Through out my college experience I have dissected human cadavers, tagged and released sharks, turtles, and a variety of fish-- additionally, I have contributed to many club activities that involved campus gardening, youth worship, and dangerous seaweed removal. All the same blogging has been the single most exciting learning adventure yet. I say this not because I particularly enjoy sitting in front of a computer or because I have some extra-enthusiasm for technology in general (because I am quite the opposite), but because the people I have met and the possibilities I have witnessed through blogging have unceasingly inspired new ideas for my class. I have met educational bloggers from New Zealand, Australia, Quebec, Missouri, New England, Georgia, California, and Central America that have all been more than willing to answer any questions I have about their productions.
Blogging relies solely on production. The more creative your product is, the more feedback you receive, and the greater your audience becomes, the more exciting your learning experience has become. Blogging is ideal for students because it allows them to channel their creativity, communicate with a world-wide community, and experience real gratification by publishing their works. Their really is no excuse for a teacher to not be engaged in blogging either as a class or expecting students to share their ideas and accomplishments through their own blogs-- it is the groundwork for confidence and accountability.
My teaching philosophy...
Anyone with open eyes and ears can detect that in the world we live in, there is a lot of room for improvement. I believe that the greatest changes take time, but every great change requires a catalyst. I believe that every person has something to contribute to the betterment of society. Whether your passions lie in conserving the environment, reducing poverty, spreading awareness, ironing-out politics, and so forth-- it is our greatest responsibility to pursue our passions and help shape whatever change should occur.
As a teacher, I believe it is my greatest responsibility to help students discover their passions and realize how significant their actions are. I believe in the power of choice. You can choose to smile, be friendly, be timely and to be respectful or you can choose the opposite. Beyond revealing passions and teaching mathematics,.. it is a teacher's highest priority to help students understand the implications of every decision they make and simultaneously show them that it is okay to make mistakes so long as they know how to rise above them.
Lastly, but absolutely foremost, I believe in leading by example. Every teacher should live their lives as if they were being watched by their students in every moment. We should never stop learning, and we should always be applying what we have learned through out the course of our lives.
As a teacher, I believe it is my greatest responsibility to help students discover their passions and realize how significant their actions are. I believe in the power of choice. You can choose to smile, be friendly, be timely and to be respectful or you can choose the opposite. Beyond revealing passions and teaching mathematics,.. it is a teacher's highest priority to help students understand the implications of every decision they make and simultaneously show them that it is okay to make mistakes so long as they know how to rise above them.
Lastly, but absolutely foremost, I believe in leading by example. Every teacher should live their lives as if they were being watched by their students in every moment. We should never stop learning, and we should always be applying what we have learned through out the course of our lives.
My goals and aspirations...
I described my fundamental objectives within my teaching philosophy. In order to teach these character principles, I plan to use social media such as blogging, twitter, google, and other WEB 2.0 tools to increase my students technological literacy, exchange teaching strategies, and enable cultural exchanges.
The more a teacher can safely expose their students to, the more opportunities their students will have to discover their passions. If I recommend they watch a classic movie that might build character or reveal social enigmas, they might discover their interests in film by witnessing first-hand the power of quality movies. I hope to also establish connections between students around the world and my own so that my class can see what they should appreciate about their own experiences and what they could strive to gain; this in conjunction with a government lesson might help them discover their fire for politics or ambassador work.
The possibilities are endless, but it all boils down to reaching beyond the classroom walls into the lives of others and seeing what my students find. I want them to be able to do this with a variety of tools and I plan to employ books, technology, media, and community engagement to do so.
The more a teacher can safely expose their students to, the more opportunities their students will have to discover their passions. If I recommend they watch a classic movie that might build character or reveal social enigmas, they might discover their interests in film by witnessing first-hand the power of quality movies. I hope to also establish connections between students around the world and my own so that my class can see what they should appreciate about their own experiences and what they could strive to gain; this in conjunction with a government lesson might help them discover their fire for politics or ambassador work.
The possibilities are endless, but it all boils down to reaching beyond the classroom walls into the lives of others and seeing what my students find. I want them to be able to do this with a variety of tools and I plan to employ books, technology, media, and community engagement to do so.
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