I teach Kindergarten in a school that has a low socio-economic status. Approximately 80 percent of the students in my school are on the free or reduced lunch program. Because my students are so young, and because they have typically received extremely limited exposure to most forms of technology at home (the exception being video games), it has been quite difficult for me to integrate technology into my classroom in a substantial manner. I have worked hard recently to introduce them to more technology, and formulating a GAME plan will represent a big step in my attempt at getting this done.
At this point in time, with regards to technology standards, my biggest deficiencies are in Standard 2c and Standard 2b. Customizing and personalizing learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources (2c) is difficult with children in the age group I teach. While their learning styles are in fact quite diverse, their abilities with digital tools and resources are quite limited. As a result of this, I have struggled to come up with ways to adequately cover this standard. Additionally, developing technology enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress is difficult when I have such limited access to technology in my school. To date, my use of technology has primarily been limited to 40 minutes per week in the computer lab. This is the only access to the lab my class is permitted. We do not have much of a budget to work with, so our supplies are scarce. As you might imagine, getting new and expensive technology in individual classrooms in my district rarely happens without the help of a grant. Unfortunately, those are hard to come by in my area due to the high level of need.
My goal with regards to each of these standards is to use more diverse learning activities that incorporate technology. When we do get lab time, we mainly visit interactive websites. The children enjoy this, but I feel like I need to include other forms of technology. My action plan would be to begin using a document camera to increase the level of interactivity in my classroom. I also intend to begin introducing the students to different mediums such as podcasts and wikis, etc. At first glance, this seems a bit above their learning levels. However, I have discovered that with the right guidance these kids are capable of understanding the basics of these mediums.
I will monitor their progress in these areas by personally overseeing the instruction and interactive time granted to them. I have an full-time assistant in my room to help me with projects such as this. Because I can dedicate a portion of our learning time each week to these subjects, I will be able to immerse myself in overseeing the work of the kids when we work on these programs. By placing them in small groups, that allows me and my assistant to move from group to group to monitor their work.
As for evaluation, I will be able to know whether these methods are working by simply observing the students as they work in groups and by reflecting afterwards on what worked and what did not. I will have real-time knowledge of what areas they struggle with, which will help me determine what should be changed in the plan the next time we work on these types of assignments.
Reference:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx
