Reflection of Class Week 1

During class on the 31st of August we explored the meanings of the words: Learn, Student, Teach, Teacher,  and Technology Education. We were asked to consider our personal teaching philosophies. Everybody has their own definitions of these words and Brother Wright encouraged us to think about what they mean to us as future teachers. We were asked to consider the following questions: What is your philosophy of teaching? What and why are you really trying to teach? What is your purpose as a tech teacher? Why be a teacher? What does good/ effective teaching look like? What would your classroom look like?
During an interview we should be able to answer these questions with conviction.
Personally I always wanted to be a teacher because I love seeing people learn. Aiding others as they develop more control over themselves and their environment brings me a lot of satisfaction.
Originally I wanted to be a special Education teacher because I am particularly interested in learning disabilities but I wanted to learn about and teach Technology because I know that it is becoming increasingly important in the world and greater knowledge and skill will be needed to serve in the future.
A teacher can do so much more than just have a computer in the classroom. As the ITEEA encourages teachers can  help students discover "That technology is, how it is created, how it shapes society, and in turn is shaped by society. "
As teachers we will facilitate learning. We can keep students involved and conduct activities that deliberately teach a principle. We talked about various techniques that will help students. Brother Wright brought a selection of fruit and invited us to take the fruit we wanted most. I chose a red apple and it tasted great. Wouldn't it have been disappointing for him and us if he had only come in with oranges-gross- and told us all that we were all going to have oranges.  This activity demonstrated the need to bring a smorgasbord of teaching skills the the table. Not every student will learn the same way and we need to be able to meet each student learning-style pallet in an organized way.
Brother Wright showed us a few examples of his son learning. I identified that he was given creative freedom to figure things out on his own and his achievements were impressive. In another circumstance he was given a model to follow. He fed off the enthusiasm and praise shown by his teacher, peer, and parent.