Public Speaking

I think public speaking is a great tool in the education process, it can teach us confidence, proper English, speaking skills and the ability to speak to our peers. Public speaking is a fear a lot of us face and I think a cure to this is to start the process of public speaking early in life. If your child is a student of mine you can plan on them having to do presentations to the class, there will be very few exceptions. I like public speaking because it instills values in us and if started early in life we will carry these values with us through life. Confidence is hard to come by and I know for a fact that speaking in public will boost confidence in someone. So many people have come to talk slang and not proper English and I feel this a problem, speaking proper makes us look better and people respect what we have to say, if we have to speak publicly we want to sound intelligent so we will be more apt to speak proper English. I have seen throughout my life that there is people that do not know how to speak to their peers, If we teach public speaking early on our students and children, they will not have problems speaking to their peers. I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack for making students speak out loud and to the class, but trust me it will make them better students and people in the long run. We cannot hide in the shadows our whole life at some point we have to speak, why not teach our children how to do this early on.

I Do Not Know it All

Just as there are know-it-all students there are know-it-all teachers, let me be the first to say that I am not one. I think it is a misconception that teachers are a walking encyclopedia and know everything there is to know, I want my students and parents to know that I don't have all the answers. What I do have though is the willingness to find the answers to the things I do not know. If ever any of my students have a question and I do not know the answer you can trust I will do my best to find that answer. On the other hand I do not expect my students to know all the answers, so if they do not know an answer I will give them the opportunity to find the answer. Along this line of thinking I will not tolerate students that find humor in other students not knowing something, if a student teases, humiliates, makes fun of another student I will be the first to reprimand them. Learning is a constant process and together myself and my students can learn something new.

Throw Away the Test

Test day can make even the brightest of students come to fear, I want to get rid of this problem. I think to many people have come to believe that making an A is a sign of a good student, I disagree. I think the sign of a good student is the ability to retain knowledge that can be used practically. Do not think that I do not want to grade my students though, I just want to do grade based on skill of knowing how to do something not on the memorization of things. When I was a firefighter whenever I became certified on something new there was a test on the knowledge of how to perform that new skill, for example when I became certified as a Driver/Operator I had to pass a written test but more importantly a practical test on how to drive and operate a fire truck. The practical test was a better indicator of whether or not you knew how to perform a task, we should do this in a classroom. An example would be lets teach our students about the Presidents, but instead of making them memorize all the Presidents lets make them demonstrate to us they know how someone becomes a President, their job and where to find a list of former Presidents. If we keep putting an emphasis on passing test students will not have knowledge of how to perform task they will just know how to memorize information.

Technology in the Classroom

When I reflect on the use of technology in my primary education I can remember very little use of it, whether this had to do with the lack of technology we have today or the lack of teachers willingness to use it, I don't know but I can say I wish I had it. I know on the college level technology has made schooling more enjoyable and easier and I want to bring this experience to my classrooms. The most prevalent technology I want my students to be able to use is the personnel computer and the internet, both these items can become as useful to a student as a hammer is to a carpenter. I do not want to limit the use of technology to what the schools have, I want to challenge my students to bring and use whatever new or existing technologies that they have access to. If my students bring in something I will be more than willing to test it and see if I can find a practical use for it in the classroom. Sometimes students can teach the teachers something and I have no problem embracing this thought. I as a teacher do not fear what I do not know I embrace it and want to learn from it. If you are ever a student of mine feel free to challenge me when it comes to technology, I want to learn.

Jeopardy In the Classroom

I have a strong belief that learning and teaching can be a fun and rewarding time for both the student and the teacher, this is why I will be using the Jeopardy t.v. show format to help in teaching and studying. At the beginning of each section I will do a Jeopardy style quiz to see the base line of what my students know, I will then use this knowledge to help prepare a lesson plan that is molded to what the students already know and what they are lacking knowledge in. After each lesson plan I will then have another Jeopardy style quiz to check to see what they have learned, I will also use this second round to award bonus points and other prizes that will encourage students to study more and retain more information. I would also like to at the end of each school year have a championship round to see what information students have retained throughout the year and pass that information onto teachers in the next grade of school. The championship round I will also try to find donations to give to the winning students, I think these rewards and the thrill of playing the game will be a definite way to get students more involved in learning and retaining knowledge.