Teaching Philosophy and Goals

     My philosophy in education is the fact that while I can teach and I can lead students onto paths the students themselves will have the best idea of what they want to learn and how they learn best. I am here to facilitate them and help them but never to really control them and what they are learning. That's why I want to promote an environment where students can not only decide how they are learning but even being able to learn together in ways that are interesting and innovative. 

    A goal that I have for my class is that I really want to enable my students to feel comfortable to explore the subjects that they wish to learn about and not be fearful to show interest in what others might not be interested or might ignore. 

    When it comes to using technology I actually think that I am very tech savvy just through the fact that I have not only built my own PC but I also know how to fix it and troubleshoot it. So in the hardware area of technology I have a pretty good grasp on what is going in using technology I am also very comfortable with using technology in different situations and using technology to assist not only myself but I can use technology to assist others and my students in a class.

    In one of my practicum classes the students would have an hour of computer time each day in which they would go onto a site and play a bunch of educational games. I thought this was a very interesting idea as these games not only were a mix of a bunch of different subjects, but there was absolutely nothing restricting which games the students played which led to them focusing on what games they really liked and could learn more from because they enjoy it. 

    In this class one of my main goals is not about how to use technology or what some technology does. Although I do believe that having access to more resources and help in regards to technology is always welcome but instead what I want the most in this class is more ideas of not only how to use technology in class but how to use technology in class in such unique ways that all of my students are able to follow along and not only do it in class but take it home to do there. I understand that not all my students are going to have access to the same technology that others might enjoy but I would like ideas and ways to bridge that gap to provide better schooling for all my students.