My Tools

There are defiantly tools that I found in EDM 310 that I will be using as a teacher. Blogging, for one, is a very powerful tool that can connect me and my students to a whole world of knowledge. Perhaps more importantly it can open their minds to the fact that they can find sources of knowledge no matter what kind of area they may attend school. As a special education teacher, I have found some more tools such as eye gaze that will allow my students with disabilities to better function even in a normal classroom. I consider it my duty to my students to stay up to date on the latest tech tools that will give them the best learning experience available.

My Skills

I feel that I have many skills that make me fit to be an educator. I have always been a very patient person. I am empathetic. I am calm under pressure. I have had all of these qualities my entire life. The struggle for my was figuring out what to do with them. I think what really confused me is that I didn't take my education into consideration. I asked myself "what can I do right now?", and I figured that what I should do. What I should have been asking, and I eventually did, is what can I do with the skills that I have now, along with the skills I can learn in college. That has obviously brought me here. Do I currently have all of the skills that I will need as an educator, no. I do however have a strong foundation on which I can build the skill set that South Alabama has to offer.

My Approaches

I plan on having a very diverse series of approaches when it comes to the way I address my students. Obviously, I will want to utilize tools that I have found in EDM 310, such as blogging, Google Docs, and Voice Threads. On top of that however, I think I will have many other styles. Unfortunately, I don't know them yet. I am at the beginning of my journey to becoming an educator. Over the next few years I plan to pick up the approaches that will work for me in my classroom. I also plan to blog about them as I find them. For this post however, that is all I have for now.

My Aptitude

My aptitude is of highest. I have to be willing and able to learn about new tools and ideas available to me everyday. That's right, everyday. In the time that we live in, there are literally daily advances in every field, including education. If I do not do my best to keep up and am not willing to take time and learn about these opportunities, than I'm not doing my job effectively. We need teachers to be ready, willing, and able to understand and learn technology, because our students are going to know more about it than we do. They will need these tools in order to learn, so we must be able to teach them.

My Attitudes

I think that my attitude as a teacher will be one of optimism and faith in my students ability to reach their highest potential. Nothing is more depressing to me than a teacher who is burnt out and thinks that there are children that CANNOT teach. This is something that I refuse to accept. I believe some children will be difficult, probably many children, but that just means that i have to find a way that works for them. It is my responsibility to create the environment in which each student can learn. The first thing that I need in that environment is the right attitude.

EDM 310 Blogging Lesson

First of all, before taking this class I had never written on a blog before or even read one relating in any way to education. I had only used blogs for entertainment purposes, and even then not much. I'm not sure how much I will be blogging myself (definitely more than before), but what I'm really interesting in is continuing to explore and learn from the blogs of others, especially teachers. When I actually begin teaching myself, I think that I will be far more likely to participate more actively in blogging myself. I think that it's a great way to expose my students to the world in a fun but safe way.