These are the main components of my personal educational philosophy and the main areas I have been focussing my professional development.
The first (and to some most obvious) component of my philosophy is technology. Almost every student I teach these days has been exposed to technology that I did not have access to in high school. A lot of research has coined the term “Digital Natives” to describe these children. They become excited about using the technology, from Powerpoint to movie projects. For example, this picture was taken this weekend. This is the first time avid has touched my Ipod touch. He walked right up turned it on and almost unlocked the screen, without having done it before! This is why I am so interested in technology. This is how powerful it is.
These are some of the tools I use in my class.
I received a Smartboard two years ago and it has become my most valuable tool. It helps me in the following areas
I have been experimenting with them in the following areas
This is an example of a webquest that I used in story 20. All of the resources and instructions were housed on this wiki site that the students can access at any time. It worked very well.
This is an example of a wiki run by Dan Schellenberg a math teacher at Melville Comprehensive School. It is a repository of all of his lessons recorded electronically from his Smartboard. Building a site such as this is a goal of mine.
With the use of the Smartboard, my use of multimedia has been increasing.
I will start with evaluation. This is how I run evaluation in my class.
It is good to know stuff - It feels good to know that you are smart. There is a lot of fun stuff in class - Labs, Demos, Simulations, Projects Dog and Pony Show - my mannerisms, “Nerd” teacher, Humour, Safe and Caring Environment, No Surprises Work Anything worthwhile is hard - this is the largest hurdle I have to jump.
Mutual Respect - this is a basic thing I set up early. It is the key to my management strategy. Management - The most basic and important thing in my class. Routines - No surprises. My students know how we start the class, what the assignments are, what the expectations are and where everything is in the class. Fair vs. Even - A concept I stress with my Middle ears students. I can either be fair or even. They get to pick.
I love PD. I try to go to as many conferences and PD events as I can get away with. these are some of the highlights. At conventions I always try to go to the sessions that are meaningful (or that might be). I try not to go to the “fluff” sessions. Other - I tossed this in because of an experience I recently got to enjoy last September. I was “voluntold” to go to an Aboriginal Ed retreat at Waterhen Reserve, learning about Aboriginal studies and the Aboriginal perspective. I was honestly dreading it, but it ended up being some of the best PD I have done in the end.
This s the process I use in my professional development (something I did not realize until I did some research). Pre-Conference - I go over all available materials before I go to a conference so that I know what I am getting into. Observation - This is attending the PD session. Analysis - As I attend the workshop/conference/etc. I am taking notes on how I can use this in class. Post-Conference - After the session, I try to decide on how this will fit into my plans. Planning - When planning for classes, I try to fit in what I’ve learned and decide what to focus on next.
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