Education Philosophy
Dan Rothwell
Educational Philosophy
I hold a progressive mind set toward education, and a strong focus on constructivism. It is my belief that students are self-motivated and learn most efficiently from dynamic experimentation and active learning. Students construct knowledge from their experiences interacting with people, real world resources applicable to their lives and reflections on those experiences and interactions. The process of developing rational, critical thinking and problem solving skills is more vital to the student than memorizing useless facts. In order for students to learn, they must be interested in the subject. It is up to the teacher to provide and spark such interest. The teacher needs to pique interest by determining each child’s interests and ambitions, only then can the instructor facilitate the student’s construction of connections to the material.
Educational Philosophy
I hold a progressive mind set toward education, and a strong focus on constructivism. It is my belief that students are self-motivated and learn most efficiently from dynamic experimentation and active learning. Students construct knowledge from their experiences interacting with people, real world resources applicable to their lives and reflections on those experiences and interactions. The process of developing rational, critical thinking and problem solving skills is more vital to the student than memorizing useless facts. In order for students to learn, they must be interested in the subject. It is up to the teacher to provide and spark such interest. The teacher needs to pique interest by determining each child’s interests and ambitions, only then can the instructor facilitate the student’s construction of connections to the material.
Rote memorization puts information into short-term memory, where it cannot be kept without constant repetition. If rehearsal of the information ceases, the information is lost. Therefore, I believe rote memorization can only be used sparingly in the classroom. In my classroom, I hope to find out what the students are interested in and develop a curriculum which incorporates those interests. Class activities will include a large number of hands on activities and small group work in order to aid strong links to key topics of interest. With such activities, I will be able to differentiate instruction within the class to provide the best learning environment for all types of learners.
I consider an effective teacher to be someone who has a passion for helping children succeed. Valuable teachers are driven to assist children in any aspect of their lives. A quality teacher is not a person who simply teaches, but a person who is available to students and has the skill set needed to offer a helping hand in any facets of their life. I believe being a teacher is important because children are our most essential assets. Not only do teachers help students learn educational skills and material but also they help children become healthier, independent, well-rounded citizens.
To strengthen my ability to provide a Constructivist-based classroom, I plan to use the internet and tools derived from the internet in my classroom. The main benefit of the internet in the classroom is it puts knowledge in the hands of students instead of teachers. Teachers for centuries have been the conveyor of knowledge and students the receivers of knowledge. The internet allows the role of students and teachers to be changed and knowledge to be sought and utilized by students as needed. Allowing students to create their own meaning, will help solidify their learning far longer than traditional methods and increases the time spent at the higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy.
To strengthen my ability to provide a Constructivist-based classroom, I plan to use the internet and tools derived from the internet in my classroom. The main benefit of the internet in the classroom is it puts knowledge in the hands of students instead of teachers. Teachers for centuries have been the conveyor of knowledge and students the receivers of knowledge. The internet allows the role of students and teachers to be changed and knowledge to be sought and utilized by students as needed. Allowing students to create their own meaning, will help solidify their learning far longer than traditional methods and increases the time spent at the higher levels of Blooms Taxonomy.
The internet also poses challenges, such as bullying and inappropriate content and resources. Schools do a good job of prohibiting inappropriate content from students, but students continually attempt to circumnavigate these protections. Online bullying has become an issue at the forefront of technology use and schools need to have in place clear policies to help prevent this type of behavior. Beyond all of these measure I believe the most important and effective measure to reduce pitfalls of internet use is the teacher. Teachers must strive to educate students on the perils and pitfalls of the internet early and often.
Specifically, I plan to use interactive tools like Storybird, Wordle, Animoto, Schoology, Slideshare, Googledocs and Khan Academy to help students find a way to make math more fun, meaningful and pertinent. Most students cannot thrive in a Math classroom based on worksheets and memorization. My hope is to turn kids who seem to avoid or dislike math into kids who like to use creative tools to express mathematical reasoning and create products to demonstrate learning. When students use tools and the internet it helps make learning more realistic and applicable to their lives.