Blog Journal #4

    I have chosen an ELA technology standard of the 2nd grade level that is listed as LAFS.2.L.3.4. This standard describes the different strategies that can be used to figure out the meanings of unknown words or phrases within a text. These strategies include using sentence- level context clues, using previous knowledge of root words, and using glossaries that are either print or digital. I do feel prepared to implement this standard because this too is how I was taught to read and expand my vocabulary. To this day when I come across a word that I do not know the meaning of, I first try to use context clues to determine it. If that doesn't suffice, I rely typically on digital dictionaries. Because of my practice with them, I feel that I could teach these ways to my students.

    The tool that I would use in my classroom is the 2nd grade English Language Arts original student tutorials. The "Piecing Together Details" tutorial in particular has students answer who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about a story in order to gain understanding of the context. I would utilize this tool because being able to answer these questions about a text is the key to grasping its elements. They are the base details that compose a story by making up the setting, plot, and introducing main characters. It is vital for students to be able to recognize each. 

    It is important to be a proficient Internet searcher as a teacher for many different reasons. For one, it is likely that your students will ask questions for which you might not have a sure answer. Knowing what to search on the Internet would allow you to quickly get a sufficient answer. Also, when creating lesson plans it is often helpful to pull information and tools from different outside sources in order to enhance the lesson. Being able to successfully search on the Internet would make this an efficient process leading you to useful information. After watching the "Top 10 Google Search Tips & Tricks 2020" video, I found that the most useful tip was how to exclude a word from search results. Because many words have multiple meanings, knowing how to exclude unwanted search results would allow for much more targeted information to be shown. I did not know how to do this prior to watching the video, and I know that I will now use this skill in the future.