While I have had many revelations throughout this course, one stands out as it has allowed me to evaluate my own teaching strategies. Each year I find it to be my responsibility at my grade level to instruct my students in a research project. In past years, I had students search the Internet with the use of Google. Many times students stumbled onto inappropriate pages and other times, the websites were not reliable and students were given false information. I found it was easier to limit student’s searches and I provided them with certain sites. From this course, I learned I was actually hurting my students and their learning of navigating through the Internet. I now know it is my responsibility to instruct students how to search the Internet successfully and safely. Students need to understand that not all websites are reliable and they should know how to detect websites validity.
One professional development goal I plan to pursue is continuing to learn new strategies and approaches to teaching literacy and technology. As technology changes so do the new students entering the classroom. As a teacher it is my job to reach my students and instruct them in ways to find information. I also plan on sharing my knowledge with colleagues. While it is important for teachers to teach students, it is also our responsibility to assist colleagues and parents. Throughout this course I have gained much knowledge in the areas of literacy and technology and plan to continue this learning.
