Reflection

As the eighth (wow!) course at Walden comes to a close, I reflect upon how my immediate instruction has changed to incorporate more technology into my methods and the development and changes in my GAME plan over the last seven weeks.  

For my first goal in the GAME plan, I wanted to incorporate more technology based assessments in the art room.  I learned that the tools I have access to definitely drive the success of improving upon this indicator.  The remote responders are only efficient in an anonymous formative assessment.  The set up for anything else is not worth the time.  The Google Docs I have been having my older students use are working quite nicely if there is a computer available to work on.  The standardized testing has all the computers at my school unavailable so we have switch back to pencil and paper reflections. 

For my second goal, I am to engage in professional leadership and leadership.  I still have plans to take The Art of Ed classes describe in this post in the summer when I have more time.  I think I am down to thirty-four days left teaching until summer.  Is it still too early to start the count down? 

The problem-solving, social networking, and digital story telling lesson plans I wrote and taught (we’re almost done with them) have truly made me more conscience of the use of technology while teaching my content.  I now tend to introduce more of my art project lessons in the form of a problem they must solve by creating a piece of art.  I have also become more active in adding technology to the art room.  I have set up a fundraiser using students’ art using Artsonia.com.  So far I am up to fifteen dollars. Woot!  It is a start. My students are still grossly engaged in their digital stop motion story telling.  I can see this project being taught for many years.  By integrating these lessons with technology in to more of my content area lessons, I am better preparing my students with the 21^st century skills they will need to succeed in the future workplace.  

Road Blocks in my GAME plan

One of the two International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) indicators I chose to improve, the designing and developing digital age learning experiences with assessments, has left me with a few road blocks in logistics.  My initial plan was to use responders for forced-choice formative assessments but the lead to be way too time consuming and hard to track down (the school shares one set).  I have been searching for other “quick” methods for capturing the students’ understanding during a unit.  My students have access to three computers in the art room.  With my smallest class that is still a ratio of twenty students to three laptops.  Students are not allowed to use personal devices during school hours.  I’m looking for suggestions.  For summative assessments I have set up a few Google Doc self-reflection forms for my students to try out.  My time is so limited with my students. I am also looking for ways for students to complete honest assessments outside of art hours.

My second goal, to engage in professional growth is at a standstill, until this summer when there are a few more free hours a day to peruse my Artof Ed classes described in the previous posts (here and here).  Who’s excited? Is it too early to start the count down?

Game Plan: In Progress

Here’s a bit of an update as I move forward in my GAME plan established last week.   I chose two International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) indicators in which I wanted to improve. 

My first goal is incorporating technology with my assessment.  I am unhappy with the clicker response system that my district has available for assessment.  It is far from user friendly to set up. I have to import each student’s names and district ID number from an Excel sheet I created for the system.  With close to 500 students, that is a lot of work! I need to research other types of response systems besides Smart Response.  For now I will seek out help from my district technology department to work with what I have.  So far I have asked fellow art teachers in my district with an email inquiring any other technology they have used for assessment.

My second ISTE goal is to engage in professional growth and leadership.  In order to keep my sanity, I have decided to not register for and of The Art of Ed classes I mentioned in the previous post until summer.  I would go crazy if I had to balance home life, my Walden classes, my art classroom, AND another online class.  However, I plan on checking on dates that will work for me.  I also want to find some reviews of the iPads in the Art Room and the Tech-Ready Teacher course to be sure they are classes that would benefit me. 

Cohorts, have you or do you have plans to use technology for assessment in your classroom?  Do you have any programs you can recommend?  

My Personal GAME Plan

 

In order to show my students the importance of life-long learning, I must model for them.  So here I am again, life-long learning and blogging for my Master’s at Walden University.  

After reviewing the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) I feel more than adequate in the majority of the indicators listed in their standards (2008).  However, a couple are in need of improvement.  

Using Dr. Cennamo’s (2009) GAME plan strategy, here is my first goal: Under ISTE second standard. Design and develop digital age learning experiences with assessments.  Indicator D; providing students with multiple assessments, both summative and formative is something I would like to incorporate more into my classroom.  As for the action portion of my plan, I have a formative and summative idea.  For the formative assessments, I will use a response remote system in which students can submit anonymous (or not if I choose) answers to questions linked to the interactive whiteboard.  This will steer my teaching through the rest of lessons.  I also plan on using Google Docs, as a formative assessment where students would fill out a form for their self-reflection after completing a work of art.  Throughout the execution, I will monitor the action to judge whether or not students will submit summative answer anonymously or not depending on the diversity of the class.  Flexibility will also play a role in monitoring and adjusting the scaffolding my students will need when first navigating the self-reflections.  The last step in the plan is evaluating my results.  I will compare the effectiveness of my lessons with traditional formative assessment I have used in the past to the response remotes method.  I will also compare students’ hand-written self-reflections to ones in Google Docs and my time to assess them.

Bring on goal number two! ISTE’s fifth standard is where I see the most personal growth more me.  An indicator to engage in professional growth and leadership is to participate in a global learning community to build professional development.  While continuing my masters may seem to fulfill this indicator, I starting looking for an action I wanted something a little more art specific.  I came across a variety of online courses from one my favorite blogs, The Art of Ed.  In particular I am interesting in their iPads in the Art room, since I recently was approved for one (woot!) and the Tech-Ready Teacher.  I plan on taking one of these courses in the summer.  Throughout the course I could plan lessons based on what I have learned and monitor their effectiveness.  After an evaluation of the process, I could chose to take another course and share what I have learned or seek more professional development elsewhere. 

I’m curious to hear your suggestions, especially when dealing with assessments and technology.

Cheers, 

Miss R

References 

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.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers