Thinking about their own thinking is not always a
natural process for all learners. In
fact, this process can actually be quite messy and daunting when preformed
without a helpful and useful framework.
Many learners will constantly reflect on their given situation; however,
the GAME plan described by Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) can help each
individual learn to identify certain parameters that can guide this process and
create a more successful learning situation tailored to meet the needs of each
student.
In fact, this plan has helped me to not only
identify my own educational needs, but also the areas in which these needs can
help me to grow and flourish as a professional.
I was able to specifically tailor my own learning so that it addressed
my current teaching style and overall context.
I focused on two primary areas that I deemed to be in need of a change
or perhaps just in need of further professional ideas to be added to my bank of
knowledge. Student reflection via means
of collaboration and creativity was my first area of focus, followed by the
encouragement of others as well as myself to grow in the area of technology
integration.
From my specific GAME plan I learned that student
reflection in Kindergarten is not only possible and can be successful, but it
is also an essential step in the learning process of these young learners. In other words, these students are already
constantly reflecting and revising their vision and conceptual understanding of
the world around them. By providing my
students with an outlet for these reflections I was pleasantly surprised by the
beneficial outcomes which were to follow.
I found that group collaboration and reflection seems to work best with
the age group as they need consistent modeling and demonstrations. Furthermore, follow-up sessions which allowed
them to orally communicate their thoughts also worked well for learners who had
not yet made the transition from a non-writer to an actual writer. These sessions also seemed to spark new
creative ideas which were developed as a result of group efforts. Finally, I learned that reflection can be
especially successful when paired with collaboration. Yes, two heads are better than one and when
you place 22 heads together the results are compelling!
Within the area of professional growth I learned
that I am actually more confident in my abilities than I had previously
thought. The more I use technology in my
own classroom the easier and more successful it becomes. While I am by no means a pro I have found
that with time and stories of success, others are more willing to jump on
board. Yes, change is hard on the mind
at times, but change can also be beneficial and at times make things more
effective and efficient. In other words,
by doing the beginning work and working out the majority of the kinks, I have
found my colleagues to be more likely to show interest and even take on the
initiative to seek out their own change.
This is shocking for me, as I have always struggled to convince others
who are set in their ways. While it is
still a struggle, I can now see at least some specks of light starting to pop
through the darkness of the technology integration tunnel which has loomed within
the classrooms of many educators who are scared of the change.
This GAME plan has been fairly successful. I am confident that I will continue to use
this plan in the future as it has been a great way for me to organize my
thoughts. On that same note, I am hopeful
that in the future I will do a better job of actually writing these thoughts
down. This is a primary step within the
monitoring phase that was somewhat cumbersome for me. I am not going to use the excuse that I did
not have enough time to write my thoughts down throughout the process on a
consistent basis; I just believe I had a hard time remembering to take the time
to perform this self-reflecting task.
However, since I learned that this task is an essential step in the
learning process for my students, then it must also be an essential step in my
learning process; not only as a self-educator, but as a successful role model
for the learners within my classroom.
Therefore, I plan on using times for reflection more often, not only for
myself, but also for my students as they follow the GAME plan process.
Finally, in regards to technology I plan on adding
the technology in which I was exposed to within this course to my bank of
instructional tools. Problem-based
learning is not only something that I do as an educator in order to increase my
professional knowledge, but also something that I do in my everyday life. Therefore, this is an essential form of
learning that I will continue to practice within my own classroom; it is
authentic and immediately relevant to the learners as they will be able to take
these skills with them to be used throughout their own lives. Furthermore, social networking, online
collaboration, and digital storytelling are all tools that can be used outside
of the educational setting. However,
their ability to impact learning within the educational setting is even more
astonishing as I have learned by developing their use within my own
classroom. I am eager to continue their
use and observe the success that will naturally transpire!
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.
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