GAME Plan- Monitoring Your Progress

At this point in my GAME Plan, I am still working on learning more about using a wiki in the classroom. I haven’t been able to collaborate with other teachers, because of time constraints and scheduling. To modify this resource, I looked ahead and saw that a wiki will be incorporated for our lesson plan application, and I accessed resources online about help for teachers with creating a wiki in the classroom. The visual power point presentation was extremely helpful Wiki Help for Teachers.

I have learned so far that the idea of incorporating more technology into the math classroom is vital to motivating and preparing students. The eighth graders have been talking about the one high school in the area that is focused on technology. Some students have friends and relatives that attend a high school where all work is done online and each student has their own laptop. The question becomes the monitoring of the site and making sure students have enough access to participate online. Students are eager and curious, but can struggle using the technology correctly. I guess the help that I need are suggestions for keeping students safe and working on the given assignment and helping those students who lack knowledge or access with technology.

As for locating other online resources to assist students with their understanding and to give students options on the assessment of content knowledge, I have signed the students up for the computer lab and had students create their own online shopping experience. I am still searching for a simulation for percentages, but have found other simulations for later in the year. The idea of selecting a simulation software benefits students and the teacher by recording the choices they make on a given activity and analyzed for judgments made by students after the completion of the project (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).

The activity I had students participate in to show knowledge of percents and discounts provided the opportunity to utilize technology skills. Students were given a list of stores or websites to access and then selected items or completed an Excel spreadsheet with a limit of $100 to spend using online coupons. This activity went well and students were completely engaged in the process with an added bonus of a reward the next day for the pair that were closest and did not go over the limit. The spreadsheet was then emailed and I checked the assignment later. It worked quite well and the students commented on the convenience of using the technology and I enjoyed the paperless trail of work. The GAME plan is working but time and energy needs to be focused on this one experience when there is so much more to do. Ertmer (2009) stated “the supportive culture of education can be teachers willing to take risks and other teachers being willing to work together.” This idea in mind working with others to build on lessons with technology allows next year to be more successful and the lesson after it.

Heather
MS-Math

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Ertmer, P., Program: 2. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas [Educational Video]. Los Angeles: Solution.