Using the GAME Plan process with students

The GAME Plan has potential in the classroom for students as well as for teachers planning and organizing lessons. As a kindergarten teacher, I can model the GAME Plan processes whole group for students prior to students their participation. For example, in our social studies unit on conservation students can work collaboratively to develop a plan on how to get involved in conservation and how to get families and communities also involved. Students can then take action by determining the steps necessary to make their goals happen. We can develop a plan or schedule to monitor our progress and determine if we need to extend our activities. As the teacher I will function as a guide and facilitator throughout this process.

Of the ISTE NETS – S performance indicators for students this project will encourage students to develop their creativity and innovation skills. ISTE NETS – S.1.a.Creativity and Innovation where students apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, and processes works well with our conservation unit. Students come to school with a strong knowledge base about what they can do to help take care of their environment such as put trash in the trash can, sort plastics, paper, and aluminum. Some families are already participating in our local community recycling efforts. From this knowledge base students extend their knowledge by learning about conservation and natural resources and coming up with ideas such as turning lights off to save electricity, only using enough paper to dry their hands to save wood, closing doors to save electricity, only using enough water to wash our hands to save water, using recyclable bags at the grocery store to bring home groceries to save trees, and getting our families involved to make our conservation efforts a life-long process.

ISTE NETS – S.2.b.Communication and Collaboration to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats is a performance indicator that is found in our exploration of weather. Students learn about different weather conditions in their neighborhood. Students create a voicethread to discuss their findings. The voicethread is put on the classroom blog so that parents can view. Another facet is to extend students understanding of their world when they communicate with other students in another part of the world through e-Pals. Students get to know each other, learn about the weather conditions each experiences, learn about what the other students like to do in the weather they experience, and get a better understanding of other cultures. The goal is defined as learning about our world and its weather patterns.

My GAME plan involves a continuing effort to stay current by being involved in professional development opportunities and by encouraging communication between parents, students, and myself. With each of these strategies, it is my hope to establish a learning environment that promotes student development of 21^st century skills. In my GAME plan I have continued to grow my understanding of new technologies and effective ways to implement these strategies. By implementing new technologies and modeling their use, I hope to establish a productive learning environment that incorporates technology in the teaching and learning processes as a vital and integral component. In addition, I have continued to refine my class webpage. I have received several suggestions to encourage more parental and student interest in the classroom webpage. The classroom webpage will continue to be a work in progress with revisions and updates made regularly. As I continue to grow these activities and strategies, I plan to expand and scaffold my compliance to the ISTE NETS – T performance indicators over the course of my teaching career.

Reference:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) located at http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.