Week 7 Educational Philosophy

After going through seven weeks in this class I have learned many new things that I can use in my class. Technology is a big part of our everyday lives and it will continue to be for a long time. We all use technology everyday, whether it is sending emails, surfing the internet, or using our smartphones. It is here to stay. Technology is going to continue to get bigger and we are going to have to grow with it. There is already some pretty amazing technology in the world, such as cars that can park themselves and the IPhone can even talk to you, how cool is that? Out of all the weeks of doing technology projects, I came to find the podcast as my favorite, it was something I have never done before and I loved every minute of it. This is a tool that I can use to post lectures for my students, I think they would enjoy it more than me standing in front of the class lecturing them on history. I could also integrate videos in the podcast of whatever topic I am lecturing on. Wiki boards are pretty awesome too and can be used to collaborate with others. I can post an assignment in a wiki and have my students go in to answer the question posed and they can also look at each other’s answer and respond to what their peers have said. I have learned plenty of new things this semester and I have really enjoyed creating new technology every week. When it comes to my educational philosophy it hasn't changed

    I am definitely a Constructivist. I encourage higher learning and want all my students to be successful. I believe teachers should facilitate the lesson but learning should be centered on the students. Working in groups is also huge for me, when I have the opportunity to put my students in groups to work its good, it gives the students a chance to interact with each other and bounce ideas off each other. When I teach my students I encourage them to have some initiative when it comes to doing work. Procrastination is a habit that I think students should break. I never want to make my class a competition for students, I do not care who the best student in the class is. I would rather my student’s collaborate with each other to answer a problem versus calling on one of them and them not knowing the answer. I treat the classroom as a team, we must all succeed in order to be successful and I hate to see a kid be unsuccessful.

 

Blog Reflection 6/Week 6

I think Podcast are great tools to use in the classroom and when it comes to the future of it being used, they will be used more frequently in the future in my opinion. I think any kind of technology goes a long way with students today, they are so consumed with technology in their everyday lives, not only the younger generation, but us adults as well. I lose my mind when I cannot find my IPhone. Technology seems to get students involved in the classroom. Podcast are a great way to get students collaborating with each other and that is how I would integrate it in my classroom. I would have a podcast full of information and students would have to access it and listen to the information. I would ask questions the next day of class to get information from them on what they thought of the podcast. It would also be pretty cool to have students create their own podcast just as you had us do for this class. I think students would really enjoy it. When it comes to doing something with technology, it doesn't really seem like work when you are doing it. Overall I think teachers who don't incorporate some type of technology in the classroom in the future are going to be left behind. Prerecorded lectures will be better than actually standing in front of a class boring the students to death. IPADS are getting students to read more than using the actual textbook. Lessons can also be posted in a podcast and that is a great thing as well. Technology is here to stay and we are going to have to incorporate technology in what we do somehow. Technology will only continue to advance and we have to grow with it. I want to reflect on this week. Using the podcast site was very user friendly and it was something I enjoyed creating. I will be using this in my class in the future some way. This was a great experience and activity for me.

Reflection 5

This weeks project was very interesting. Dissecting the structure of a website was very interesting. The website I chose is WWW.Allaboutexplorers.com. Allaboutexplorers.com is the domain name the extension in the domain name is .com. From this point I could tell the website was going to have something to do with explorers from our history. The site was very interesting to me because I teach history and it seems to be something that can be used to help my students. There are links on the website, the first one I came across is WWW.wordpress.org and the other link is WWW.columbus.org. The purpose of the wordpress link was to promote their company. It is a website that can be used to create templates and the allaboutexplorers website was actually created with wordpress. The second link, Columbus.org was listed as a website to stay away from, allaboutexplorers is trying to keep people away from using the site. Using Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com i got plenty of hits by searching the main topic all about explorers. To my surprise, the website I chose was the first link presented each time. That told me that the site had to be a pretty good one. When finding out who the website was registered with it came up as being registered with Fast Domain INC and the providers name is HostMonster.com. The site was created by a group of teachers as a means of teaching students about the Internet. They created this site because they wanted to teach their students how to filter good data from bad data when they are using the Internet. This site has some good credibility, It's created by teachers and they have been published and use in media as well. The purpose of this site is to teach students how to filter information on the Internet. That is a tool that we have to teach our students today with the Internet being so big in today's society. Some students believe that anything that comes from the Internet is true and that is not the case. This is a constant problem in students academic work today and we have to make sure as educators that we teach students that all information from the Internet is not right, we have to let students know they cannot use all data found on the Internet when completing academic work. This website presents information and can be used for educational purposes. I found the site to be reliable based on my findings. This was a fun project and it was really interesting to dissect a website.

