A little bit about me

My full name is Margaret Iesha Hines. I am junior at the University of South Alabama with a major in elementary education. I plan to teach the 4th grade once I recieve my degree. Children need instruction in their lives, and I feel like I would be the best teacher ever. I like to add fun activities to learning. I have found out that kids like to learn more when you incorporate activities and projects into learning. I want every child to remember that I was the teacher that made a change in the way that they learned. I want every child, not just my daughter to attain the best education that they can. Every child deserves to recieve a formal education, whether they are handicap, learning disabled, or etc. Point blank, everyone should be treated equally when it comes to learning, and that is what I want to instill in my students.

My Teaching Philosophy

By being a creative teacher, I can show my students fun and innovative ways to learn. I want to use a new style of teaching in my classroom that will help and not hinder a student’s success. My students should trust that I will commit myself to helping them receive a passing grade in my class. My students should be honest with me about everything, after all honesty is the best policy. Being fair to every student in my class will be my top priority. Every student will receive grades based on the knowledge that they possess. Every student in my class will be treated equally. My students needs come before my needs in the classroom. I want them to leave my classroom knowing that there many fun, and different ways to learn. Students have to be shown how things are done, that is how they learn. I will show my students how to do things the right way, after all, that is what I signed up for.

Communicating with Other Teachers

As a future educator, I believe that all teachers should communicate with other educators. By communicating with other educators, you can solve problems and learn new ways to do things. With the use of computers with Internet, teachers can communicate in a variety of ways. For example, teachers can communicate by Internet, blogs, and web pages. For Dr. strange' class, my group did a video on a website called classroom 2.0. This website is a social network for teachers all across the world. All you have to do is sign up, and start communicating with other teachers from all corners of the world. You can ask questions, and other educators can respond to your questions rapidly. You can also create a chat room with various educators. I believe this website is a great website for up coming educators. I know that I will use this website on more than one occasion.

Treating Students Equally

As a educator, I will treat all my students equally. Because I know that when I start teaching, I will have students of different cultures and races, I will do my best to create a classroom environment that will help and not hinder my students successes. I will have rules set that I expect my students to follow at all times. If any of my students have any problems, I want them to come and tell me about them. I will do the best I can to accomodate students worries. Students grades will be determined by completion of required class work and behavior. No student will recieve a grade that they have not earned. I will commit myself to helping my students learn and that is why I want to be an educator.

What I Have Learned so Far in EDM 310

In this technology course here at south, I have learned that technology is the future. I have learned things about technology that I have never known before. For example, you can use the built in camera on your PC to skype with others around the world. I never knew that skype existed until I took Dr. Stranges EDM310 class. Now that I know it exists, I have been using it all the time. You can talk, text, and use video on skype, which is super cool. Another thing I learned from taking this class is that teachers are not using technology in the classroom on a regular basis. I believe that all teachers should incorporate technology into their lessons in one way or another. They could skype another classroom, or comment on blogs from around the world. No matter what they do and how they do it, technology should be an asset in the classroom.

Blogging in the Classroom

I will have my students create blogs for everyone to view. Once a week I will let the students get online and make posts to their page. Their posts can range from many topics such as what they did that week, what projects they will be doing in the future, and interesting facts about themselves. Parents can view their childs blogs and monitor their progress in the class. As the teacher, I will make posts also. My posts will include the class rules, syllabus, lesson plans, activities, projects, and anything that I may find interesting. Althoug there is much to learn about technology, I want my students to leave my class as technologically literate students. Students can communicate with other students all across the world, which can open up many doors for them. In Dr. Stranges class, we blogged with students from all parts of the world. I want my students to do an activity like this. It was very interesting to learn about different people from different cultures.

Google Documents

Google documents is a great way to do papers and have fun, and it is all free. I would use google in the classroom because students do not have to bring flash drives to school everyday, which would be a hassle for parents. Using google, my students will be able to do presentations and documents for free. All students have to do is come to class and type in their email address and password, then they will be able to acess everything on the google site. Google is the smart way to go, and I would not have it any other way for my students.

Podcasts

I believe that podcasts are a great way for students to interact in the technological world. As a future educator, I can incorporate my lessons with podcasts. In the microcomputing class that I took, we did our own podcasts, which was a great way for me to learn how to do them, since I have never done one before. I can show my students how to make podcasts and use them in the classroom. The podcasts that I listened to on Itunes were great. The students impressed me and they do not even know me. I want my students to impress people just as the kids on itunes impressed me.