The Game Plan

A good coach is going to have a game plan for his athletes. A great coach is going to also have one for himself as he not only works to lead his players to victory, but strives to continually improve his own skills. The same principle applies to teachers; we spend time each week on lesson plans with the goal of having our students master predetermined standards and benchmarks. This can be the aim of a good teacher, but a great teacher is also going to have a game plan for his/her own growth and development. As nice as it sometimes sounds, obtaining a license does not mean the end of professional growth. Likewise, professional growth should not be purely for the sake of professional advancement. Increasing skills, abilities, and knowledge should be a lifelong learning process for every teacher in every classroom.

With technology and its implementation becoming so fundamental and foundational in every aspect of today’s society, our students must be exposed to its characteristics and possibilities whenever possible. To implement this, however, the teacher must also become a master of these skills and abilities. Since there is no need to wait until mastery is achieved to incorporate technology into the classroom, teachers can develop a game plan that enables them to learn, practice, and grow right alongside their students.

Looking over the National Educational Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) that the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) unveiled in 2008, I find a couple that seem doable enough, but I must admit there are a few that I am having trouble implementing in my classroom. For instance, I think the first one, to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, can be met fairly easily. One of the surest ways would be to get online and research and read about ideas from other teachers. To meet some of the others, however, I need to create my own game plan as a way to set goals, determine the actions I will take, monitor my progress, and then evaluate and expand my learning.

Goals: I want to become more efficient at designing and developing digital-age learning experiences and assessments, specifically ones that are technology-enriched while allowing students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals. Another goal of mine is to model digital-age work and learning by demonstrating fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.

Actions: Implementing the first goal will be more difficult for me as I tend to want to control what the students are doing. My district also requires close adherence to the curriculum and teaching the text with fidelity. I will, however, begin to look for opportunities where I can meet the objective while allowing students as much choice and cutomization as possible. An example will be when we begin our unit on persuasive writing and techniques. I will give the students freedom in choosing their topics and the form of presentation for assessment in persuasion. By giving them leeway in their subject and staging, I believe I can expect more passionate and persuasive appeals. To help meet the second goal of modeling my own knowledge and skills, I will continue with my education through Walden University, while taking advantage of any workshops offered by my district. I will also attempt to practice some of the collaborative skills with other teachers who are experienced or who desire to learn the same things.

Monitor: In an attempt to monitor my progress, I will keep this blog current with the actions I am taking and their successes or failures in my learning experiences. I will have to hold myself more accountable now that I am posting this online, knowing that my classmates will be reading and following my progress.

Evaluation and Extension: The easiest way to evaluate my progress with the first goal will be by reflecting on the lessons of the unit and determining whether I was generous enough with the students in allowing them to choose their own passions for persuasion. Also, I can look at their successes with the lessons and see if there was a significant improvement in their participation and engagement. For the second goal, I will be able to look at my own progress and note the level of comfort I achieved. If I can successfully model fluent usage of technology systems, I will know I was successful in my game plan. At these points, I will know if I need to extend my plan, modify my actions, and monitor my growth more carefully as a means to greater growth as an educator and self-directed life-long learner.

Designing a game plan such as this will be the foundation for my growth as an educator. It will also give me direction in meeting the NETS-T set forth by the ISTE. If I expect my students to become self-directed life-long learners, I must ensure that I am first one who can be a role-model for them.