Technology in the Classroom

Today's presentation on technology made me think about a lot of my different philosophies on teaching. My biggest issue with using technology in the classroom is that teachers often use technology or the sole purpose of using technology: i.e. using a smartboard as a glorified whiteboard. I feel that in order for technology to be useful in the classroom it must be appropriate, relevant, and beneficial for students. When teachers use technology just to say that they did, it is not beneficial for students. They are not learning anything useful. It would be the same as if an English teacher gave a lecture in Spanish just so they could say they gave a lecture. Is it appropriate for students? No. Is it relevant to the material? Maybe, but most students won't be able to understand in how it is relevant. Is it beneficial? No.

Technology can be so important when it is used properly. When it properly engages students while still allowing them to learn. So many different technologies are interactive and can be used to help students further understand texts. These are the most useful and sensible technologies.

Voices of Educational Pioneers

Throughout reading this packet, I found that there was almost no philosopher that I aligned with completley, but I found a great number of these "pioneers" that I agreed with in some small way. Mostly I found that I agreed with those that had held the learner to be an individual. Piaget in particualar recognized this and understood that all students are in different developmental stages. While there are far fewer stages during secondary education, students will always be learning at different rates. Making sure that the teahcer is there in order to facilitate the learning is key. Ralph Tyler and John Dewey had similar views on education with which I highly agree. Tyler believed that the process of education had a major goal to change the way the student thinks, feels, and acts. As for this, I mostly agree that as a teacher I want to show my students that there are other ways of thinking and believing. I also want to strive to change their feelings where they have been influenced environmentally by parents and friends. I feelt aht in order to make our students ready for the "real world" we must prepare then in every single way for what they will be faced with and if they are toting around their parents viewpoints without reasonably considering another. Dewey similarly believed that we must focus on the children and the "evolving society". Educators must look to the society that is changing around them and make sure that they are helping to foster a generation that wants to do better than the one that came before. If we allow for cookie cutter human beings to be made we will enter into a cycle that will never be broken. Looking back to Jesus, had some fantastic views on education. Even though he came before a public system, he has very modern views. He uses different methods in order to rach student and motivate them. I feel that this is important becuase when you vary your methods students will be unable to check out and will be motivated to stay awake and see what comes next. My favorite quote in this whole packet came from the section on Augustine. "Having a student memorize and recite someone else's text is not teaching". I completely agree with this. Students can learn FROM what we aske them to read, but asking them to regurgitate someone else's work does nothing for us or them. We must look into what we are asking of our students and aske ourselves if it is valuable for them. School is not a Broadway musical, therefore we should not be asking our students to memorize lines.

Eight Theories Behind the World of Teaching

The eight different theories that fall alongside the different philosophies are as follows. Essentialism disctates that there is a central set of information that everyone should be taught and should know in order to functionin society. Behaviorism says that one's actions depend on environment not upon genetic make up and heredity. Positivism says that laws of matter and motion dictate everything, therefore spirituality and consciousness are null and void. Progressivism encourages student freedom and inquiry. Humanism looks to better the individual and contemplates goodness of each person. Constructivism looks at what things mean to the individual through experience and how experiences relate to life. Perennialism dictates that there is a set of important topics that should be understood by all. Reconstuctivists attempt to pass on a culture while adapting it for future generations. We as teachers tend to be either teacher-centered or student-centered. Teacher-centered philosophies such as behaviorism, positivism, and essentialism, are highly focused on controlling what students learn, how they learn it, and the procedures that should occur in the classroom. Student-centered philiosophies such as progressivism, humanism, and constructivism, however, place greater importance upon the meanings that students take away from what they learn and how they can apply it to their own life.

In my own opinion, I feel that I am far more student centered in my philosophy. I feel that while it is my job to choose what students will be learning, it is also my job to apply it all to their lives and make it meaningful to them. When students feel disconnected from what they are learning it makes learning seem trivial. Students that feel as though they are being taught something "because the teacher said so" will take far less from what they learn. Due to my opinions, I feel that I am a foremost constructivist. Following this, I would say that I also hold true to humanistic philosophy as well as those applying to the progressive side of things. I feel that these philosophies all hearken to what I want to instill and uphold in my classroom. When students have the freedom to explore within a subject, it becomes easier for them to construct personal meaning and be motivated to continue learning whether in a hands on way, or in a traditional setting.

