Artifact 4

I frequently accessed the NCSCS during my pre-service training for lesson plans, unit plans, and for a better understanding of the different grade level requirements specific to the computer skills for elementary students.

Impact

The standard course of study gives the goals for all areas of learning, including computers and technology. It was produced to help teachers know what the grade they are teaching will be accountable for. Teachers can follow the NCSCS to know what will be assessed on the end of grade tests. As a teacher the NCSCS will be a very important resource for me. All of my lesson plans will have to correlate with the standard course of study and will ultimately help my students with their end of grade tests. Using this artifact I can also see how to assess my students on the computer skills. The NCSCS website is also helpful to parents so they can see what their students will be learning and what will be important for their student’s end of grade assessment.

Alignment

By using this artifact teachers are made aware of the computer skills competencies for students and what kids in the different grade levels will need to be able to do for their computer competency exam (Tech Comp 10.1). I can look to this artifact to help better prepare my students for the NC computer skills assessment and how I can assess them throughout the year. A lesson plan might involve students typing a story they have written and then they will learn how to edit their story with the tools of copying/cutting and pasting to prepare them for the computer competency exam. In this lesson example I have shown that I know how to copy, cut and paste, therefore I am able to prepare my students for the NC Computer Skills assessment (Tech Comp 10.5). Also this site allows me to further help my students meet the goals of Computer Skills Curriculum by giving sample lesson plans specific to the subject (Tech Comp 10.4).