Journal #4

     The grade level I chose to describe is 9-12. The 3rd standard is titled "Digital Tools" and it includes 2 specific benchmarks that should be surpassed at the end of 12th grade. The first benchmark basically says students should have the ability to describe different digital tools and how they are useful and effective for different tasks. The second benchmark basically says that students should be able to evaluate the usefulness of different file types and software programs for the specific purpose they are looking for, e.g. what program should be used for a spreadsheet? Or what file type should be used for a screenshot of their computer screen?

    I chose the grade level 9-12 to search resources for in the CPALMS educator toolkit, I then chose the subject science and searched for psychology-related lesson plans. This subject had 14 different lesson plans available that related to psychology in some way, there were some neuroscience-related lessons, a Pavlov-related lesson, a hormone-related lesson, and 2 causation vs. correlation lessons. I could use this resource to help develop a lesson plan that corresponds with the specific standards in place, meaning I will not risk the chance of teaching something I am not supposed to. This would also help me when I am tight on time and can't make my own lesson plan in enough time. I think the CPALMS educator toolkit is a very important resource for teachers to have, and I would definitely use this as a teacher in the future.

    Internet searching is important as a teacher because no one knows everything, and there will often be times when you have to find an answer to a question a student asked, or you need to search for a lesson plan. The possibilities are endless, and if a teacher does not have strong internet searching skills they may find themselves searching for hours just to find one answer. I think the advanced google search skill is the most useful skill we have learned this week, being able to omit specific words or select specific file types is tremendously helpful. This can help narrow down the search from thousands of results to hundreds or even lower, which makes finding an answer or source very simple. Advanced google search is also very useful in the way that you can put specific dates, I know for psychology, most of the time you want to find relatively new sources, usually no older than 10 years. So, having the option to put a timeframe is very important to have.