Week 8 Reflection

As an educator, I am always looking for new and exciting ways to capture my students’ attention as we study United States history. Since I teach middle school, the majority of my students are quite familiar with social networking sites and video games. After taking this class, I am excited to try and incorporate these emerging technologies in my classroom. I am going to continue searching for reliable and effective digital games or MUVEs that I could use in my classroom.

Since I have served on several committees at my school over the years, I would feel very comfortable presenting my ideas in front of the staff. I think it would also be beneficial to have a student panel present their thoughts and ideas as well. Sometimes students make the best presenters when you are trying to convince educators to make a change!

Spotlight on Emerging Technology

http://voicethread.com/?#q.b1009367.i5385813

Week 8 Reflection

I have already bookmarked several of the resources suggested by my group members. Even though I feel as if the social networking site we created using Ning was very helpful, I did feel a little overwhelmed by the process of posting to the discussion board, our group Ning, as well as completing our weekly Application assignments. I am not planning on making any adjustments to my instructional practice at this time. My goal is to finish out this school year continuing the practices that I have already put into place.

Week 8 Reflection

As this class comes to an end, I am reflecting on my GAME plan. As the new year begins, I plan to continue focusing on Internet safety. As I mentioned before, each of my 8th grade students has access to a laptop for use at school and at home. While this provides great educational opportunities, it also presents a few problems. Our school has struggled during the process of making sure that each student has proof of insurance before taking their computer home. While this does not sound like much, the paperwork can be quite a hassle. Also, each teacher must check at the end of the school day to make sure that students without insurance have returned their computers to the cart. The reason we have to be so strict on this policy relates to the number of broken computers and parents who would not or could not pay to fix them. It is unfortunate that not all students can take their computers home. Because of this, the learning experience is extended for only a portion of our students.

Since many of our students are able to take their computers home, we do need to have a technology management plan in place for students who misuse the technology. We have had a few students loose computer privileges due to accessing inappropriate material or intimidating or bullying other students. This can be very difficult to monitor. For this reason, as teachers we must teach our students about internet safety and responsibility. This is a daunting task, one that I will continue to focus on with my students.

My GAME plan

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to teach at a technology magnet school. Last year was the first year that our 8th grade students had the benefit of participating in a one to one initiative. Our current 8th grade is also part of this initiative. Each student has access to their own laptop for use at school and at home. While this is a great opportunity for students, it requires teachers to make sure that students are safe when using their computers at home or at school. We have had a few instances where students have been the victims of online bullying or have made bad choices as to what they posted on the Internet or viewed on the Internet. Since there are filters at school, this has become a problem that occurs while students are outside the school walls. This course has helped me to set goals for protecting my students by teaching them some basic Internet safety strategies. In the past our school has offered a workshop for parents to learn about the dangers of the Internet. I think this is important, especially when it comes to middle school students. As the new year approaches, my goal is to continue with my GAME plan.

Revising My GAME Plan

Before winter break, I still plan on sharing the online resources I have found about Internet safety. I am currently looking at some additional resources based on the suggestions of my classmates. I strongly believe that middle school students need to be taught the importance of Internet safety. Each year we have encountered a few students who have made bad choices when it comes to social networking sites. In some cases, students have added inappropriate pictures to their MySpace or Facebook pages and then were upset when those pictures were posted or shared elsewhere. I have also heard of students actually meeting with people that they “met” online. This is such a dangerous situation. I am hoping that by sharing these resources, my middle school students will think twice before they make decisions about the use of social networking sites.

Since I teach United States history, my students conduct research throughout the year. One goal that my students are becoming quite comfortable with is research and information fluency. Even though we have been working on this goal all year, I am finding that some students need additional help in this area. Some of my learning disabled students seem to need the most help with locating organizing, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, and ethically using information from a variety of sources and media. These students still struggle with identifying reliable and valid information on the Internet. They also struggle with the concept of putting the information into their own words to avoid plagiarizing. I am continuing to work with small groups of students to help them find great resources and take notes on the main ideas. I feel that for some students this will be an ongoing struggle.

Evaluating My GAME Plan Progress

How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?

I still need to get approval from the administrators to use the videos in my classroom. I am hoping to show these short video clips before my students leave for winter break. I know that my students will be spending a great deal of time on their computers during their time off of school. I am hoping that after viewing these clips, my students will be more careful when using the Internet.


What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?

I have learned that there is a wealth of resources on the Internet to teach middle school students about Internet safety.


What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen? How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?

I am still working on my plan to have students be "experts" and help with troubleshooting issues. Today was a perfect example of the need for "experts" in my classes. Throughout the course of the day, students had trouble logging into the server, adding printers, opening Word documents in Pages, etc. Since every student has access to their own laptop during the school day, it can be quite overwhelming when technical difficulties arise. I would love it if a few students were trained by our district technology staff to support teachers in the classroom when these problems arise.