Will I use technology in my classroom?
Starting off this semester my answer would have been a very hesitant 'yes'. I was not incredibly confident in my use with technology and was nervous at the vulnerability it would leave me in the classroom. Let's be honest... we have ALL been those students starting at the clock ticking while the Professor tries their hardest to get their technology to work. It just seemed plain embarrassing to me.
What I have learned throughout this semester in my teaching program about technology is that although it comes with hindering faults, it also comes with an immense power to change the culture of your classroom and more effectively involve student learning! Yes... there may be those times where it fails to work with you but what matters is that technology involves both student and teacher learning into the future of education.
Technology is not going away. I will effectively use technology in my classroom to check for student's understanding, create web quests that allow for both a tangible classroom approach and one that involves technology, and finally I will make sure that I could teach the students to effectively carry the technology learned in my classroom out into their other classes and into the real world.
Being a student I love to learn! And this love for learning will not end just because the student is now turning into the teacher, I believe that I will continue learning new things about technology and as it develops be learning more fully how to use it in my classroom.
My teaching technology philosophy goes as follows...
Technology in the classroom is a way in which students can supplement modern thinking and effective problem solving in the classroom. It will be used in order to gain and check for understanding, and will able to be applied not only in classes outside of Miss Willis' but in the real world as well.
My concluding question to those hesitant about using technology in their classroom is this... wouldn't you want to have EVERY available resource at your disposal to lead to the success of your students?
Monday, May 5, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
To Teach Or Not To Teach
Hello! My name is Kileen Willis and I am a third year undergraduate student at Colorado State University. I am a history major with a concentration on social studies teaching.
Whenever a good amount of people hear that I have an interest in wanting to be a teacher they always seem to ask questions, "Are you sure you want to do that? You won't get paid much!". To be honest, like any good teacher the money is not why I want to get into teaching. It is something far deeper that has been on my mind since I was in high school. Although I understand the reservations on their part, there will be no swaying this young 21 year old girl from a classroom full of students ready to engage in learning. There were a few reasons why I decided I wanted to be a teacher. One of them was because of the fact that I could not picture myself behind an office desk working 8 hours and staring at a computer screen, that would not be me. The other reason, was that I found a fascination for history my junior year of high school that I could not shake. History was deeper and held more meaning to me than just dates and figures. To me? History was a collection of ordinary, and at times insignificant, people who managed to do extraordinary things with their lives. Sometimes those historical figures were not as glamorous, but for the majority that retain in my memory they are the people who seemed to surpass stereotypes and fight for the passions of their life. Even if that meant sacrificing everything they had.
History ties together stories and moments from human kind that seem to grasp the "we can do anything attitude". History can show us that even a single person refusing to move their place in a bus holds extreme significance that sparked a growing movement. History is not just about remembering that the United States declared their independence on July 2nd in 1776 but fully voted on July 4th in 1776, but rather what a group of 13 colonies admitting their independence meant. How George Washington would inspire a nation to live democratically.
The reason that history has such significance on my life is because it has shown me that that no matter what... people matter. Their ideas matter. Therefore, all of the students I will be teaching in the future matter. My hope is that the students will learn what their passions are and work to create a better world. One single person can change another's life forever and we need to stop telling ourselves that we want to accomplish is too much, but rather tell ourselves that we will do whatever possible to fight to make that dream a reality.
Yes. Teaching may not monetarily pay me much. But in the wide span of things what will matter more to me is that the lives of my students will have a passion and drive to make their mark on the world, and learn from others how to make it a better world for others. A few of my favorite historical figures are people who did not want anything but to make a better and more loving world. Jesus Christ inspired people like Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and many other amazing people. Those were people who were poor in the eyes of the world, but they left behind a legacy that has truly changed our world. It is not enough that we can talk about change but we actually have to live it out! That is what history is all about! Acting out in the face of indifference or opposition, and being able to live out your passion in life. Teaching will give me the opportunity to be around a future generation that will need to learn these skills in order to do all that they would dream of doing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peta-de-aztlan/3476636111/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57759968@N02/5347813780/
Whenever a good amount of people hear that I have an interest in wanting to be a teacher they always seem to ask questions, "Are you sure you want to do that? You won't get paid much!". To be honest, like any good teacher the money is not why I want to get into teaching. It is something far deeper that has been on my mind since I was in high school. Although I understand the reservations on their part, there will be no swaying this young 21 year old girl from a classroom full of students ready to engage in learning. There were a few reasons why I decided I wanted to be a teacher. One of them was because of the fact that I could not picture myself behind an office desk working 8 hours and staring at a computer screen, that would not be me. The other reason, was that I found a fascination for history my junior year of high school that I could not shake. History was deeper and held more meaning to me than just dates and figures. To me? History was a collection of ordinary, and at times insignificant, people who managed to do extraordinary things with their lives. Sometimes those historical figures were not as glamorous, but for the majority that retain in my memory they are the people who seemed to surpass stereotypes and fight for the passions of their life. Even if that meant sacrificing everything they had.
History ties together stories and moments from human kind that seem to grasp the "we can do anything attitude". History can show us that even a single person refusing to move their place in a bus holds extreme significance that sparked a growing movement. History is not just about remembering that the United States declared their independence on July 2nd in 1776 but fully voted on July 4th in 1776, but rather what a group of 13 colonies admitting their independence meant. How George Washington would inspire a nation to live democratically.
The reason that history has such significance on my life is because it has shown me that that no matter what... people matter. Their ideas matter. Therefore, all of the students I will be teaching in the future matter. My hope is that the students will learn what their passions are and work to create a better world. One single person can change another's life forever and we need to stop telling ourselves that we want to accomplish is too much, but rather tell ourselves that we will do whatever possible to fight to make that dream a reality.
Yes. Teaching may not monetarily pay me much. But in the wide span of things what will matter more to me is that the lives of my students will have a passion and drive to make their mark on the world, and learn from others how to make it a better world for others. A few of my favorite historical figures are people who did not want anything but to make a better and more loving world. Jesus Christ inspired people like Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and many other amazing people. Those were people who were poor in the eyes of the world, but they left behind a legacy that has truly changed our world. It is not enough that we can talk about change but we actually have to live it out! That is what history is all about! Acting out in the face of indifference or opposition, and being able to live out your passion in life. Teaching will give me the opportunity to be around a future generation that will need to learn these skills in order to do all that they would dream of doing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peta-de-aztlan/3476636111/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57759968@N02/5347813780/
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