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Philosophy

I believe that anyone can learn given the right tools. The tools of yesterday do not work today. I believe that I must take the electronic tools of today to make the students think and produce products that are considered outside the box. Technology and education is the best combination for learning.

Chalk and blackboards, overhead projectors and Visa-a-Vis markers all of these are ancient relics when it comes to teaching. I do not want to be a part of the past practices of teaching that do not meet the needs of today’s learners. I do not want to be an average teacher, but an excellent teacher that kids remember for years.  I also would like them to remember that learning can is fun and the information learned can be remembered for a lifetime, if shown to be relevant and have real world connections.

Learning today consists of iPods, iPhones, computers, multimedia products and software that students work collaboratively to create learning projects. Thanks to the internet, children do not have to focus on the teacher knowing everything about every subject. The students can video cast or Skype with anyone around the world to find the information they need for their learning experience straight from the source whether it be a professional in the field or another class in Africa. Learning today is fast, collaborative and global. The students use multimedia as a major part of the learning process. This is how I want my students to learn and I want to teach. I want the fast paced, digitally collaborative projects produced by my students. I want them to beg for the knowledge because they seen those real world connections and are proud of their work they have done and always are yearning to learn more and learn in different unique ways. I change lives and I am an innovator. I will make the best lessons possible using as much technology as possible.

I use technology as assessment during class all the time. I use the Senteo system to check understanding, projects, surveys and other technologies to help me understand how to help my students the most. It is my job, or as I think my duty, to facilitate the students the best that I possibly can by the use of technology and testing. The dream combination is the use of both at the same time. Bringing yesterday’s learning to today’s learner.

I plan on starting a non-profit company to help teachers become more comfortable with technology in their classrooms. I want to be a visionary and a leader that helps teachers help their students. I want to demonstrate and go into the classrooms of teachers. While in the classroom I will watch them teach and then show them how to facilitate rather than being the focus of the lesson. We need to meet the learning needs of the students now before we lose them forever. I have a five year plan that would put my business as my main income. Helping teachers help their students, that is my vision.

This course and the many others to come in my masters of technology class have revived and empowered me to become the best teacher that I can be. This course has given me the tools to make better assessments for learning instead of mediocre assessments of learning. I will use not only the exercises used in class to make assessment but also the readings and the lecture to chisel out the best assessments that could be sculpted.

Some of the most important influences on my teaching were websites like Google, Edutopia, Smarttech, and many others. These websites show how teaching is supposed to happen in the classroom. The sites are full of futuristic approaches in teaching and learning. They are great sites not only for beginning technology using teachers but also the veteran technology teacher that just needs an extra push.

I also like to follow authors such as Alan November, Michael Simkins, and other authors. Alan November is considered a futurist and a great author. He talked about many of the practices such as blogging, video conferencing and websites in his book from 1999. Mr. Simkins wrote a great book on how to develop and use multimedia projects in the classroom. I have used the knowledge contained in these books to help develop meaningful lessons for my students.

Reading, researching and demonstration is the best way to show exemplary practice. It is imperative to show the students how exemplary work should look, feel and sound like. The children for the majority of the time will help each other to strive better and to surpass the expectations of the teacher. Every project the students will strive to outdo each other and to have the best project of all. It is very important as a facilitator to have the student collaborate. The collaboration does not and should not stop at the four walls in the classroom it should also involve professionals in the field and students from around the world. It is very important for the students to get the information needed from the source.

Projects, video conferences, wikis, blogs and multimedia project help every learner become lifelong learner. All students without regards to their special needs or not will be a vital part of the team approach. Each student’s input is vital to the group as a whole.

It is so true that you only have one first impression. It is my duty to make math fun, exciting, standards based and relevant to real life. It is also my duty to ensure that my students do not fail in the learning process. It is my job to work extra with the students that are having issues with their lessons and facilitate rather than use me as the knowledge guru or the all knowing oracle. They must pass; they will pass with my help and understanding of teaching through technology, understanding, compassion and the love of the learning process.