Blog Post #4

 The ELA technology standards are responsible for making sure students know how to implement basic computer skills into what they are learning academic wise. It is not benefical if students understand how to use a computer, but aren't familar with how to use it for academic purposes like writing an essay or looking up words in a thesaurus. Within the standards for 6th grade, there is a standard that states students should be familar with publishing original work and then having other students be able to collaborate with the work and share it. I would feel extremely comfortable in my skills set to be able to help students complete this task successfully. Writing blogs like I am doing right now, sharing essays through google drive, and using Microsoft software are all things I practically grew up learning how to do. 

A tool I found helpful when looking in the educator "toolkit" was using a plot diagram in order to properly explain the concept of what a plot is to 6th graders. I feel like visually seeing how a plot works is extremely helpful. From the time students are young children, they have seen so many plots play out in books, TV shows, and movies. Plot is an idea they take for granted because it is always present. So when students learn there is actually a reason for specific plot lines and that there is a "formula" to it, I feel like it is very important to have visual aids. 

It is important to be a good internet searcher as a teacher for many reasons. I feel as though there is a type of stigma that teachers are expected to know everything, but in reality that is an unrealistic expectation. In order to answer questions a teacher may not have the answer to, teachers need to be able to find reliable information quickly in order to provide students with an accurate answer. I think the skill I will use the most moving forward is restricting the results of images that could be flagged for copyright. I had no idea that was a function on any search engine, and that is a feature I will definitely utilize as a future educator. A feature that was not introduced but could have been introduced is Google Scholar. Google Scholar is an easy and fast way to find reliable research articles if someone does have have access to a datebase through an educational institution.