Blog Journal #6

 CPALMS:

    CPALMS is Florida's official online resource for education standards and high quality teaching resources for K-12 educators, students, and their families.  These resources are often interactive, accessible and engaging. The best part: they are developed right here at Florida State University's Learning Systems Institute!  As a future educator, it is motivating to know fellow 'Noles are involved in the creation of curriculum and standards for the state.  One of the standards that featured educational technology and called my attention was ELA.12.C.5: Design and evaluate digital presentations for effectiveness; Create, publish and share multimedia texts through a variety of digital formats.  These are the standards for 12th grade English Language Arts, which task the students with both creating and evaluating their original work for accuracy and effectiveness, important for them to develop the skills to excel in post-secondary education.  Some of these presentations and digital texts could be created on PowerPoint, or Word, and are based on the content taught in class.  For example, students in an English class could use Word to write an essay on a piece of literature they are reading.  I personally feel prepared to implement this standard in my future classroom, as this course has prepared me very well in several of the platforms students would use for an activity like this. 

Resources and Tools in CPALMS:

    I selected a ninth grade ELA lesson from CPALMS to look into the tools and resources available to teachers.  This resource could be used in my teaching to consolidate knowledge that has already been learned, as it integrates different elements across subjects, and uses engaging activities that allow students to practice what they have already learned in class.  Students are tasked to read, write, and use mathematical thinking to solve a budget problem, which is a great way to apply knowledge across disciplines.  Additionally, this lesson will tailor to the different preferences students have: some prefer math, some prefer reading. 

Internet Searching:

    As a teacher, it is important to be a proficient internet searcher to access the highest quality information for both ourselves and our students.  The internet is a resource we will be using multiple times a day to gather information to instruct our students, to inform our practice, or to expand our PLN's. Moreover, we need to teach those skills to our students so that they can also access the internet wisely and productively.  Moving forward, some of the internet skills I will be using the most are accessing and utilizing media with Copyright laws in mind and using Advanced Search to narrow down what I am looking for to specifics.  In addition to what we have learned in class, I will be using Google Scholar to inform my practice and continuously improve my instructional methods and classroom management.  There is an extensive amount of research papers anyone can access, and as a teacher, continuing education is paramount to our success in the classroom.