Technology Strengths and Weakness

One of my strengths as a teacher in the digital age is that I encourage communication with parents and students through the use of technology. I teach my students how to use websites such as Edmodo to communicate with other students and with me about school and what we are learning. I also include parents in the conversation so they can be involved in their child’s education. I use Edmodo and Twitter to share important information with my students’ parents. Sometimes it’s a picture of what we did that day and other times it’s a reminder of an event that will be happening, such a field trip. Another strength I have is that I am great at teaching my students to apply what they have learned in class and create a digital representation of it using Prezi, Glogster, or Educreations. The students love to share their knowledge, synthesize their learning, and create something new with it. We have wrapped up studies about famous people using Glogster, we have shared facts about our cultures using Prezi, and even taught one another how to multiply two digit by three digit numbers. I am also very strong at engaging in professional growth. As a teacher, I model that learning is an ongoing process. I am always seeking out new ways to teach, new technologies and great professional developments. I am an eager learner. My students and their parents see this in me and my hope is that they will follow my example. Over the last few years the school that I worked at began to put SmartBoards in the classrooms. Many of the teachers were uncomfortable with them and either didn’t turn them on or used them as glorified overheads. I worked with many of my colleagues to share with them how to us the new technology as an interactive tool in the classroom ton enhance learning and instruction. After helping a few of them, I became known as a “go to” person for many technological questions in the building. Sometimes I could answer the question or solve the problem and other times I could not. But it was nice that I was looked at in that manner. I feel that there are a few areas where I still need to grow. It is difficult to teach in an era where technology is moving so quickly and the students are so engaged in it, yet the resources within the classroom are minimal. I would love it if every child in my classroom had a tablet. I feel that I am great at customizing guided reading groups with conventional paper reading books because those books are readily at hand for all of my students. If I had the resources to customize reading instruction for each of my students using technology, I feel that progress would be made quicker. So how can I work with what I have? What can I do now to improve instruction and help my students continue to progress even though resources are limited? How do I get the most bang for my buck?