I have examined the SECTIONS framework in some of my other course work and upon revisiting the framework again now, the ‘S for students’ portion of the model continues to be one of the most critical aspects to me personally. When I am considering implementing a new learning technology in my own classroom, this element of the model is most often at the forefront of my thinking.

As educators, we all understand how important it is to know our learners as well as we possibly can. We need to find their frustration, instructional and independent working levels as early on in the school year as possible in order to shape our instruction to best meet the needs of our learners. The classrooms of today are comprised of students with very diverse needs. It is in fact this diversity that is pushing me to include technology more and more in my classroom, as a means to individualize my instruction.
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After reviewing the ISTE standards for teachers, if I had to give myself a report card on the five skill categories I would do well in some, but would be ‘in need of improvement’ in a number of areas as well. In all honesty, I feel that many of my weaknesses stem from a lack of opportunity in regard to time, funding, and the limited technology that I have consistent access to in the educational setting in which I teach. Here are some of my thoughts after some personal reflection on where I would rate myself in regard to these standards:

#5 Engage in professional growth and leadership: I am starting with this skill area, as I feel that this is a relative strength for me. I am always on the lookout for technology related professional development opportunities and obviously I am working toward a Masters in the area of educational technology. Our school district practices a ‘train the trainer’ approach when new resources are being introduced to schools and I am one of two staff members that regularly attends these training sessions. We then return to our own school and help train (or ‘facilitate’) our colleagues in learning how to use the new resources. We are also readily available to any and all staff for troubleshooting support thereafter. Although it was a number of years ago, when Smartboards were first being introduced in our school and district, I was one of the first teachers in my own school to receive the equipment and take on the role of learning how to utilize this resource to enhance my teaching. To help myself as much as others, I developed a ‘basics’ tutorial within Smartnotebook and delivered workshops to my own staff. I also provided them with a digital copy of my tutorial so that they could use it as much as they needed to in order to be comfortable and confident using this new tool. I also presented a few larger workshops of the same nature to staffs that were getting Smartboards in the near future. I do still currently support my own staff with any troubleshooting needs with their Smartboards and projectors. I have a great deal of interest and enthusiasm in learning as much as I can about using the technology that I do have access to and I am always sharing my newfound knowledge with my colleagues to help them take advantage of the learning tools too.
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