Strengths and Weaknesses

I felt like I was able to go into my field experience with great appreciation and knowledge of technology used in the classroom. I thoroughly loved creating digital stories. I enjoyed collecting the information and pictures to create the projects. It was so exciting to see how the students related with the digital stories and how much more interested they were in the subject by simply implementing this type of technology into our lesson. Creating digital stories was definitely one of my strengths. I also feel that another strength I have gained from my technology courses is- “the spirit of discovery”. I am not afraid to try new things and explore uncharted territory. In looking at the UNI survey and the NET standards I felt that over all I would rate myself as an apprentice in most of the computer technology skills, and that I have a good base to know how to find answers and continue to learn and research the areas I need to improve.

As I worked at Willow Springs Elementary in the Canyons School District, I realized the need I will have to learn to work on a Mac computer system. In order to use the digital story we created on an IBM compatable computer we had to email the digital story link to our cooperative teacher’s email. This was efficient; however as a teacher I will want access to my projects and information directly, not having to go through additional links. As I looked in the UEN there were many courses offered. The first course I would take would be, “Making the Most of you Mac”. It is designed for new users and also offered through the UEN Professional Development Course Catalog.

Another area I will need to work on would be using technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development. Technology is constantly changing. I will need to continually stay educated and informed on technology advancements and development. In my future classroom it is important to me to be able to provide my students with the latest technological training and experiences. I feel that technology is so important and I want them all to have a good base to build from as they continue their schooling. UEN also offers courses covering these areas in their professional development courses, but I also found an interesting program offered through the University of Utah ETEP (Education Technology Endorsement Program). This program consists of 18 credit hours involving courses in software/hardware, and technology pedagogy. This is normally a 2 year program. I thought this sounded amazing. There are so many resources out there to stay current and informed as teachers.

By being able to identify our weaknesses we will be able to continually work and educate ourselves to help make our weaknesses eventually our strengths.