Blog Journal 3

Blog Journal 3

By Jamie Rudden 

The Florida Department of Education has created ELA standards for teachers to identify the relationship between incorporating technology into classroom instruction. ELA stands for Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. After exploring the many different standards for each grade level, I feel most prepared to teach Elementary level standards. These include the ability to create a Powerpoint and Prezi, use digital resources to find word meanings, and present information in the form of a video or audio recording. I believe I would need more practice in order to perform some of the higher level standards, such as utilizing a smart board for classroom instruction. I also feel I need more practice in understanding how to gather and publish documents using online search engines such as "ERIC". I hope to explore and learn more about incorporating technology in the classroom throughout this Education Technology course!

CPALMS is an online resource established to help Florida educators create and share awesome lesson plans and tools for instruction. I chose to explore a second grade lesson plan called "Moving and Growing" that teaches students about the parts of a skeleton. The lesson plan includes an interactive game, that shows a picture of a human skeleton and asks the students to drag the labels to their correct bone. Once the student has completed the human skeleton, they go on to continue labeling the correct body parts of all different types of animals! I would definitely utilize this game in my classroom for a Science lesson plan because I think it is a great way for the students to learn about the human body while also having fun! It is a perfect example of how incorporating technology in the classroom can be very beneficial in enhancing student learning. 

Last week, we were asked to create a Newsletter using only Microsoft Word. I really enjoyed this assignment because it gave me the ability to be creative in the layout and design of the Newsletter. I was able to use Word to build numbered lists, insert columns for the articles, and paste photographs to add color to the Newsletter. One thing that I've always found difficult when using Word, is getting the correct spacing of letters and pictures so that they fit correctly on the page in an aesthetically pleasing manner. This assignment helped me practice that skill as well as many others that will prove useful in my future career as an educator. I would definitely use a Newsletter such as the one I created if I become a teacher because I think it is a great way to display information and communicate with parents.