Ja’Clynn Cadore’s Blog Journal #3

             The “Collaborator” is one of the ELA technology standards that I am most prepared to teach. Using technology to collaborate will be easy for students and teachers to communicate. It would also be easier for me to get students to collaborate, speaking for the fact that students are always using technology. The “Designer” would be a standard that I would need help with. It would be a challenge to create assignments that require graphic designs and fulfill actual student interaction.

             Technology applications that I would use with high school students would be discussion boards and emailing. Using discussion boards can ensure that all students participate in class discussions. It can also be a way of keeping track of who will receive participation points and who will not. In a way it kind of forces them to participate, without always verbally participating. An email application would also be great to use for high school students. All assignments will be emailed to students whether they are absent or not. Present and absent students will have the same amount of time to complete an assignment, and no one will fall behind (unless they make the choice to not do the assignment). Computerized assignments would provide students practice with working in the corporate world, and assignments would be more legible and easy to read for teachers. Also, it would make it harder for assignments to be lost if it is emailed to the teacher. Emailing through a school protected sight will also allow students to communicate with teachers if they have any questions or concerns about their grades and assignments.

                Any form of teaching tools should be cyber safe and overlooked by the school district. I would inform students on how to behave when using the internet. All students should only be respectful, appropriate, and polite when using email and discussion boards. They should not offer any personal information over software/application(s) and obey copyright laws. Students should always remain on topic, to avoid any unnecessary discussion on software/application(s).  

                For my Newsletter Design assignment, I am doing a flyer informing parents and students about a field trip to Nature’s Classroom. Providing information in a short, simple but formal manner, was a skill that I acquired. Using pictures and colors that would attract the attention of students would be a skill that I need help on for future purposes. I want to make them want to persuade their parents to allow them to go on the field trip.