Blog Post #3

One of the ELA technology standards that I feel that I could teach with my prior knowledge would be W/WHST.2, "Write to explain/inform". One thing that I strongly believe in is to make the information that you are giving your students as easy and simple as possible, so they will understand it best. Organization is key to this. There will always be a good way to introduce things. It should be in a good order so the students have an easier time understanding the concept. I also like to use graphics and figures to get my point across. It helps me a lot personally when I can actually see what I'm suppose to be doing. One ELA technology standard that I definitely need to learn more about is W/WHST.8, "Use Multiple Sources". I sometimes jump the gun, don't plan enough time to research for extra things, or really not know how to find a lot more of reliable sources. Normally I would say I get lucky when I google something to get the one or two sources that I do and use them pretty much the whole time! I would definitely like to improve my skills in this area.

I plan on using PowerPoint a lot in my classroom. Especially when we learn how to make games from them. I plan on teaching lower elementary grades, and I think if you do it right, PowerPoint can be a great tool and really interactive. I could have the kids do multiple different activities and games through PowerPoint to grab their attention and even make them think its fun! Although I plan on teaching in elementary school, PowerPoint can really be used for any type of age group. I'm in college and still use it in almost all of my classes. PowerPoint is all up to who is designing it so it can fit any type of age group or audience.

I acquired a lot of new skills by working on the Newsletter Design assignment. I learned how to make columns and how to make a picture appear on top of another picture of a text box. That has always been a problem of mine! I liked that we were able to get practice in something that I could really see myself using one day as a teacher. I also liked the opportunity of designing it! Next time I think I would want to improve the amount of time it takes me to do it. If this is a tool I will be using in the future, it needs to be something I can do in a easy manner and simply.