Reflection 4

Reflection 4/Week 4

The author of this article made some very valid points. Technology is going to continue to increase and get bigger as the years go by. Think about it, technology is everywhere, its in our cars, for goodness sakes, there are cars that can park themselves and some with cruise control that will slow your car down if you are approaching the car in front of you to fast. Its not just there though, the Internet is becoming huge and social media plays a big part in that, Students today do have other things going on in their lives so prefer to have hybrid classes.

   When it comes to composing documents online or by hand, I am in between. I like to write things down on paper as a rough draft before I compose it online. If I see it on paper first it just works better for me that way. I have turned my remembering over to a technological device. My Blackberry is a lifesaver for me. I put important dates in it, or course phone numbers and also meetings that I must attend. It even wakes me up in the mornings. It keeps me tied to the world that's for sure. I use to write out things on a big calender in my room, but when smart phones came out, I did away with that and just kept important events in my phone since it is always with me. I'm sure the rest of the world is the same way as me, so I did a little study with people in my family and some friends and they all use their phones for important things as well. In meetings I have took a laptop before, but I prefer to have a legal pad, the battery does not die and I seem to pay attention better, laptops and IPADS can be a distraction when it comes to meetings, atleast for me they can be. I can engage in may activities at one time, I have become a very good multitasker and I think that will help me in the teaching profession. I know it will help when I become a principle some day. I do play video games all the time. I have an Xbox 360 and I play it when I'm bored or to pass time. I am not very big on computer games, but I have played them on occasions.  I use technology on the regular and It will continue to be a part of my life as well as the majority of everyone else on the planet. For those who cannot use technology they will be left behind and at the rate technology is growing, it might hold some from obtaining potential jobs in there are certain things the individual does not know about technology.  

Reflection 3/Week 3

Assessment for learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where their students are in learning, where they need to go and the best method to getting them there. Of the ten research-based principles, the one that I found most important was AFL should be part of effective planning of teaching and learning. Without effective planning, teachers cannot come up with lesson plans that will keep students engaged and interested. Lesson plans require time and we as educators should make sure we are spending enough time planning. We need to do this so we don't short change our students. This not only goes with lesson plans, but ties into planning activities for the students to do as well, we should be well prepared. Teaching ties into learning, if we teach effective then our students will learn the material. All students don't learn the same and we should also make an effort to find out the way each students learns. I know we don't always have time to teach tons a different ways but if you can give it a shot so you reach all your students, to maxamize their learning potential.
   When it comes to portfolio assessment, I think they have plenty of potential for use. They can access a students progress over time and helps the students engage in reflective practice and self assessment. The development of a portfolio for me will be a tool that lets me see what I have accomplished in my career and that goals that I will still be trying to obtain. I will use it the same way as students so, to track my progress over time, but I will be using it to look at what have done in my career instead if using it academically. Its a way to reflect on what you have done.

Reflection 2/Week 2

I believe that education and technology  are good together as long as we do not let our students abuse the technology in the classroom. We have to keep our students engaged in what we are trying to teach them. If learning isn't fun to the student they might not pay attention like they are supposed to. The author of Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants made plenty of statements that I agree with and the one that stood out to me was "students have changed radically."  There is more technology around today than there has been in history. In today's society if you cannot use technology, you will be left behind, its plain and simple. It makes since to incorporate technology into education.

     When it comes to the findings of concept mapping, I found my self not knowing what it was when I started the project. I had use technology like this before and did not know the name of the system I was using. When I started doing the project I came to find out that it was a bubble system pretty much and it was fun to create. This is something that can be used in the classroom when teaching students. I would love to give my students a topic and have them do a concept map for homework. It beats doing the traditional method(paper and pen) and I know they would enjoy the assignment, I did. It was very interesting

     I am very confident in the in the information I have used in my college career when searching for data. I have always made sure that the sources I use are credible before putting them into my school work. When doing journal articles, if the article was not academic search complete, I would not use the article. Everything that comes from the Internet is not always right and we have to teach that to our students when we are in the classroom. If we fail to teach our students how to search for academic information they will use anything they come across on the Internet as a source in academic work. That is not the case once so ever, everything found on the Internet is not right or true. They need to have sources behind there work. Schools can block certain  websites from being used when students are in school, but we have to incorporate the same websites at home. We as teachers cannot control what sites students use in their homes but we can suggest sites to the parents and let the parents guide the student with the activity assigned.

