What's my GAME Plan?

After reflecting on the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) for my Master’s Class, I felt proficient in many of the standards.  It is my job to keep up on these important standards and make sure they are being implemented in my schools.  With that being said, I chose standards four and five to develop my proficiency in.  Standard four states that I will “promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility” (International Society of Technology in Education, 2009).  The reason I chose this one is that I feel I can always be more proficient in the area of digital citizenship and make sure that I am designing lessons that are teaching and incorporating these skills.  Standard five states that we will “engage in professional growth and leadership” (International Society of Technology in Education, 2009).  We want to teach our students to be life long learners, and it is important for us to do this too.  The digital world is constantly changing and growing, and its regards to education need to be looked at closely to make sure we are preparing our students.  I need to be sure I am knowledgeable in my field so I can help my staff.  This also means being a leader.  This may be the area I need to focus most on.  I don’t really think of myself in a leadership role or as a leader.

Since these are the areas I feel I need to focus on, I have written a GAME plan for these areas.  If you are not familiar with the acronym GAME, let me explain its meaning. GAME stands for setting goals, taking action, monitoring, and evaluating and extending.  Each of these steps helps to guide you in your self-directed learning.  “The GAME plan requires you to think about and take steps to direct your learning process, specifically while learning about technology and how to integrate it into curriculum” (Cennamo et al, 2009, p.3).

1.    Goals – My goal would be to learn more about the curriculum integration of digital citizenship skills as well as exhibiting leadership skills that demonstrate a vision, decision making, community building, and vitality.
2.    Action – I will begin by reading through literature provided by Common Sense Media, the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, and the 21^st Century Fluency Project to help better understand the role of digital citizenship in our curriculum.  Each of these sites provides lessons, projects, and units to help embed these skills into the curriculum.  I can utilize these sites to help create new opportunities for my teachers and students.  I will begin reading through a subscription magazine purchased for me called Educational Leadership.  Lastly, I will use the book list provided my Angela Maiers on he website to begin reading text that applies to school leadership to better understand how I can fill that role.
3.    Monitor – I will use these goals as a talking point during my monthly meetings with our district’s CIO.  I will discuss my takeaways from the readings, project creations, and listen to his feedback.  I will reflect upon what I have read and debrief with teachers after a project, lesson, or unit has been completed.
4.    Evaluate – As I evaluate my knowledge level, I will ask myself some important questions.  Are students showing digital citizenship skills without prompt?  Does data show a growth in students understanding of digital citizenship skills?  Do I feel in more confident in my leadership role?  If lessons do not seem to have helped to grow students digital citizenship skills, then we must revisit the lessons and find out what we can do to make it better.  It’s always important to evaluate your journey to know what is working and what is not.

 Although I feel as if I have a very good handle on my field of expertise, there is always room for growth.  This week’s resources have really helped me to understand what I am doing right, or enlighten me in areas I may have been struggling in.  We need to be life-long learners just as we want our kids too, but we must do it in a manner that elicits to best outcome.  This can be done by creating your GAME plan.
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