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