Reflection: Final blog post (EDUC 6713)

Throughout this course at Walden, I have developed and followed two GAME plans. The GAME plan is a process for self-directed learning with the following steps: set Goals, take Action, Monitor progress, and Evaluate and Extend. I set two goals for myself in the area of technology, one for instructional purposes, WebQuests, and the other for assessment purposes, digital/electronic portfolios. As a result of using the GAME plan, I learned a great deal about both of these things and how to use them to make my teaching more effective. In addition to learning about these specific technologies, I learned to approach anything that I want to learn or that I want my students to learn using the GAME plan. I have always considered myself a self-directed learner because I like to learn new things but my downfall was lack of organization and following up. The GAME plan has given me a way to break down and organize my own learning and my students learning as well. I did not major in education as an undergraduate so when I began teaching, I had no idea the best way to design and organize my lesson plans. I took other education courses but I still felt that they did not help me in this area. I was never formally taught how to write a lesson plan and I think that now after these Walden courses, I feel more knowledgeable and feel like I have improved in this area. The GAME plan has been a tremendous help. What I have learned as a result of the GAME plan and this course will allow me to improve as a teacher and help me to be more organized and more effective. Besides using it for my own learning and for my lesson plans, it is equally important that I guide my students to use the process as well so they could become self directed learners.

As a result of what I learned in this course, I plan to make some immediate adjustments to my instructional practice regarding technology integration. First, I would like to take what I learned about digital portfolios through my GAME plan and put it into action with students. While researching digital portfolios I learned how I could implement them and I came up with a list of artifacts I would like my students to include. Now it is time to incorporate it into my classes. I would also like to start implementing some of the social networking/online collaboration tools that we explored. These types of tools are new to me and I have never used them in class. With all the useful information we have learned in this course, this has sparked the most interest for me and it will probably be the first thing I explore further and start integrating first.

When I first began these courses at Walden I have to admit that I was hesitant about how I could incorporate technology into the math high school classroom. Except for graphing calculators, spreadsheet software and graphing software, I couldn’t think of other things I could use. I was concerned that I would be stretching my content standards to fit and couldn’t see how I would use a wiki, blog or the Web 2.0 in my math classes. I am excited to say that I was wrong and that I have learned many new ideas and came up with a few of my own as a result of all of the courses in this master’s program. They would all allow me to provide my students with authentic learning experiences and not be a forced fit like I thought. While it was difficult to come up with ideas for some of the tools we have explored, it was definitely possible to use all of them with my high school math students.