Monitoring My GAME Plan

     As we are rapidly approaching the end of the school year, the pressure and constraints of our rigid curriculum has lessened. For this reason, it has been unique timing for the implementation of my GAME.  Some of my peers have stated that beginning a project at would not be conducive to their plan. However, I have found this time of year to be a great starting block for implementing a new GAME plan. 

      As a fourth grade teacher, it is my job to prepare the students for fifth grade. Many of our fifth grade teachers use Glogster to implement technology into the classroom in a fun and collaborative way. This has provided a perfect transition point for me to begin teaching them how to work collaboratively in a web setting, while still being able to practice using blogs as a form of assessment. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) remind us that using open-ended assessment can be difficult at times due to their subjective nature (p. 145). This is why beginning my GAME plan towards the end of the year, when most of the concepts have been taught, is a perfect time. It has allowed me to experiment with creating blogs as a form of assessment without effecting their grade. Seeing as I have not had much practice with this, I have been able to see what elements of my instructions and lesson are weak and which are strong.  

      I have noticed that many students are internally motivated and enjoy the freedom of being able to choose which topic they would like to respond to. The issue that I have encountered, while trying to grade their responses, is the lack of content. Many students only comment on the post they enjoy with a simple response such as, I agree with you, or good idea. The most challenging aspect has been eliciting thought provoking questions or comments, much like how we are expected to respond to each other’s posts.  

     Once I have worked the kinks out of how to communicate to one another via the web, I can implement the second goal of my GAME plan to the next level and go local or global. Taking smaller, successful steps will help the students to perform better when it comes to posting their work on a local or even global level. I have found many different options that run throughout the year, making them feasible and flexible. 

     Exposing my students to a concept in which they will be expected to use in fifth grade, makes me feel successful as a fourth grade teacher. Imagine what I can do for the rising third graders as they will have seen this concept all year. One has to start small and work their way up, or frustration and anxiety creep up quite quickly.

Resources:

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.