One of my GAME Plan goals is to increase my effectiveness in engaging my students in exploring real-world issues and authentic problem solving using technology. We are in the middle of a quarter-long project about the United States Census and its affect on the House of Representatives. The kids are currently working on comparing the population and number of House members for each state from the last two Census years (1990 and 2000).
Yesterday, the kids were to finish pulling population and House data from websites I bookmarked on our class Diigo page and enter it into an Excel spreadsheet I set up for them. The next step will be to teach them to create and copy a formula that will calculate the change in each set for each state. The kids were much more engaged and willing to do the work when they realized they were not going to have to complete those calculations by hand. They are very interested in getting to the next step and learning about what Excel can do for them; so much so, my room has never been as quiet then while were working yesterday!
Additionally, the students did not “hand in” a spreadsheet, rather, they e-mailed it to me as an attachment – something many of them have never done before and thought was “really cool.”
I’m not sure this is a goal I will ever be able to say that “I’ve reached,” as there will never come a time that I will be satisfied with my ability to engage my students; I will always strive to be better and do more. I think in order to properly use the GAME Plan format, I need to set goals that are truly attainable and their success can be measured. I think the fact that I used a “never-ending goal” for this assignment is the reason I have felt so stressed over the past few weeks – definitely a lesson in goal setting I can apply in my classroom!
My new learning goal will be based on NETS•T 1c: Teachers promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes. My plan is to learn to use and effectively employ the use of Google Docs in my classroom – specifically, Google Presentations. Again, my plan is to first “jump in” and “play” in order to figure out exactly how it works then determine how to use it with my kids. (Some folks get really stressed out by my “jump and play” method, but it works for me!)
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Deana,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of havning the students send you their spreadsheets as an e-mail attachment.
Your students are very lucky to have such a dedicated, computer-saavy teacher! :)
Sherry
Deana,
ReplyDeleteThat's a great project. I just heard something on the news this morning about the census and how states have lost funding due to their reports. Did you hear about that?
I also like how you are incorporating real world issues into your classes. I try to do that as well. I have seen that when we relate what is happening in the world to what is being done in class, students grasp the concept better and actually retain the information.
Good job!
-Farena
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteThanks! The e-mail was pretty tricky! I had NO idea so many didn't know how to do it! It has made grading MUCH easier, as well! Trust me when I say I'll be using this method of "turn-in" much more often! :)
Deana
Farena,
ReplyDeleteI heard about it, but I didn't see it on the news. Believe it or not, a few of MY KIDS told me about it! Now, tell me, as a teacher, how can it possibly get better than that?! :)
Deana
Deana,
ReplyDeleteI like how you have incorporated a lesson that allowed them to turn it in to you online. In your case it was just an email attachment, but I that is really cool that you have been able to introduce that technological tool to your students. In addition being able to implement something that has real life implications. Great Work.
Bryan
Deana,
ReplyDeleteI agree!! :)