Focus Area 1: “Using technology to increase our personal effectiveness in our own role as well as being a model for others to follow”
I believe that by exposing our students to technology and the variety of ways it can help make their lives (and ours!) easier. The majority of my students are low SES and do not have access to technology at home so the only time they are exposed to it is at school. It not only benefits school staff but the community as a whole when our students leave us and are able to enter the workforce already knowing the basics (but hopefully more than that) of technology. I have seen in my students that whenever there is new technology available they want to learn how to use it and that is beneficial for everyone. because it makes us all more effective. I also believe that as teachers we have some influence regarding what other teachers do in their own classrooms. For example, I was one of the first teachers in my department to begin using basic technology within my daily lessons. The students were immediately engaged and came to class most days wanting to know what was next. They would then go to their other teachers and talk about it. Those teachers then came to me asking what I was doing, was it easy to learn, set up, etc. I have found even the smallest steps toward technology benefits everyone!

Focus Area 2: “Communicating to others information about the effective use of technology including training and guiding others to use technology effectively”
I recently approached School Site Council (group in charge of deciding how money will be spent at our site) and asked for money to purchase basic upgrades to technology for our special education students. While I did not get everything I requested I was able to secure LCD's and Elmo's for the core teachers in my department. With the approval from the principal I then organized four small training sessions for our teachers to learn how to use this equipment effectively in their lessons. While I do not consider myself to be technologically advanced, I was able to guide them towards developing more technology based lessons while still focusing on the content and keeping student attention.

Focus Area 3: “Supporting the effective use of technology through planning for technology use, promoting technology use, staff development, infrastructure acquisition and upkeep”
Without a solid plan for technology use, development, and upkeep even the best intentions are of little use. I am hoping that through my projects in this class I can better understand where my district stands on this issue and what is being done to resolve the issues that seem to arise every year.