My actions, thus far, have been fairly effective. I say fairly because I did not anticipate my students having any difficulty adjusting to my GAME plan, but am now seeing some. They are not accustomed to this type of self-directed learning and getting them to understand their roles is proving difficult. They are slowly coming around though. By providing them with authentic learning environments and collaborative group work experiences, I am seeing my students become more motivated and engaged in their learning. I am still doing a lot of scaffolding and students are hesitant to take control of their own learning, but I am confident that will dissipate with a little more time.
The theory of Problem-Based Learning is a valuable instructional tool that I have learned about this week and I am looking forward to applying it to my classroom. PBL is an effective way to enable my students to be more confident self-directed learners and, hopefully, less hesitant to take control of their own learning. I have also learned the benefits of integrating technology into the classroom. Technology can make using PBL in the classroom much easier. Technology can be a great motivator and can keep students engaged. There are many digital tools available to enhance student learning in my classroom.
I still have much to learn, however. I have not yet tried implementing PBL in my classroom and have some concerns and challenges that I will face. Making sure that I am presenting my students with quality problems that are neither too broad nor too narrow is a problem that I will face. I will learn how to do this through experience, I am sure. I will also have to learn more about the variety of technology that is available. I am becoming very familiar with blogs, which I believe is a great instructional tool. I am also learning more about wikis and podcasting. I would like to learn as much as I can about the different technologies and how they can be beneficial in my classroom.
To adjust my GAME plan to meet my current needs, I think I will just need to be more specific. I need to specify what types of assessments I want to use to monitor student learning. I also want to incorporate using a rubric for evaluation of student learning. I think the GAME plan is working pretty well so far and I don't think it needs any adjustment, just a little more specifications.
