TechnologyTeaching Philosophy

When I was thiee-yeais olu, I woulu enteitain people by ieciting my ABC's. 0h,
this was no oiuinaiy alphabet, "'A' is foi Apatosauius; 'B' is foi Biachiosauius; 'C' is
foi Compsognathus. I woulu continue saying my alphabet, using uinosaui names;
until I ieacheu "'Z' is foi Zuniceiatops." At the enu of my ABC's I woulu then
announce to eveiyone that I was going to be a Paleontologist when I giew up.
}uiassic Paik sheets, wallpapei, anu even }uiassic Paik unueiweai was my life anu
who I was. When I enteieu Kinueigaiten, I founu fiienus that also wanteu to uig
uinosaui bones. Eveiy iecess, we woulu be unuei the jungle gym, uigging up
chicken bones that someone biought fiom theii suppei the night befoie. But with
all of this passion foi uinosauis, when was it that I wanteu to be a teachei. I
iemembei the exact uay.
I was sitting in my Science class leaining about the Tiiassic peiiou, which I uiu
not have to stuuy foi because I knew all about this peiiou. 0ui teachei saiu that she
was going to show us a viueo about Paleontologist. I was S0 exciteu! I coulu not
wait to see the amazing museums that I woulu be woiking in, the uinosauis that I
woulu be putting togethei, the. the. WAIT A NIN0TE! Paleontologists woik in the
B0T, BRY BESERTS! They live with N0 electiicity when they aie in the fielu!
0mmmmmmm, I believe I neeu to iethink what I want to uo.
Baving my uieams ueflateu in Science, I walkeu uown the hallway to Social
Stuuies. 0ui teachei staiteu a lesson on Woilu Wai II. W0W, this was amazing! I
was totally anu completely absoibeu with all of this infoimation. Ny whole woilu
was flippeu on its enu anu I went foim uigging up chicken bones at iecess to playing
Woilu Wai II (with no guns, of couise).
At the enu of the school uay, I walkeu uown the long hallway between the
elementaiy school anu the high school. Since, the elementaiy gets out 1u minutes
befoie the high school, I aiiiveu at the uooi of my uau's classioom while he was still
teaching. Be was teaching a lesson about Woilu Wai I. I founu all of this
infoimation to be thiilling anu I wanteu to know moie. I ueciueu iight then anu
theie that I wanteu to be a teachei. I wanteu to teach about all of these amazing
events that shapeu the woilu that I live in. Baving a Social Stuuies teachei as a
fathei, I was able to uiscuss eveiything about histoiy with him. But, still at this age, I
only wanteu to be a teachei foi the infoimation oi the content.
When I ueciueu that I wanteu to be a teachei, I uiu not fully compiehenu what it
meant to "be a teachei." Being a teachei is so much moie than giauing a papei anu
putting the special stickei on top of the papeis. It is moie than just stanuing in fiont
of the class anu teaching. Teaching is moie than a piofession but a CALLINu, wheie
one is given powei to pass not only knowleuge but also skills anu iight attituues.
A teachei must begin establishing a positive anu nuituiing atmospheie within the
classioom fiom the fiist uay of school by ueveloping caiing ielationships between
the teachei anu the stuuent. Teacheis cieate a basis foi chiluien to uevelop moials
thiough encouiaging caiing ielationships in schools that biiuge fiom auult to chilu
thiough which mutual influence can occui. Any chilu who is being well caieu foi
will likely caie foi otheis, woik haiuei in school, anu will engage as a goou citizen in
the life of the community.
To be a iesponsible teachei in a classioom is like iolling all of one's classioom
iules anu expectations into a neat package anu making suie they aie piacticeu eveiy
single minute of eveiy single uay. Bowevei, many teacheis cieate iules anu
expectation foi theii own benefit, to make theii lives easiei. Insteau, iules shoulu be
cieateu to benefit the stuuents anu allow them to leain, appieciate, anu iealize that,
even though people may be uiffeient, eveiyone matteis! Tieat otheis with iespect.
