Blog Post #7

     On the class website I found, I can see a lot of information about the class and what they are actively learning. I can see a list of their projects for this year, and a list of the field trips planned, with a little blurb about how each thing is educational and beneficial to their learning. I can learn about the teacher, the school, and some of the rules both for the school and for the classroom. There are links to the technological resources that the students can use outside of the classroom to further their education, and that are used in the classroom as well. There is a Weekly Newsletter posted on the website that talks about the curriculum their currently on, announcements for the week, upcoming school events, and classroom needs. There is also a link for PTO updates for any parents who want to get involved, but the link is not available to the public. 

https://sites.google.com/northstarcharter.org/rodeghieros4thgrade/home?authuser=0 

    I think I definitely will be using technology heavily in the classroom and in my career, because it is so ridiculously integrated into almost everyone's daily life that it seems unavoidable. I think the biggest use for technology though, is for communication. Communication with parents and guardians is so important and technology makes it so much more efficient. As far as in the classroom and communication with families, I love the idea of Classroom Dojo, or some other similar platform. If you aren't familiar it is a resource that teachers can use to track a students progress in academic, behavioral, and other areas. It also allows access to families so they can see everything, and it is set up in a game like way (where every student is assigned a creature) so the students get excited about it and want to work with it. 

    I liked using the group feature in Canvas to work on Assignment 2. I think it was a little weird at first, being on the other side on Canvas than most of us are used to, but it was extremely straightforward and easy to navigate. The up side being that we have a least a little bit of an idea of what a Canvas page is supposed to look like, from all of our classes using it. I don't have another tool, but I think Canvas was a good choice anyways because of everyone's familiarity.