My Beliefs

I think technology is essential now a days.  It is something that we need in everyday life and our students should be using it in our classrooms.  Technology can accomplish so much in the learning process.  I believe that we should use technology in our instruction and that our students should use technology in their assignments. I think technology use in the classroom is beneficial for the parents of my students.  It allows them to be a part of our classroom through a classroom website, podcast, and blogs.  I will incorporate technology in many areas of my curriculum and believe it will help me engage my students and be a better teacher.

Lessons Learned

I learned a lot about why technology is so important in the classroom.  I had only thought that it was important because students enjoy it.  It never occurred to me that they NEED to learn and use it to survive in the world.  They need the skills to better our world.  Technology is constantly changing and improving what we know.  We need to encourage our student to use and explore technology.  We never know what contribution it may have on our future.

Strengths and Weaknesses

After completing the UNI survey, I felt like I was facing a new reality.  Some areas that I previously would have considered myself to be an "expert" I discovered I was in fact a practitioner.  There are a few areas that I would still feel confident in calling myself an expert.  I feel accomplished in the areas of operating a multimedia computer system and using the internet to find reliable information.  I also became aware of some areas where I was very weak.  I am very weak in using spreadsheets.  I would say my skill level is Novice.  I understand why we use spreadsheets and can create simple spreadsheets but I know that my skills do not take full advantage of what programs like Excel have to offer.  My husband is what I would consider to be an expert with spreadsheets.  In the past, I have just had him create what I need but I know that he cannot always do this for me.  I can have him give me a crash course in excel and I can also use the free tutorial at www.LearnMicrosoftExcel.com  this will help me in reaching higher levels of knowledge with the program.  I would like to be able to use excel for formula and inputting information relevant to my students for health calculations such as BMIs or other things relating to health.