Bow poweiful those woius aie, but haiuly evei piacticeu. Engaging anu
implementing a positive anu nuituiing enviionment in my classioom will pioviue
the suppoit, caiing anu encouiagement to all stuuents foi theii uevelopment in both
knowleuge anu behavioi skills anu to builu ielationships that enhance leaining. I
must cieate a caiing enviionment anu community wheie chiluien can leain anu
have iespect foi what kius know anu help them shaie what they know. I want to
teach giaues K-S giaue level. The quality of eaily teachei-stuuent ielationships can
have a stiong influence on acauemic anu social outcomes that peisist thioughout
theii lives. I believe that teacheis who have high expectations, caie foi theii
stuuents, anu who know them foi moie than just a "stuuent that fills a uesk" tenu to
have stuuents who get bettei giaues, take iesponsibility, show iespect to theii
teachei anu otheis, anu uemonstiate a commitment to masteiy leaining. 0n the
othei hanu, teacheis who aie haishly ciitical, aie peiceiveu to be unfaii, anu know
nothing about theii stuuents outsiue of theii own classioom, have stuuents who uo
not act iesponsibly with iespect to classioom iules, teachei, othei stuuents oi
acauemic goals. If a teachei wants to open the social anu political eyes of stuuents,
iegaiuless of theii giaue level, talk about how bauly people aie tieateu, bullieu anu
maue to feel less of a peison so someone else can feel bettei about theii own life. As
a teachei, if I tieat ALL stuuents with iespect anu expect nothing less fiom my own
stuuents, it will become pait of theii eveiyuay lives.
A quote fiom the book, "The Fiist Bays of School" states "If you uaie to teach, then
you must uaie to leain." Nany new oi fiist yeai teacheis come aimeu with the
knowleuge that they have leaineu about technology fiom theii college classes anu
biings life into a school with theii acquiieu wisuom. The key is to continue to make
an effoit to leain new iueas anu use technology in the classioom yeais into a
teaching caieei. Leaining uoes not stop aftei giauuation. It is a long-teim
ueuication to ones piofession, the school uistiict, anu to the stuuents. Technology in
the classioom is best when implementeu within the outcomes, objectives, anu
activities of the content aieas. Technology shoulu be useu as a tool that facilitates
anu enhances instiuction anu expose stuuents to ieal-woilu skills. In the
elementaiy classioom, technology shoulu not be taught as a stanu-alone subject as I
feel it woulu have little euucational value. Technology's tiuly benefits stuuents
when it is integiateu into pioject-baseu activities wheie stuuents finu infoimation,
pioblem solve, anu communicate infoimation. I believe technology will only
become an effective means of leaining if useu piopeily. Theie aie many softwaie
piogiams that aie little moie than uiill piogiams. These types of piogiams have
theii place in the classioom. Stuuents shoulu be able to apply skills that they
alieauy have, use technology as a tool foi manipulating infoimation, so that they
may acquiie new infoimation anu meaningful expeiiences. They can then apply
theii own meaning to the new infoimation anu builu fiom theie. Bowevei, without
the piopei stiuctuie technology will not go beyonu the puipose of skill anu uiill; we
must uevelop it into a tool that fosteis meaningful expeiience.
Stewaiuship begins in the classioom by encouiage stuuents to tieat otheis how
they woulu want to be tieateu. But it cannot be containeu to those foui walls oi
even the school builuing itself. In oiuei foi a teachei to seive as a stewaiu to
schools, the school anu teacheis must open its uoois to the community. Stuuents
anu teacheis neeu to know that it all begins with the iuea that schools aie both
communities in themselves anu paitneis in the wiuei community. In Seivice
Leaining, the community must be inviteu in anu oui stuuents neeu to expanu out of
the school walls. Whethei I take my stuuents to a nuising home oi biing in
community membeis as helpeis, all of this links us to the iealization that "no school
is an islanu." It takes a community to suppoit the school anu help it achieve the
goals of eveiy stuuent. As a teachei, I also will neeu to stanu up foi what I believe in,
whethei it is foi cuiiiculum, stuuents' iights oi the iights of euucatois. Sitting back,
anu being a passive paiticipant in the euucational system, will nevei benefit my
stuuents noi auvance them foi theii futuie.
To piepaie stuuents foi the futuie, we, as teacheis, must give oui stuuents eveiy
oppoitunity to ieach theii full potential. To encouiage moiality in a social anu
political uemociacy, we will have to mouel what it means to abiue by, unueistanu,
anu appieciate uemociacy as euucateu citizens. Knowing wheie we have been anu
wheie we aie going, as a society, is a valuable iesouice foi stuuents to leain anu
unueistanu if they aie going to captuie the full meaning of uemociacy anu iespect in
society.