This is my first semester at FSW with the intention of
obtaining an Elementary Education degree. I am enrolled in two “teaching”
courses and in one of them I was asked, “What is your teaching philosophy?” I
didn’t know. Right off the bat even a simple Google of teaching philosophies
didn’t point me in the right direction of what I thought embodied me as a
future teacher. In Chapters 2 and 3 of our text, however, two opposing teaching
philosophies were reviewed: student centered teaching and teacher-centered
teaching. After review of these I would say that I will undoubtedly be more
towards the student-centered teaching viewpoint.
Student-centered teaching, according to our text, is about “orchestrating
different experiences for students” and that “the role of the teacher is to
create puzzles, ask questions, and engage in conversation with students” and
guide them on their own path of study (Maloy 2013, p. 36). This is right up my
alley and exactly what I hope to embody as a teacher one day. This style of
learning was always my favorite and it felt like a real world experience than
another day of being talked at for hours.
By being a teacher that will focus on a learner centered
structure, I hope to incorporate as much technology into my classroom as I can.
With that being said, I will also have to teach the students how important it
is to research credible sources, and to use critical thinking to determine what
is credible and what is not. Our
textbook calls this “Internet literacy”, and featured an experiment on a fictional
“Tree Octopus” that had middle school students tricked into thinking a forest
octopus actually existed. This example would be perfect to re-simulate in a
classroom to prove the importance of doing more than just reading online
content, but also to deconstruct it and question its validity. Here are a
couple of prime examples by using the fantastic tools at piktochart.com:
The third concept that struck my attention was expressing
online creativity. Our text refers to creativity as being too wide spread, and
true creativity only existing in genius form (such as Mozart and Einstein) (Maloy
2013, p. 63). While I understand that perspective and can respect that the
great innovative thinkers were definitely creative, I think creativity can be
present in smaller forms and still be considered “creativity”. Students will
find that expressing, thinking or acting creatively in a typical classroom
setting can be difficult, so I suspect that by adding another dimension to that
will create a bigger divide between the creative students and the non. I could
be wrong, however. Constructing online content could be easier for those
students that don’t express easily otherwise. There are many forms of
expression available to students these days online through Social Media and
applications. The largest and fastest growing online photography app,
Instagram, sold for a cool 1 billion dollars shortly after its inception and
continues to be a huge company to this day (Swisher, 2013). Instagram is the front runner in expressive
art applications that are used by today’s youth.
Resources:
Baby-foot-womb [Photograph]. (n.d.).
http://jmsmith.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/baby-foot-womb.jpg
Lichtenstein castle [Photograph]. (n.d.). Khao Phing Kan.
This fake photograph is difficult to
trace back to it's origin. What is known is that it is a combination of photos
from a German castle, Lichtenstein castle, and Khao Phing Kan in Thailand. The
creator submitted this product for a photo altering contest on www.worth1000.com.
Maloy, Robert,
Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Misener, J. (2013, July 26). 15
Viral Pinterest Photos That Are Actually Fake. Retrieved February 03, 2016,
from
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/15-viral-pinterest-photos-that-are-actually-fake#.hxZ3LM23K
Schroder, A., & E. P. (2013,
August 30). Taylor Swift Pinterest page is actually a bunch of Hitler quotes.
Retrieved February 03, 2016, from http://www.dailydot.com/lol/real-taylor-swift-pinterest-quotes-hitler/
Sweeney, A. M. (2016, February 3).
Internet Literacy with a Modern Disguise. Retrieved February 03, 2016, from
https://magic.piktochart.com/editor/piktochart/10989734#
Swisher, K. (2013, June). Mark
Zuckerberg and Kevin Systrom on What Really Happened When Facebook Bought
Instagram. Retrieved February 03, 2016, from
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2013/06/kara-swisher-instagram
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