Ianthe+M

of After seeing the results of the self-assessment, the areas that I plan on improving are:

1. //**Professional Knowledge**// - This is my weakest area. While I was a paraprofessional, I was never able to attend formal professional development seminars on the subject of implementing technology into the classroom. All my technology skills and knowledge are self-taught. I subscribe to several wiki's and blogs that detail tools, websites and freeware that are useful for special educators as well as general educators, and explored these on my own time to see if they could be of use to my students. In order to broaden my knowledge in this area, I plan on utilizing the resources listed on the CITEd page and will continue to seek out new software and applications from my blog and wiki sources to see if they can be of use to my students. Since I was recently hired as a special educator, I also plan to participate in our district technology programs which are offered several times each school year. I plan on sharing useful sites and information with both staff and parents to help all learners in the classroom and at home by developing a web-based toolkit for school. Attending professional development seminars is crucial to to keep skills fresh and have up to date knowledge in the area of assistive tech!

2. //**Assess Student Progress** -// This is another area that I have targeted as critical on my priority list. Offering alternate methods of assessment is paramount to the success of special education students. Alternative methods of assessment are so important for students who learn differently. Unfortunately, most assessments in my district are the traditional "paper" type. It will be my goal to continue to find ways to differentiate the assessment process and implement them in the classroom. I am going to use the CITEd website to research and learn about these methods, and will try to find some professional development seminars on the topic to further my knowledge.