Achieving My GAME Plan

The primary goal of my GAME Plan is to foster a classroom environment that is conducive to self-directed learning. Self-directed learners are confident, motivated, persistent, and open-minded. They are driven by an inward purpose to learn and grow (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). The GAME Plan learning model promotes the planning, monitoring, and evaluation of your own educational actions. It helps students and teachers evaluate their own learning (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I hope to achieve my goal of creating self-directed learners through implementing lessons that support the creative thinking process and utilize current technologies to engage learners. To facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, and to promote and model digital citizenship and responsibilities, I plan to implement the use of several online learning tools that I will first explore on my own before transferring the knowledge to my students.

To facilitate and inspire student learning, I plan to implement authentic learning activities that address the curriculum using technology and multiple forms of critical thinking (ISTE, 2008). To accomplish this goal, my first step will be to read through my district’s new 7th grade language arts curriculum bundles to locate places where student learning can be supported through technology. I will also review my lesson plans from the previous years, to uncover lessons that can be enhanced or differentiated through technology use. I also plan to keep an on-going list of new technologies I want to explore. First, I want to learn how to create a wiki. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) state that “a wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages quickly (p58). Throughout the next two weeks, I plan to create my own wiki to use as example in my classroom. I will also continue my education on incorporating technology through viewing my colleagues and former professors’ blogs, watch YouTube videos that explain how to use new technologies, and conduct online searches for technologies I can employ in my classroom. I also plan to attend at least three professional conferences or trainings throughout the next school year to learn more about using assistive technologies for students will special needs, English Language Learners (ELLs), and my Gifted and Talented students (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). As educators, it is our responsibility to stay current on the continually evolving technologies of the digital age.

To promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility I plan to implement the QUEST model for Internet inquiry (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007; ISTE, 2008). QUEST stands for questioning, understanding resources, evaluating, synthesizing, and transforming. I will use the text, Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet Inquiry and its companion website (http://readingtheweb.net/) to help guide my lessons on teaching how to evaluate online resources, document resources, respect intellectual property, and communicate appropriately. For this goal in particular, I will need access to my school’s computer labs or lap top cart.

Additionally, I plan to survey my students at start of the school year to evaluate their knowledge base on technology and Internet usage; just because our students spend a vast amount of time online, does not mean they are educated on its appropriate uses (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007). I also plan to assess how many students have access to any personal digital technologies that can be used in the classroom or at home. I only have five classroom lab tops, so any other technologies that can be brought into the classroom will be highly useful.

Whitney Barber


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.

Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: strategies for internet inquiry. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Meeting students’ needs with technology, part 2. [Webcast]. Technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Ross.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Promoting self-directed learning with technology [Webcast]. Technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Cennamo.