Blog Post #3

I definitely feel most prepared to teach the multimedia standards that include charts, graphs, video/audio, and interactive elements, as well as the use of digital media, which includes using those previous aspects to enhance the classroom learning environment. I believe I am comfortable enough, and have enough knowledge about technology to efficiently integrate these standards in my classroom and give my students information in way that is efficient as well as informative. Some standards I don't feel as confident about are the informational text standard, which includes analyzing how sentences and paragraphs relate to the entirety of the text they reside in, as well as the multiple source standard that includes being able to gather multiple relevant sources and assess their credibility. I tend to have a hard time seeing the big picture of things when reading large portions of text, and always get caught up on the small details that don't matter much in forming an overall understanding of the passage. I also have a hard time searching for multiple credible sources that really work towards supporting information I am presenting, since I've grown up with the thought that all the information I need is in the first page of a google search. These two standards are immensely important in a classroom, especially when getting into higher grades. I believe throughout my college attendance so far, I've grown in my capabilities when dealing with these standards, but I do have a lot of work and practice to go in order to efficiently practice them in my classroom and teach my students these skills that they'll need in their schooling, as well as outside of it.

One of the pieces of technology I would like to include in my classroom is a discussion board or blog, in order to promote discussion and response outside of the classroom. Being able to read a piece of text, gather information, and respond to that information is a great way to solidify understanding of material in students, as well as promote the formation of ideas and thoughts about a piece of writing. Students can then go read their peers' posts and see different points of view about the same text they all read, and comment to give feedback and expand upon ideas that other students may have brought up. Another piece of technology I would like to include in my classroom is Academic Portals, or educational social media sites that enable students to log in and have all of the classroom materials at their fingertips. In high school, many of my teachers used a site/app called schoology. This social media site allowed my teachers to create discussion boards, post lectures and assignments, conduct quizzes and tests, and link outside resources like videos or articles that they believed would be helpful to us students. A lot like Blackboard! I believe these technologies are hugely helpful in any classroom, especially in situations where a student is out sick or has a hard time keeping track of assignments. They can just log on, see what they missed/need to do, and has all of the materials they need at their leisure.

I believe it is important to teach every student to participate in the appropriate use of technology and positively contribute to wide array of information that the internet holds. In order to do this, we as teachers must teach them certain skills, like how to identify inappropriate behaviors of others on the internet and report them, recognize intellectual property and respect the rules for its use, and search for information by forming appropriate questions, applying critical thinking skills, and collaborating with others. There are multiple other concepts that should also be addressed in the classroom, but I believe these three concepts are of the most importance in creating technologically responsible students. They teach students how to handle controversial situations and possibly cyberbullying, be able to appropriately use information they find on the internet, and use that information to expand upon their own ideas.

After completing my newsletter, I'm pretty proud of it! I really like the minimalistic layout and simple color scheme I decided to go with. I do think I could have been a bit more creative, but I felt a bit constricted with the requirements we were supposed to fulfill. While I was creating it, I discovered how to add a page border, modify the footer to create the permission slip, and efficiently use the two-column layout. I was having a hard time with that in class. Now knowing how to do these things in word, in the future I will be able to use them every time I need to make a document for the class, other teachers, and parents as well.