Sarah Stere’ BlogSarah Stere is a STAR member of the Discovery Educator Network

Just learning about the GAME plan process was a new experience for me.  It is a great structured way to use goal setting for both myself and my students.  I had two original goals.  The first was to do a better job of citing resources when creating lessons.  I have gathered resources that will assist me to cite correctly when I create lessons for my students.  My biggest hurdle in accomplishing this goal is to make it an automatic action because it is not something I have had to make sure I have been conscientious of in the past.  The second goal was to add more social collaboration into my classroom.  My class participated in a holiday card exchange within the last month.  They were so excited to get each new card and “meet new friends” from all over the country! 

In revising my goals, I added two new goals to work on.  One is to know what the latest research says and what the latest technologies are.  This would allow me to ensure that I am using the latest technology with my students.  The second goal is to exhibit leadership.  This is a goal I feel I need to take seriously in light of the fact that budget cuts are again predicting that our school’s ITRT could lose her position.  I hope that my colleagues will integrate technology into their classrooms because it will benefit their students.  If I would like to see this accomplished, I need to share what technologies are available and how they can be integrated into our curriculum so teachers are more likely to use them with their students.

Developing the Problem-Based, Online Collaboration and Digital Storytelling lessons helped me to see how each of these types of learning can fit into my classroom and enhance my students’ education.  Brainstorming ways that digital storytelling can fit into different curricular areas was a fun challenge for me.  It makes me realize that this technology tool can be used in every subject area.  I have used digital storytelling mostly in language arts in the past.  I want to try to use it in other subject areas in the future.  I want to be able to look at my curriculum and determine how technology can be integrated in each area through digital storytelling, social networking, VoiceThreads and other technology tools.