Over the past several weeks I have been working on the GAME plan that I developed for this course. I do believe that it has helped me a great deal to make a plan and follow through especially when it comes to incorporating technology into my general lessons. I have found that the biggest problem I have is actually sitting down and putting together a plan and then following it through, I have a general idea of what I want to do and then go and do it. Having a plan that has me think out what I need to do before I go and do it works much better than having a general idea and working from there. Lesson plans are one thing for me to follow; they are intentionally left with a lot of wiggle room so that I can adapt the plan based on the atmosphere of my students on any given day. Trying to have technology into certain lessons does not work if I do not have a solid plan because it allows my students too much wiggle room in the computer lab and if they do not have a plan to follow then they will stray away from their task very quickly.




The best thing that I learned from my GAME plan is the website, www.questgarden.com, which allows me to create WebQuest’s for my students in a much more efficient manner than before. There are a lot of different WebQuest sites out there that have ready to use activities on any given subject, but when you create your own WebQuest for you students to complete you know what works best for them. Creating the WebQuest allows you to add in things and take out things that can be customized for the class. Making the plan following through and letting my students express themselves in a manner that they are more comfortable in is something that I can implement right away. I have made a WebQuest for them to complete in the next couple of weeks that will take place of their traditional final exam. I know that they are relieved to be able to complete a digital project instead of the traditional pencil to paper exam.



The abundance of technology that is available for me to use is amazing, but when it isn’t executed properly then it can be counter productive. The GAME plan allows me to focus on how to properly implement this technology with my students so that they can use it in my Spanish class. The first thing that I am going to have them do is to have a digital journal, where they have the option to blog, use a wiki or a voice thread to talk about their normal journal entry on Friday. I think that the switch from writing in a composition notebook to a digital format will excite the students about their journal entries again.

GAME Plan for Students

Thinking about ISTE NETS-T and NETS-S and how we have looked at the GAME plan over these past seven weeks there are a lot of things that I would like to use with my students.  I think that that biggest thing for me to make sure that my students understand is digital citizenship.  This simple phrase can mean so many things but I think that when it is broken down into a few simple meanings.  The first and foremost is giving credit to intellectual property with resources that they have found on the web.  A block or two in any direction from my school leads to a place that sells bootleg movies and music and the students are used to getting things that they want for much less than what the person who created them is entitled to.  The owner of the property does not benefit from the sales of pirated music or movies.  My students are also well versed in working around firewalls and streaming shows and movies that they should not be able to do. It is no different than stealing, but because they are used to it and its on the internet they do not see it as stealing.  I would like to implement a plan to show my students the importance of giving credit to the owners of intellectual property so that when they use images or quotes that they have found on the internet they give credit to the person who they are citing.  The other thing that I think is part of digital citizenship is cyber bullying.  I saw that there is a seminar being offered by Walden that centers around bullying and one of the topics is cyber bullying.  I think its funny how some people like the idea of having some sort of secretiveness of their posts and comments on the blogs or social networking sites but the fact is they still have consequences.  I think it is important for students to understand that even if they do not do things when face to to face with someone, the things that they say int he cyber world have real world consequences.   

My GAME plan has moved along nicely and there are many things that I can use in my instructional practice.  I am constantly in awe of just how much information is available to people with the a few simple strokes on a keyboard.  There are so many ways that I can have my students communicate and collaborate with each other using technology.  Being a life-long learner and the advances of technology there are so many things that I will always have to learn.  There are so many goals that I could set for myself and my teaching, but I can’t think of anything that is truly realistic, like I’m going to find all the different types of tools that I can use for foreign language teaching.  The goal that I think that I will set to try and improve on is to find at least ten reliable resources for teaching Latin.  I have started a Latin program at my current school and the principle basically told me to be sure to stay at least one step ahead of the students and I’ll be fine.  That isn’t what I would call sound advice, but I have found three great sources that help refresh my memory of learning Latin and methods of teaching it to my students.  If I were able to find at least a handful more I think I can become that much more effective in teaching my students.  The best way for me to extend what I have learned so far is to find easier ways to use technologies and site creators more efficiently.  I am still working on my WebQuest for my Spanish students, I am done with the bulk of the information, but I know there has to be an easier way to take that information and publish it to the web.  I can practice, but there should be faster ways to make and publish sites.  The best learning approach that I think anyone can have is to simply have an open mind.  If you go into something with your mind already made up then there is no way for you to genuinely get anything new out of that situation.