Discipline

Students have been acting out and misbehaving since the beginning of school. The one thing that has changed is how we deal with this issue. What is the best way to deal with disciplining our students? I believe that in my classroom it makes the most sense to make a set of guidelines that students need to follow. Students should have a hand in putting them in place and they should be agreed upon by students and myself. I feel that there should not just be punishments, but rewards as well. I feel that there is only so much that disciplining students can do. I would love to read a book on effective discipline, and perhaps creative discipline, because I honestly don't believe that the run of the mill detention holds much weight anymore, especially for repeat offenders. I feel that when we empower students to take their behavior into their own hands and allow them to decide what is and isn't appropriate, that they will have a higher level of respect for the classroom and the time they spend within it.

Empowerment

Why are there always teachers that give up? All of us are handed challenges. Whether that comes in the form of the bratty clique of girls, the jock who does only enough to stay on the team, or the kid who has been stuck in the same spot because nobody has faith in him, we need to face each of these challenges with the same passion. In enty 139, the teacher has a student who has been told all of his life that he will never succed. He has already repeated the 8th grade 3 times and each time has watched as his peers move on while he is stuck in the same spot. The teacher in this instance knows that while every other teacher and administrator has said this boy will not succeed in anything, this student is perfectly capable of anything he damn well pleases. The one thing that is holding him back is that these teachers have made it known that they don't believe in him. What the hell kind of teaching is that? It is in my opinion that you should always have faith in your students even if they are the most unlikely underdog. Each student with a little encouragement and faith has the opportunity to succeed. It is our JOB to give them the tools with which to do so. I hope that I never allow my colleagues to get inside the head of my students and make them believe that they are incapable. Don't give up. Stand up, do your job, and watch as your students grow.

Philosophies in Education

As with any profession there are many different basic philosophies that apply to those that work within them. Education  no different, having 4 basic philosophies that apply to teaching. The first philosphy, Idealism, believes that ideas and concepts are the most important things to know and understand above all things. Everything else is an inaccurate depiction of what is "out there". The next philosophy, realism, believes that reality, knowledge and value exist whether we know it or not. Realists oppose idealist beliefs in that they don't adhere to the point of ideas being the most important aspect of reality. The third philosophy, pragmatism, believes that evolving is better than just generally being. Pragmatists are unique because they believe that change is always occuring and that we should "become" rather than "be". The final philosophy, existentialism, argues that our reality is only existing. Nothing is inherently true, false, or in between; it just is.

I feel that as a teacher I relate most to the Idealist and Pragmatist schools of thought. I believe that we should learn the concepts that are out there in order to learn more about what is around us. Yet I also believe that in doing this, we should always be working to better not only ourselves but the wrold around us. I want my students not only to learn the ideas and concepts that they must learn in order to successfully complete high school, but to learn about that which they need to understand in order to go out into the world and make a difference. I want to be able to use a book in my classroom that teaches friendship, metaphors, and symbolism; yet I also want that piece of literature to stand as a window into the larger world in order for students to possibly see that they can go out into the world and change how things are in order to create a better experience for someone else.

A Multicultural Education

Wow. This presentation kind of brought out my passion for teaching. I suppose I don't understand why we are not all educating our students with a multicultural perspective? I understand that currently it is more difficult (with most curricula) to teach this in certain disciplines, but in at least English and History classrooms this must be addressed. The fact that we are all different in so many different ways must be addressed by students any way possible. Students should understand that people believe different things, feel different things, are treated differently, experience different things, and are generally different. Their view of diversity cannot be limited to the fact that their best friend is a brunette when they are a redhead. It must extend tot he fact that across the world there are people going to bed when they are waking up, and those people have a different belief system than they do. In my classroom I will strive to use literature that shows viewpoints of different religions, sexual preferences, genders, nationalities, haircolors, skin colors, shoe size.... ALL types of differences. Students need to understand that not everyone in the world is like them. Allowing them to think so just allows for a generation of ignorant people that will hate those different from them once they figure out about them. Could I live with myself if I passed through my career in education teaching only white anglo-saxon literature? No. Shouldn't we all make a pledge to teach our students with multicultural perspectives in mind? Yes. Yes, we should. I hope that throughout my career I am able to have a hand in creating a curriculum where this is both possible and required across all disciplines. Won't our children be better for it? I'd like to think so.