Using Technology in the classroom

With technology advancing everyday, students and teachers alike need to be knowledgeable of the tools that are available to them. I will attempt to use blog assignments as some of the journal assignments in class and have the students comment on each others work. Blogs, Streaming video and Twitter are some of the best networking resources around right now. I am sure by 2011 there will be countless others. I will try my best to mention new resources and have my students help me with technology I have trouble understanding. Technology is sometimes hard to match with standards that need to be met, but by using power points, podcast, and blogs I will teach my students to think outside the box when looking for learning resources. To be able to teach the newest technology, I will have to continue to scour new information on technology and teach myself how to use it.

Reward rather than Punish

My discipline policy is reward based. I would rather reward and praise good behavior than constantly nag and exasperate myself over misconduct. I believe that at a Secondary level, students should have developed a basic understanding of their interests and areas that they perform best in. I understand that all students will not excel in Language Arts and may lose interest. Behavior problems may develop from lack of interest in the class, a personal dislike for the teacher or issues outside the jurisdiction of my classroom. I will attempt to reward model behavior with appropriate rewards for the current grade level I am teaching. Misconduct will result in losing privileges initially given to the entire class. Punishment will only be used in extreme cases of misbehavior. My classroom will be run as "business casual". I will explain to my students that they will punish themselves by missing knowledge that gains self respect and the respect of others. I plan to set my classroom policies and guidelines at a level that can be easily understood by everyone. I will go over my policies and guidelines thoroughly and post them in the classroom. I will create an environment of mutual respect and I believe this will result in fewer behavior problems in the classroom. Ultimately, if a school rule is broken, I will follow school policies in disciplining the student but minor classroom issues will be handled within my classroom.

Developing an eagerness to learn

When information is shoved in a student's face without an explanation of why the information will be useful to them down the road or why they may find the information interesting outside of the classroom, the student's passion to learn the subject can be lost. Students should be shown several different ways to approach a subject so that they can make their own connections with it. If students make information personal, they are more eager to study the material. I plan to connect the literature or grammar my students are working on with everyday life. I will also be straight forward with my students and tell them that a small amount of knowledge before going out into the world will help them be respected.

My refusal to rely on lecture alone

I was diagnosed with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder my senior year in high school. Before I began taking medication, lectures were my enemy. Lecturing alone does not educate a student. I believe that if a person does not have to work to obtain something, they can not make it personal and therefor it is never important to them. Knowledge of a subject should be obtained by guided discovery. I will direct my students' paths toward the objectives given. I will give them the materials and information needed to reach their goals. My class and I will discover knowledge of the subject, in a process, together. I will create an environment in which students feel comfortable presenting new ideas or asking questions. I will use hands-on activities, collaborative projects and outside resources to introduce new material. I will give each student a syllabus and a tentative schedule of the material to be covered. The students will be asked to prepare for the lessons by reading ahead so that they can participate in class discussions. I will also have my students keep a reading journal. This will be another way that students can make their learning personal.

Respect makes room for learning

The line between teachers and students has been drawn for years. The old ideal is that the students are blank slates to be written on by an all-knowing teacher. I do not believe that a student comes into the classroom as a blank slate and I know I will never be an all-knowing teacher. A mutual respect is needed between teachers and students for a productive learning environment. If a teacher has no respect for his/her students, then his/her students will close their minds to what the teacher has to say. Behavior problems might also arise if the student does not feel understood or respected. When I am a teacher, I will make it clear that every person in my classroom will be treated with respect. I will assure them that I do not know everything and that I do not assume that they do not know anything. We will learn from each other as a class and mistakes will be welcomed because mistakes create learning experiences.

My belief in lifetime learning

One of the reasons that I decided to become a teacher is the opportunity it gives a person to become a lifetime learner. I never want to be too old to be taught something and I never want to think a person is too young to be my teacher. Teaching opens up so many paths for the pursuit of education. You can continue your higher education at a university or you can learn invaluable information in your classroom. The way technology has changed education puts students in a prime spot to teach their educators how the world works for new generations. To be able to educate a child, you have to understand where the child's passion is focused. If an educator turns a deaf ear to new ideas and thoughts because they don't understand them, educators as a whole are losing a battle. I believe that students should be taught to look for an opportunity to learn in any situation. My hope is this: If I show my students that by teaching them I am learning new things everyday, then they will search for knowledge throughout their lives also.

Reflection Journals

I plan to teach Literature and Grammar. At a high school level, students should be able to reflect on the reading assignments and make connections to help them better understand the material. Reflection is a very important step in understanding Literature. I plan to use reflection journals in my classroom. Each student will be asked to write 2-5 entries a week in their journals.(Number of journal entries will depend on objectives to be met that week.) When the class is covering a selected work, they will be expected to reflect on their thoughts and ideas about the book by writing in their journals. If we are studying Grammar at the time, my students will write reflections of personal ideas on any topic. I believe that writing and reflection will give the students a better understanding of the reading material and objectives that need to be met while they are reading. The journals would be taken up each quarter for a grade.