The Way I Am

My Philosophy of Education:

When I think back on my ten years in the classroom the word Philosophy does not come to mind. It was not so much a “Philosophy” that drove me, my students and my classroom environment as it was a purpose. I was driven to be the best teacher I could be. To achieve this, I had to have the best students. Since we all know we get what we get when it comes to students, it was part of my job to mold them into the students I wanted them to be, the successful students I knew they needed to be, and hopefully by the end wanted to be themselves.

In reading though the articles and taking the “Educational Philosophy Inventory” I would have to say that my philosophy is truly a balanced mix. I hold tightly to ideals in most of the categories. My results of the inventory were within 8 points of each other scoring a 20, 19, two 18s, 15 and a 12. I believe this is what made my classroom work so well. I was not an extreme “old school” teacher, but I was not so out in front of the curve that it was uncomfortable and unstructured.

I place myself firmly in the Constructivism realm. I do wholly believe that students have to develop a solid base. However, by the 8^th grade the students are all over the board with their developmental bases. It was my job to assess where they were in this process and develop them from their starting point. This is where I as the teacher have to find the balance from being an Essentialist and moving into being a Progressivist. My the middle grades it is good for students to start to question “why will I need this”, but only if they follow through with searching for the answers. Sometimes it is as simple as because “I have to get to the next step, and I will need the next step for X.”

One of the roles I took on in my school was the “Technology Guinea Pig”. I loved this role! I would take any little gadget or software they wanted tested and work it into my lesson plans. It was more work at times to change up my lesson plans, but 9 times out of 10 it was well worth it. I 100% embraced Smart Software and my wireless slate. I was able to move around the room to check my student's work, yet I was able to run preset notes, activities or stop everything to work out a problem if that was needed at the time. I was able to hand the slate off to student to demonstrate their knowledge of the given problem. It became part of our everyday routine. The few times I was forced to go back to the board with marker in hand, it created a different feel in the room. It was almost like the students respected the technology, “this information must be important, look how it is being presented”. Using the slate also took the emphasis off of me as the “teacher” having to be at the board in the front of the room. Since I was able to be any where in the room, I was able to create more of a discussion feel about a problem.

Technology gave me the tools to move from my essentialist base to the more progressive hook if you will, to engage the students. Being able to manipulate the math problem on the fly as the students came up with “what if” questions made the experience more relevant to them. I could not hope for more than actively engaged, participating and thinking students. One of the best compliments I could ever get from my students was the statement “math class flies by”. This meant they didn't have time to be bored. They were too busy focused on the tasks at hand.

I believe the middle grades are hard to go through and to teach. It is a balancing act every day of moving from childhood with childhood thoughts and feelings, to the adult world of responsibilities and a whole need set of fears. When I think about being a guide and ushering the students from one phase of life to another I think about two different teachers in our building. One was our last 8^th grade science teacher, she would talk to the students about metacognition. She used this as a way to help the students learn to study. Making them think which way of learning was most effective for them. She would challenge them constantly with this throughout the year. I think she would have taken off with our one to one ipad project. I can only imagine all of the research she would be having them do. Not to mention the projects they would be collaborating on with each other. Another was a lesson from our current 8^th grade health teacher, his statement was “The smarter you are the less you realize you know.” This is a profound statement for a 14 year old to understand, it totally confronts their developing ego. He found one of the most fascinating apps in my opinion and it is just for the fun of pure knowledge. Wonderopolis has short summaries of why the world is the way it is. Questions like, “Why do you blink?”, “How does a hovercraft work?”, “What is the vernal equinox?”. There is a new question posted everyday. He said some they just read together, but if it does happen to have a health related issue they talk about it further and explore the question further. This is a great use of the technology at hand to develop well rounded curious human beings.

I bring up these two teachers as examples because this was always my goal, my Philosophy if you will, to instill a solid base, then guide them as they grow in their own direction, reaching for their greatest potential, and having the desire to learn. I think these two teachers nurtured the growing by trying to open their student's minds beyond the present. The tools technology offers only enhances what we as educators can present as options to students. It is up to the students to make it their own and soar. It is up to me as the teacher to use any and all tools that will support them in their learning endeavors.

Show Me the Resources

The deciding factor in agreeing to take part in this class, was knowing that I will have the opportunity to talk to other educators, technology support people and administrators who are going through the same trials as I am.  I want to learn what works and what doesn't. What are the must have resources, tools and tricks that others have learned about along the way in their journey. 

In reply for this knowledge, I will be happy to share the experiences I have ventured through this past school year, as my school rolled out the 1:1 iPad initiative.  What the advantages and disadvantages are to iPads.  How we have tried to work through or around those issues.  How taking such a large progressive step forward is viewed in a very small community.  I will be as candid as possible of any question asked of me. 

Thinking of the larger picture is where I must slow myself down.  This initiative is a process, an ever evolving process.  We can learn from each other, but we don't often take the time or pay attention to others, when we "think" we already know what we want.  Something I have really struggled with this past year is meaningful Professional Development for my teachers.  Not everyone on staff has a positive outlook when it comes to technology, so not only do I need to create a non-threatening atmosphere, I need it to be perceived as helpful, instructional, inspiring and not intimating.  This has proven to be a tall order.  So I am here to soak it up from the rest of you.  How do you create positive buy in and continue to force the envelope to insure the technology is being used the correct way?