learning Theories, strategies, and technology tools go hand in hand which will also assist me in our districts teacher technology requirements and assessments.  We are required to pass a technology assessment and produce a student-centered technology lesson plan once per year.  This assessment is done once a year with in mind that the teacher will integrate technology on a more frequent basis. 

 In our state, we have strict activity guidelines for Physical Education.  Even with this in mind, I would like to make it a goal to integrate technology into my lessons at least once a quarter or more.  This goal will take some planning to determine which technology tools would be compatible with which units of study. Another goal that I would like to achieve is to assist our Technology Integration Specialist in helping classroom teachers with ideas on integrating technology.  I have already done this to some degree in helping the other PE teacher that I work with carry out a SKYPE lesson for his National Board recertification.    

 

References: 

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology.

Retrieved  from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

 

Rink, J. (2001). Investigating the assumptions of pedagogy. Journal of Teaching in

          Physical Education, 20, 112-128.

 

 

Social Theory and Cooperative Learning

In our resources this week, we focused on the Social Learning Theory and how the strategy of Cooperative Learning correlates with that theory.  Dr. Michael Orey explains the Social Learning Theory very simply as “students actively engaged in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (Laureate, 2011).  In our South Carolina Physical Education Curriculum Standards, we have two standards that address the social aspect of learning.  Standard Five states, “The student will exhibit responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical-activity settings. The intent of this standard is achievement of self-initiated behaviors that promote personal and group success in activity settings. These include safe practices, adherence to rules and procedures, etiquette, cooperation and teamwork, ethical behavior, and positive social interaction.”  Standard Six states, “The student will demonstrate awareness that physical activity provides the opportunity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and social interaction. One of the indicators for these standards is that the students will be able to “work independently and with others on physical-activity tasks”(ed.sc.gov, 2008).  The way that these standards correlate with the Social Learning Theory and Cooperative Learning strategy is that they do not just address the social interaction, but also the cooperation, teamwork, group successes, working with others on tasks.  In most Physical Education classes, students have an opportunity to work independently, with a partner, and within a group.  This learning environment ties into the cooperative strategy as it increases “motivation for learning by establishing a strong kinship and sense of obligation to one another among students, which can lead to greater buy-in and increased achievement.  In well-designed cooperative learning activities, participants develop a sense of positive interdependence-a “sink or swim together” attitude where success on the part of one promotes success among the others”(Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, 2012, pp 73). 

 

This idea is evident in most of our daily activities, but one of my favorite units that incorporate cooperative learning is our gymnastics unit.  The students have to work with a peer group to achieve a certain outcome.  They have individual requirements as well as group requirements within the final routine.  During this unit, I have seen students succeed and make accomplishments in areas where they needed improvement.  I have also seen students make strides in achieving a goal working with peers that they would not have chosen to work with.  Another area of focus for us is Fitness Testing where the students score individually and set individual goals for future assessments.  Once this is established, we have them collaborate and work cooperatively with a group to devise a plan to improve their fitness.  Some groups have developed with fitness stations to be used for the entire class and some have researched and found individual activities to help make improvements for specific fitness assessments. At our school, we use Edmodo as a communication tool.  It provides a safe and easy way for students and teachers to connect, collaborate, share content and access assignments. The classroom teachers use it for assignments and communication with parents.  It has been neat to for us as far as PE goes to be able to use it as a reminder for specific units or events.  Some of our students have had conversations about their favorite PE activity. 

Here is a link to my first VoiceThread which briefly explains to the students the components of fitness testing and questions to consider when setting goals for improvement.

 http://voicethread.com/share/5614814/
 

 

 

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program eight: Social learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H.  Hubbell, E.  & Kuhn, M.  (2012).  Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works.  Alexandria, VA: ASCD

 South Carolina Department of Education (2008).  South Carolina Academic

          Standards for Physical Education.  Retrieved from http://ed.sc.gov.

 

Constructivism and Constructionism

Dr. Orey explains that Constructionism is a theory of learning where “people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others and Constructivism is a theory of knowledge stating that each individual actively constructs his or her own meaning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  This topic is not new to educators.  In 1993, Brooks and Brooks suggested that constructivist pedagogies include 1) inspiring student initiative, 2) accepting student autonomy, 3) employing cognitive language to challenge critical thinking, 4) fostering independent thinking and innovation by building on student responses, 5) developing knowledge construction by challenging students to recognize prior learning, 6) provide interactive opportunities among students, 7) encourage critical thinking and problem solving individually and collectively, and 8) provide time, prompts, redirected questions and probing to push students to develop and integrate new knowledge and construct their own meaning (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). 

I think that both theories have a place in today’s classroom with Constructionism being dominant especially in Physical Education.  There are times when we have to present facts to the learners in the traditional way and there are times when students need to create something based on their learning.  This is the most ideal learning experience and one that is enduring.  In my classes, with most skills and activities we teach, the above concepts are natural as the students are engaged in activity, required to call upon to recognize prior learning, interactive,  challenged to think critically and independently.  The challenge for us is time as I have previously stated.  It is my goal to keep the students actively engaged in exercise and skill development.  However, I can incorporate the strategies using technology tools such as Power Point, Excel, Word, Webquests, etc. to enhance our learning experiences.  We just don’t have easy access to incorporate these strategies on a daily or weekly basis.  We do integrate technology in some form during each unit of instruction.   

Generating and Testing Hypotheses in PE

This week we also explored the learning strategy Generating and Testing Hypotheses.  “When students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaged in complex mental processes, apply content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content” (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012).  The processes that can be used to generate and test hypotheses are systems analysis, problem solving, experimental inquiry, and investigation.  These processes should also be used to students’ previous knowledge, experience, or interests(Pitler, et al, 2012).  A lot of people would not think that this strategy can be used in Physical Education other than health related issues.  When we fitness test our students during the fall we test five components of fitness which are endurance, upper-body strength, abdominal strength/endurance, flexibility, and agility.  They record their initial scores on a goal sheet as well as a goal for the spring test. This is done in excel.  We then have them research ways to improve in each category and come up with a plan.  During our warm up activities, we often set up stations which are designed to improve one of the fitness areas.  We include activities that they have researched and determined will assist them in improving in a certain fitness area.  They keep up with their progress.  One way that I can use this activity and incorporate the strategy from this week’s resources is to have the students determine if their Physical Education time is going to be sufficient to improve their fitness scores. Through research they will need to determine what exercises and how much of the exercise will improve fitness in each category. This information will be recorded on a spreadsheet.  They will gather the information and give a presentation to a peer group the exercises necessary to make improvements and whether or not PE time will be sufficient to reach their set goal.

This instructional strategy correlates with the Constructivism and Constructionism Learning Theories because it is constructivism when they generate they hypotheses, and constructionism when they collect the date and utilize a technology tool to produce an artifact.  I just learned today that our TIS at our school is going to train our fifth grade students to use Keynote for the iPad.  I don’t know a lot about Keynote yet, but I think that it would be a cool way to design and share a presentation.

References

Brooks, J., & Brooks, M. (1993). In search of understanding: The Case for

Constructivist Classrooms. ASCD.

 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program seven: Constructionist and

constructivist learning theories [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using Technology with Classroom

          Instruction that Works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.