This year, Lincoln Avenue Kindergarten teacher Heather Gonzalez was selected by Sayville’s Instructional Technology Department from among our exceptional nominees to present at the ASSET (Association of Suffolk County Supervisors of Educational Technology) Bright Light Luncheon in January. 

Each year, ASSET invites Suffolk County school districts to nominate outstanding teachers who exemplify the integration of instructional technology into curriculum and instruction to present their achievements at ASSET’S annual Bright Light Luncheon.

Mrs. Gonzalez’s presentation demonstrated the progressive development of skills for integrating technology into instruction and showed how technology gave her four- and five-year-old students greater access to multisensory, “out of seat” learning experiences. Mrs. Gonzalez spent the first part of the school year providing her students with direct instruction on vocabulary associated with technology integration and basic functioning of the whiteboard and desktop. Software such as Easiteach, provided the base for this learning and it allowed Mrs. Gonzalez to incorporate websites, links to curriculum resources, web-based videos, and teacher-made slides. Students became increasingly more independent using the tool bars as the year progressed and developed responsibility for their own learning through technology integration. 

“Once students gain confidence in their ability to work with the board,” states Mrs. Gonzalez, “the students transfer their technology skills to the computer lab.” Additional software, such as Kidspiration can be integrated into Easiteach. In that particular program, students create their own slides which reflect their learning. Those slides are posted to Mrs. Gonzalez’s website where parents can view what their children are learning and creating in school

Mrs. Gonzalez, who is recognized for her high level of creativity as well as her ability to provide meaningful learning experiences through the use of technology, joins past ASSET Bright Light Award Winners Andrea Adams, Cindy Dwyer, Tracy Toth, James McLoughlin, and Sharon Donnelly.