Make Learning Fun

In order to get the students' interest and make learning fun, it is a necessity as a teacher to use your imagination to catch their attention. Incorporating new learning methods will spark their enthusiasm for the lesson. Using sites such as ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange)will give me many ideas for interesting and fun lesson plans.

Make Myself Accessible to Students and Parents

With technology booming, most students have access to a computer for internet access (even if that access is at the public or school library). I want my students and their parents to be able to get in contact with me without the use of a telephone. Setting up a separate school only email account and making that email address available to my students and their parents will be easy 24/7 access to me, their teacher. It will enable the students to ask me questions about assignments and tests. It will enable the parents and myself to communicate about behavioral problems that may be occurring in the classroom, their child's grades and assignments/due dates. This simple strategy will allow me to accomplish my goal of keeping the lines of communications open.

Burp Back Education

It is important that students are actually learning what they are being taught in the classroom. Standing at the front of the room then testing the students on that information just doesn't cut it. The brain's short term memory is comprised of a small amount of room, meaning you cannot keep information in there for too long. Short term memory needs to be converted to long term memory in order to "stay there". The only way for that to happen is for the student to actually learn the information. Repetition works as well as relating that information to something they already know. This ties in with my philosophy on "Making Learning Fun". Make the lesson relate able and enjoyable then introduce the information more than one time in the classroom along with assignments. It is always important to go over assignments so the students can find out what they did wrong. It is the only way to learn.

Incorporate Technology

Technology is advancing in our society. As a teacher, I need to make sure that I am not only using the available technology in my classroom, but I am also educating myself on what is new in the world of technology. In order for the students to learn, the teacher must be able to keep up with them. Because of the fact that at USA classes such as EDM310 are required for students enrolled in the College of Education, I don't think that it will be a problem for myself when I begin teaching. To ensure that I do not have the problem with being technologically illiterate, I need to make sure that I continue to educate myself with seminars and classes geared toward new technology.

Prepare for the Future

As a teacher, I will be preparing my students for the future. Teachers oftentimes forget that their students are our next generation. It is an important job to be a teacher. It is also a job that must be done correctly or else we all suffer. In school, students decide what interests them. That in turn leads to a decison about what they will be when they "grow up". A teacher must be able to recognize that this child does well in Science and loves it while this other child loves History. Students must be treated as individuals that work at different rates and are interested in different subjects.