     I think there are plenty of advantages to social bookmarking. Bookmarks are not shared, but they can be used a reference.  Social bookmark sites enable a person to make any link public or private so that we can make a selection of our bookmarks available to each other. They are shared inside certain networks, so it keeps people you don't want in the network out of it. That's a pretty neat feature to me. The Internet can be a scary world with hackers in the world trying to corrupt certain things they come a cross on the web. Another advantage to bookmarking is the ability to access your saved sites on any computer you use. That is really important when it comes to school work. I have been a person that bookmarks for about a year and now and I have to say I love it. I have used the tool in the past for school work, when saving websites that I saw as important and will continue to do so while becoming a certified teacher and working on my Master's degree. I will also try to use the tool in the classroom, having websites available for my students when they need the Internet for research and teaching them how to bookmark, so they can access the sites from there home computers. If I promote websites then my students will use them and the same goes for my peers when I become a teacher. There might be certain sites that I use that can be passed on to my colleagues.

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Philosophy Statement

                     Philosophy Statement

My best teacher was my 9th grade English teacher, her name was Mrs. Dodds. She didn;t teach in the traditional method, lecturing and students just taking notes. We did do that from time to time, but she also taught outside the box. You can tell she loved her job and her students. She was always engaged with us and you can tell she generally cared. When we read novels we actually wanted to read the book. I can specifically remember reading Beowulf and she had someone come is dressed as Beowulf and he gave us a summary of the book before we actually read it. It was pretty cool, me and my classmates were pretty impressed and we were ready to start the story. She asked if we wanted parts in the play and everyone who played a part got to dress up when they read. It was fun and that really stood out to me. My worst teacher would have to be Mr. Newton. He would not interact with us at all. He lectured in a monotone voice and bored the students to death. He taught history and it was horrible. He got the material across but they way he did it could have been better. The impact these teachers had on me was great. I will be a teacher that is engaged and interactive with my students. If my studnets see me engaged it will rub off on them. I want to have the class that is fun and exciting, but at the same time the students are learning the material.

   I think I fall into the constructive philosophy, I encourage higher-level thinking for students. Although I believe the teacher should intiate the lesson, students should still have the ability to be creative when doing there work. I love working in groups as well. cooperative learning is huge for me, it gives students a chance to interact with thier peers and to also bounce ideas off each other. Working in groups will also keep my students engaged and break the traditional teaching method that was used when I was coming up in school. Learning is an active, social process. I also fall into the pragmatism philosohpy because I beleive education is life. We need education in order to learn things that we don't know. There is a saying in the legal world, "ignorance of the law is no excuse for a person to break a law." Its the same thing when it comes to education, if you do not learn then you are left behind in the real world. Education is power!

   I chose to become a coach/teacher because I have always wanted a career where I was helping children. I was orginally going to become a juvenile attorney to help at risk youth get on the right path. I have always loved teaching children new things and seeing the joy it brings them when they learn something new. I am going to be a teacher that thinks outside the box, being a coach, I will bring things from gym into the classroom that will help my students study for the material in my lesson plan. I will teach this way because of what I learned from Mrs. Dodds when I was in the 9th grade. Being interactive and showing an interest in the subject you are teaching goes a long way with students. When we have novels that we read in my class, I will also do the dress up method for the students who play a part in the story, and Beowulf will be one of the stories we read in my class. My personal definition of a great teacher is someone who is enaged with there students, someome who truly loves teaching children new things, and truly cares about thier students. I got this definition because of my 9th grade teacher Mrs. Dodds. I want my students to take away the knowledge they are supposed to learn but at the sametime experience a new teaching method that they will never forget and also be a teacher that my students will never forget as well. Im choosing to teach this way because I want to students to learn but at the sametime be interested in what I am trying to teach them. I've said it time and time, if the students are interested, they will want to learn the material. In the school district where I will teach and coach, students were given Ipads. They will be used in each class and the students will download there books to them and read off of the Ipad instead of having an actual book. I thought that was pretty neat. Therefore teachnolgy will be incorporated into what I teach. Technology has come a long way.

                           Reflection

Response to Stephen Dowels- One major potential I see for blogging is networking with your peers and other teacher or collegues from different districts when it comes to teaching. It can also be used to network in other professions. I think we have met this potential, the internet is ever changing. We have several social media sites that can be used for networking and blogging.

Response to Alan November- Out of the six areas the author mentioned, I believe the collegiality is whats needed section is the most important. Teaching at the middle school level, i think all teachers in there respective departments need to be one the same page when it comes to teaching units. This is big because we know the students at this level are required to take a state test, if the teachers are on the same page when it comes to teaching certain units it will benefit the students. The phrase he used, "don't train teachers to use technology without kids" made alot of sense to me as well. We should not teach teachers to use certain technology and leave the students behind. It reminded me of the teacher student training on how to use Ipads my district held this two weeks ago. It was a pretty neat experience.

My expectations for this class

When I am done with this class, I want to be able to use teachnology a little better than I can now. I am pretty good at certain things, but I know there are new things I will learn in this class and I look forward to it. I want to be able to incorporate what I learn from this class into the real world when I get a job somehow as well.