Carrying Out Your GAME Plan

The beginning of the school year is a great time in many different ways.  Students are excited (or not) about their new classes and textbooks.  New faces and smiles warm the hallways, and new opportunities arise for each learner.  This feeling should not be limited to simply students either.  Teachers have a chance to enhance prior lessons, experiment with new techniques, or attempt brand new classroom management approaches.  In my particular case, I am most excited to implement some of the newer technologies that I have learned through my time at Walden, in an effort to enhance student learning.  In essence, my GAME plan centers around my ability to implement new technologies to enhance student learning experiences.  Through this, students can not only enhance their content knowledge, but they can play an active role in enhancing their own education in an increasingly technologically-driven world.

As social studies teacher, there are a vast number of resources that are available to use in the classroom.  From Google Earth to various virtual field trip sites, my seventh grade world geography students have experienced quite a bit in the past few years.  However, one are that we have yet to make significant ground in is through online collaborative efforts.  Today, more than ever, technology is readily available for our students to make the world a much smaller place.  They do this outside of the school building all too frequently.  Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites allow for students to reach out and connect with students in a myriad of ways, often without true guidance. 

The idea of my students making world connections is a great one tome.  However, the thought of my students not being properly guided into this properly frightens me.  It is possible that students can read false information, or find biased or harmful information even while researching the most well-intended ideas.  This is why one of the main focuses of my GAME plan is to have my students make responsible world connections.  I plan on accomplishing this by making connections through the site www.ePals.com.  This site is designed to be very classroom friendly, and allows for cultures all over the world to connect with one another.  As the year progresses into our unit on Southwest Asia, it is imperative for my students to have a grasp on the ideas and beliefs that shape this area of the world.  Each and every single year, I show my students multimedia segments to give students a better understanding of what this area of the world is like, and present it through the eyes of teenagers.  Though I have had experiences with many videos to explain the information to the students, the use of video streaming can be an extremely effective way for the students to learn (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).

At the end of the unit, I have always had my students write to a ‘pen pal’, and ask them specific questions about their culture.  The exercise has always gone fairly well, but has always lacked a bit of the authenticity that ePals can provide.  My students have always written their letters and done an excellent job with it.  However, they have lacked the ability to interact with students of their own age, and truly receive answers to their wonderful questions.  ePals provides them that opportunity.  They can ask appropriate questions, and get feedback from their ePals.  During this process, I can monitor what they write, and guide them through this process.  Not only does this provide genuine 21st century skills for my students, but it also allows for differentiation.  I can guide each of my students through this process, and work with the cooperating teacher from the other school to set up pals that are appropriate for the needs of each student.

The initial ideas for implementing my GAME plan are fully in place.  I have the outline designed, initial rubric for the writing assignment completed, and the unit plan almost completed.  What I have not yet done is speak to the library/media specialist and tech leaders about the usage of ePals in my classroom.  Talking to cohorts from previous classes during my Walden experience, they have explained some difficulties that have arisen with this process.  I am not sure if it ties directly into the fair usage policy for the Internet that each district uniquely possesses, or if it is a universal issue.  I plan on sitting down with the library/media specialist this Friday, when my class is doing a lesson with her on citations.  This will be the first step in making sure that my district is on board with the assignment.  Once I have the authority to go through with the project, I need to find a school district in another area of the world that not only fits in with my needs, but that has similar aged students.  This process, I have yet to begin.  However, once I do set this up, each student can use this technology to enhance their learning of these other cultures.  The more experience that my students have with the technology; the more they can include some of their own technological skills.

I truly feel as though my GAME plan has a well-founded beginning.  Implementation will be the difficult part.  I am hoping that as the year goes along, I will gain valuable insight from my colleagues.  Any input they can give me, or any experiences that they might share with me will allow for my students to reach a higher level of success.  I am always willing to listen to any and all help that other professionals will give me.  In this case, it will only help me to reach success with my GAME plan.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010).  Meeting students' needs with technology part 1 [Webcast].  Integrating technology across the content areas.  Baltimore, MD: Author.