Blog Journal 4

While looking at the ELA Standards and Technology Matrix for Grade 3, I found that there are a few technologies that I already know and could implement in a classroom setting. For example, I could maximize the interaction level of my class by using digital activities using a digital board (the list mentions a digital board in many classrooms today called the Promethean board) to supplement textbook-based reading. I have had basic experience working with a Promethean board to project resources onto a screen to facilitate visual learning. I have seen that Promethean boards are essential in today's classrooms to integrate technology in the classroom, so I am confident that I will have many opportunities to improve my knowledge of digital boards and to troubleshoot issues that may arise during instruction.

This is a Promethean Board, for those who may not know.

"SIGMS Playground" by Andrea Christman is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Continuing with my example of teaching third grade, I looked through the Grade 3 Toolkit from CPALMS to get an idea of the types of strategies for teaching third graders and the objectives they should aim to meet. I think that a great way to enhance the regular curriculum would be to give activities to my students that focus on applying the concepts learned in class to real-life settings. For instance, I saw one lesson plan that involved students conducting a mock election to learn how to apply civics to math. This type of activity would allow students to learn grade-appropriate skills such as tallying up votes and using charts to group data. They can also learn how to use critical-thinking while working with two different types of subjects.

Teachers should be able to search the Internet so they can find specific and relevant resources to use in their lessons. I found it fascinating to see some search tips that I wasn't previously aware of. I think I would likely use the "file types" options on Google Advanced Search the most in my teaching career. I like finding informational pdf files because I can easily save them to my computer, and with Google Advanced Search I would be able to filter the types of words I want included in the pdf file to ensure it's accurate to what I intended to search for.