EDUC 6713 week four

The first objective of my GAME plan was to help students become more reflective thinkers. I began by creating a blog that would allow them a place to reflect on their learning and knowledge, and they would be able to comment on one another's posts. As I continue to develop my GAME plan, I know that students will need guidance on how to do this. Therefore, I have begun to compile a list of resources to help students with their reflections. I have begun gathering as many different types of reflective tools as I can, and have started thinking about when they should be used with students. For example, I can post open-ended questions on the blog, such as what did you learn? How do you know? What obstacles did you run into? What helped in your learning? I can also provide students with rubrics and have them grade their own projects and assessments to see how they feel about the knowledge they've gained. However, I am worried about using the same types of reflection tools repeatedly and losing the value of them as students become accustomed to them. Therefore, I will continue to search for helpful tools and try to continue to come up with innovative ways for students to assess their learning and reflect on it.

My second goal dealt with becoming more involved in my profession, such as keeping up with news about education, particularly in technology. I also wanted to gain more interaction with peers. I have subscribed to several rss feeds to gain information and also to several blogs and online journals. Another step I have taken is to talk with my superintendent in regard to PLCs. Our district does not mandate learning communities, but he is in favor of the concept. Therefore, he has agreed to let me pilot an online community based on gaining knowledge and sharing. He has purchased a set of books for the staff to read. This is voluntary right now, but I hope it will grow. The superintendent has allowed me to set up a blog for staff where we can discuss the book we are reading and how it applies within our classrooms. He has requested that I update it weekly, noting important information from the book we are reading and helping to head up the discussion. I think this is a great opportunity for my district to share ideas and begin communicating on a higher level. I hope it will lead to further PLCs. I will continue to look for new books we can share in this format, and hope that anyone who has suggestions in this area will share them.

Within the next few weeks, I hope to add to my portfolio of reflective resources and see more participation within my district in the new PLC blog.

Ginger