Educational Philosophy
Learning is an ongoing process utilized throughout life. Education should prepare students for the future and also help them understand their life in the present. Advances in technology and new discoveries, especially in science, affect teaching techniques; teaching practices need to reflect and embrace these changes. Science education provides students with knowledge and resources to make future decisions that impact everyone.
The learner should gain knowledge and skills needed for success and to better understand life. The role of the learner in education is to think critically and problem solve regarding topics, recognize concepts and understand how they impact themselves and the world, and work with each other to better understand material and reach conclusions. Students should develop study and organizational habits to use at college, work, and beyond.
The teacher should have the role of leader, mentor, and motivator. The teacher should practice skills taught to the class and continually update personal education in science and technology to successfully educate students on the subject matter. It is important that teachers collaborate about how to be successful educators and the different methods for educating. Today’s technology empowers teachers, students, and their families to easily communicate and be involved in the learning process. The teacher should help students build on individual strengths and recognize where they can improve.
I believe that a great teacher is engaging, makes learning fun, recognizes different teaching strategies and student’s different learning types, is straight-forward and organized, and clearly defines learning objectives. It is important that a classroom is filled with positive energy because learning should be fun, not a chore or scary. Enthusiasm about the topic helps engage students. Furthermore, relating topics to student’s interests helps maintain attentiveness, explain and retain information. I have high expectations for myself which is why I study hard and push myself. I also have high expectations for my students and believe that overcoming challenges are rewarding. Learning should be enjoyable, interesting, social, creative, and challenging.
I am sensitive to student’s different learning styles and therefore ready to work diligently to reach their learning needs through a variety of teaching philosophies. The philosophy I most relate to is constructivism. With this philosophy, topics are related to real life situations and personal experiences; it is easier to retain information when you can relate to and apply knowledge. When a topic is explained multiple ways through different scenarios it allows for better understanding. Multiple representations help different learning types understand the underlying idea and also further explain and tie the idea together. Reflection and interpretation of material emphasizes critical thinking rather than memorizing. Group work builds strengths such as social skills and accountability, skills practiced throughout life. Working in groups allows one to build on strengths because they contribute to the group by performing tasks they excel at. Furthermore, working in groups makes learning a social experience where you can be creative and bounce ideas off each other, and break up the workload. Groups can discuss and reflect on the question together; student vulnerability decreases because there is less stress of being called on in class to answer a question and getting it wrong. To maintain class interest, I want to utilize different types of assignments, projects, and experiments. I am a visual learner and like to incorporate pictures or presentations. Structure and organization help me distinguish important information and understand learning objectives. It is easier to relate ideas when taught in an organized way.
Expectations of my students include building upon critical thinking skills, social skills, and organization and study skills. I want to supply my students with scientific knowledge that prepares them for success in further education. Communicating and developing relationships with student’s parents and fellow teachers is important for both student and teacher success. Technology allows for easy communication amongst students, parents, and teachers, which assists in learning. Teachers have available online resources to help educate students and build on teaching skills. Collaboration with other teachers about effective teaching strategies helps gain skills to be a better educator. I will continue the learning process of being an educator and self observe and modify my own teaching techniques and strategies for present and future success.
Reflective Blog
Developing an educational technology philosophy helps me understand my views on teaching and education. Reading the different philosophies made me reflect on what teaching methods I want to utilize. This project helps me clarify my goals and values, and how technology can assist me in accomplishing goals and support my values. Furthermore, this philosophy helps me think about what I want my students to get out of education.
I currently use blogging for communication, information, and creative ideas. My friend in the Peace Corps has a really fun blog to read; I also have a few favorite fashion blogs! Uses for blogging include easy access to information, communication, collaboration, and reflection on ideas with others. Blogging helps improve writing skills, critical thinking, and assists in creativity. Blogging stores and organizes student’s work. Also, blogging allows you to post information with related links. Blogging enables everyone to have a voice.
To my knowledge, I believe we have met the potential uses for blogging. I agree that successful blogging requires active participation with other people, and sometimes people lose interest in their blogging. Successful blogging requires discovering something to write about they find interesting. If you write about something that interests you it will more than likely interest someone else; this allows for communication and reflection.
In November’s article, Creating a Culture for Teaching and Learning, what really stood out to me was the importance of educating students on how to be critical thinkers and deconstruct the information they find on the internet. There is so much information on the internet and therefore, instruction is necessary on how to interpret facts from fiction. I also found the idea of incorporating live video cameras into the classroom and its impact on education very interesting. There are pros and cons to this idea. It would allow better communication between teachers and parents, and also motivate teachers and students to succeed. However, I can also see privacy issues and competitiveness among parents as concerns. Overall, live video cameras seem like a cool idea.
Expectations for this class include learning how to develop a blog and how it can be useful in the teaching profession. Also, I hope to learn about different types of available technology and how to incorporate the technology into the classroom. I expect to gain more knowledge concerning how technology can support my teaching philosophy.
