Stacey Burns

To an outsider, this might just look like a Jeopardy game or a Iancy power point. To an education
student and those versed in the Illinois ProIessional Teaching Standards this review activity represents an
understanding and applicability to Standard One, Content Knowledge. This Jeopardy game was made Ior
students to help them review Ior their US Constitution test Ior an eighth grade class with students being
divided into groups and playing as teams. This engages students in an activity that gives the teacher the
ability to assess their knowledge level (1A) as well as anticipating misunderstandings oI the material (1J)
and also designs learning experiences to promote student skills in the use oI technologies appropriate to
the discipline (1I). The activity gives the teacher a clear cut view point on how the students are engaging
in the material and how they understand class concepts. It also gives the teacher an idea oI where they
need to move next with the unit, depending on the perIormance oI the students in the activity. It also
engages technology in a way that students can Iind Iun and engaging. Students today are cyber learners
and look Ior the technology that they are comIortable with interacting with to make its way into the
classroom. This activity also IulIills Standard Two in the Language Arts Standards Ior All Illinois
Teachers in that it knows and understands and models the rules oI English grammar, spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, and syntax Ior both written and oral contexts (2A/2C), in this case especially
in oral contexts. Finally, it IulIills Standard Three, among many others, in the Technology Standards Ior
All Illinois Teachers. This review activity show that r understands how to apply learning technologies that
support instruction in his or her grade level and subject areas (3A) and also designs, implements, and
assesses student learning activities that integrate computers/technology Ior a variety oI student grouping
strategies and Ior diverse student populations (3E).
This lesson and the attached lesson plan show how I have developed as a teacher. I might have
thought to do an activity like this beIore but not really to beneIit anything in general, just because I
thought it would be Iun. I now understand that students need to be actively engaged in the classroom
through technology. I also always thought as a student that the days when we played games were because
the teacher didn`t have anything Ior us to do. I now understand that those review games, while seemingly
simple, require a lot oI time and eIIort and help teachers to reach the state standards that they need to
meet in their classrooms. While I still have a long way to go beIore I am a mature teacher, I am beginning
to understand how to integrate state standards and technology into my classroom in ways that I would not
have thought to beIore. I am now beginning to understand that teachers have standards that they must
meet but that doesn`t mean that their classrooms have to be boring. You can make meeting these
standards Iun, and your students might not even realize that you are doing things you are required to do
by the state!