Strengths and Weaknesses

After evaluating the NET standards and taking the UNI survey I feel as though it would be a lot easier to list my weaknesses than my strengths. According to the UNI survey I am not above a Practitioner in any category, due to my failure to create authentic learning activities dealing with each category. While I do not yet qualify for the practitioner or expert categories there are areas that I feel I excel in along with areas that could use work. The areas I do well in include the use of the world wide web to access information and analyze authority, accuracy etc. In my experience I feel I am fairly good at navigating the web and using the right methods to assure that I am finding valid and useful materials. Another area I have done well in is the use of multi-media software. Thanks to a previous class I took at BYU I have compiled an array of multimedia presentations that include slides, pictures, sound clips and video. I plan to use these as a teacher. There are as I have stated quite a few areas that I could improve in and would like to improve in. These areas include things like troubleshooting, while I am able to fix basic problems I think I could improve in my knowledge of fixing problems that arise in technology. Another area I would like to do better in is my knowledge of equity, ethics and legal issues concerning computer use. I think this is especially important to know what I can and cant use in the classroom and how to give credit when credit is due. Another thing I would like to learn to use better are spreadsheets, as of now I don't even know how to do simple addition using a spreadsheet.
The main goal that I have in dealing with technology in the classroom lies not only in the use of every technological resource available, but in making it a point to show students both how to use technology and how useful it can be in my content area. As a language instructor, I plan to use presentations in my class that include sound clips, videos and images so that the material is presented in as many ways possible. I will also show students how to use the Internet to find reliable information about the Spanish Language and Culture. To do this, I have the personal goal of becoming more Internet savvy, and to help students with troubleshooting when necessary.
Having knowledge of programs like Excel could help me in many areas.
I have found an online tutorial that I plan to use to learn the art of spreadsheet use. This tutorial can be found at www.usd.edu/trio/tut/excel/. From what I've seen so far this tutorial includes everything from simple explanations of columns and rows to how to do more complex equations using Microsoft excel. I have also found a tutorial on creating a database (http://geekgirls.com/menu_databases.htm), something I know very little about. By learning more about what a database is, how it is used, and how to create one, I can come up with another important tool that can be used by my students.