Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Final Draft: Philosophy of Education
One of the most fundamental human conditions
is the subjectivity of our experiences and how those experiences hence shape
our sense of the objective world and lead us to connect with it. Therefore as a consequence we come to create
our own own thoughts, opinions, evaluations and even techniques when it comes
to how we deal with the world and our professions. These statements are
certainly true in my experience as a human and as an educator, and therefore
have come to shape my views on teaching, education in general and my
profession. With these beliefs that I hold, I can define my educational
philosophy to be that of pragmatic rationalist combined with a touch of
idealism. This is because I use the tools of reasons that I have gathered
throughout my experiences and compliment them with a number of optimistic
principles that are often overlooked in a changing world consumed by high speed
and productivity.
In my four
years of experience as an educator both in underprivileged city districts and
now working with moderate to affluent communities, I have come to learn
students from all communities. These students, regardless of their socio
economic and cultural standings, value and desire the same thing while at
school: a good education, that is relevant to their lives. While it is true that students from
particular communities require different ways of learning and that resources
may vary from place to place, It is the educator who is primarily in charge and
capable to deliver the quality education regardless of circumstances.
Therefore, the educator alone has the ability and the responsibility to create
an environment that nurtures learning where and whenever he or she may be
present. This I can attest to, and this I have been able to experience while
working in various settings in New York.
As an educator, I have had the opportunity to establish a community of
learners who have emerged creating a constant flow of ideas and excitement for
the learning process.
Learning is a process that is multi-facetted
and when different techniques are implemented, learning and higher order
thinking will take place. Since every student
learns differently, and every student has the ability to do so, it is important
for the educator to try various approaches to make the learning process accessible
and easier for everyone. Kids will then
be able to use the tools they learn and develop good reasoning skills. Cultivating reasoning and critical thinking
skills should enable students to take in information more relevantly. For this,
I incorporate technology into the classroom as a tool to both engage students
as well as an instrument to challenge them. On the other hand, technology alone
is an incredible resource which not only helps the educator, but most
importantly at this point, it exposes students to multimedia information and
complex activates that should be at the core of an effective educator. What
this means is that technology is not longer a luxury, but a tool that our students
should learn to master so they can have the skills to be successful in a
globalized, technological world. It is therefore, not the sole responsibility
of a “technology” teacher to teach the skills they will be required to have. Furthermore,
implementing technological tools for various purposes and with various goals in
mind should be the goal of an effective teacher: that is, using the various
cognitive tools. Therefore, the teacher does not just simply “use the internet”
or a computer in a lesson, but rather engages students into the curriculum by
allowing students to use technology for information gathering, seeking,
organization, integration and even to generate knowledge.
It is my belief that the instructor ha the responsibility to
involve students and to address their needs in ways that will engage them, that
will challenge them. This should be done through the evaluation of student’s
intrinsic and extrinsic interest. As a rule of thumb, the implementation of
various resources and differentiation will be at the core of maintaining
students enged. There is no doubt that as a result my teaching practices will
be changing, and will be developing in ways which I believe will be positive.
While I am an idealist in a way, I will proceed cautiously, as I am aware of
the trials that I will have to make with the coming changes and I will be
obligated to see what works for me and what makes my pedagogy more effective. However,
as research continuously shows that intrinsic interest are more powerful and
influential, scholars suggest that teacher must make work relevant to students
life in order to have students understand its purpose. While there was plenty
of valuable information on positive practical practices, perhaps the most
important to me were the findings on intrinsic and extrinsic motivating
factors. As the researchers explain, while the use of extrinsic motivation is
widely used in schools, research shows that there is much higher degree of
success when the teacher uses intrinsic motivating factors. With this research
in mind I shall work to create more choice oriented projects and leave out the
“extra credit” and rewards that only benefit few.
The implementation of various resources and differentiation
will be at the core of the changes that I will be making this school year. I
will seek to use many of the strategies that I was able to learn in class in
order to better serve my students and allow them to successfully work together
to not only work on what they are good at, but to also empower them to work on
skills they lack. In order to do this, however, I will have to make drastic
changes. This school year I will start by implementing a culture to develop and
implement differentiated instruction in the classroom. As we can see in the
article Valuing Differentiated
Instruction by Angela Walker, “Choice is the one vital component of
differentiated instruction” which will enhance students interest and
interaction with the material.
Differentiated instruction will require me to check for
understanding and assessing students’ critical thinking skills through methods
that are not conventional in an education world focused on standardized tests.
Therefore I must be able to incorporate new ways to truly assess student’s
abilities in ways standard test fail. In the article Differentiated Assessment by Kristin Bittel, and Darrek Hernandez
we get a clear picture of some of the methods that are effective when assessing
students for varied skills. I was able to take many important points from this
article and will seek to implement a variety of opportunities for students to
show knowledge of content through various ways. The author’s research was able
to provide a good basis for students to start by, and a guide on how students
will be encouraged to work harder if they are given a choice and a decision on
what they want to do, and what grad they would like to aim for.
It is my belief that the educator must aim high when it comes
to using standards, as these are the primary tools that allow educators to purposefully
plan for students success. Therefore, An
effective instructor must work aligning curriculum with expectation using
common core standards for skills, state standards for curriculum and ISTE
standards for technology implementation. As a professional, it is my duty to
analyze, understand and implement the standards in ways that are appropriate
for students and that adequately fit into their abilities. By doing this,
students get to aim for a common goal, and are able to reach it with the
appropriate tools and tasks which are suitable developmentally.
Overall, my action plan for this
year will seek to implement a number of strategies that come from various
sources but that ultimately seek one common thing: to get our students from one
intellectual place into another. This school year I will look forward to
incorporate a number of changes that will make my classroom a place of student
interaction, of plenty of questioning, and a place that harbors an atmosphere
of trust, participation, and growth. I will seek to assess my students through
methods that will truly allow understanding of my students’ abilities and needs.
Using the research form class resources, I will seek forward to implementing a
number of methods and strategies that will not only make me a better
professional, but also encourage my students to grow as life learners.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Powerpoint Presentation.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19NDJXWjlqP8Ocl3v9L1bkLf52mESK4aD4soDhwouHYs/edit?usp=sharing
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