Aspiring Educator

The first thing that popped out in this article is this, "Differentiated Instruction offers a unique flexibility to withstand change over a significant period of time. Why is this?"

"Why?" is the question, and the best way I can explain my answer is through personal examples, so bare with me! :) 

I am excited to use technology in my instruction. As I reflect back on my school days and see how the effective teachers used differentiated instruction to enhance our learning, I can't help but think how it could be improved by enhancing technology! I am not saying what they did was awful because what they did fit for the students of that time. Now if they are still doing the same thing with their current students today then that is a problem!

For example, my sophomore English teacher had us split into groups to collaborate to create a scene from Romeo and Juliet in a different time period. We had a week to plan and we would perform it in front of the class. It was so fun! I actually enjoyed reading Shakespeare plays in that class because the teacher made it interesting every class either by group work or assigning roles to read the plays each class. Now what would I do with that lesson today? Perhaps having the students create a movie trailer on the computer or using an iPad? Or creating the script of a popular scene on twitter? Anything to make the students look at the old English plays in a different way and figuring out how to convey the same message in a new way.

Another example, my 4th grade teacher assigned pen pals to her writing class with her 4th grade teacher friend at another school. This is the year that sparked my love for writing. Every day I would ask her if she sent the letters yet and I'd anxiously wait for them to write back. To this day I get the same excited feeling when I get a letter in the mail. I was so excited to write to my pen pal friend! We shared stories and pictures in our letters that bonded our friendship, and we sent Christmas cards and other holiday cards. That year I started to write even more in my other subjects and at home, all because my teacher made writing personable and fun.

Now, could we do this writing lesson today? Yes! Writing letters is an important skill I believe students should learn, but if we just stop at hand-writing then we will lose the interest of the students today. In 5th grade I got my first email, and boy was I excited! Writing took a whole new role in my life when I went digital. From writing letters, writing poetry, to writing in my journal, to typing in an email and in Instant Messenger, I never stopped writing! That is what I want for my future students. I want them to love writing! But sparking a love for writing for my future students will look different than it did for me. Maybe I can do the pen pal letters that my teacher did with my class but to include technology with my future students. Maybe my students can email their pen pal, use a messaging app like GroupMe or they could Skype each other weekly or monthly. They could even create videos and send them to each other! They can send pictures of themselves digitally instead. One thing that went wrong when I was in 4th grade was that my teacher misplaced our letters a lot or they got lost in the mail. With technology it would be easier to track the projects and letters that students write. And why not go a step further and have the students collaborate on a project together via VideoChat or Skype?!
Technology opens up so many opportunities for collaboration and learning! Why not step out of my comfort zone so that my students can embrace learning!? :)

As y'all are reading this I bet you're saying to yourself "Molly, you're too optimistic. Settle down.", which I will admit that I can live in my dreams more than in reality a lot of times. I am a dreamer. I am a dreamer who is afraid to try new things like this because of the fear of failure. I worry and have doubts of being able to do this in my classroom. I am my own hindrance. But when I remember the teachers who made a difference in my learning by believing in my thoughts and ideas and who gave me opportunities to learn in the classroom in personal and fun ways I come to no other conclusion but to do the same for my future students. I learned best when the teacher was centered on the student--those teachers who didn't set themselves so high on the knowledge ladder that it seemed too high for me to even try to climb. I don't want to be that teacher who sits on a high throne in the classroom. I don't want my students to feel like their thoughts and ideas don't matter. I serve a God who values and inspires my purpose to be something greater than I could ever imagine to be! My future students deserve to be valued too.

In my classroom I want learning to be meaningful to my students. Constructivist teachers believe that. Constructivism is the belief that "learning is most meaningful when topics are connected to students' needs and interests and when the students themselves are actively engaged in creating, understanding, and connecting to knowledge."

In 4th grade I don't remember any of the practice TAAS writing prompts we did in class, but I remember writing a letter to my pen pal every week. I passed the writing section on the Standardized test with a higher score than any of the other subjects because I had PASSION behind my writing. What if every student could have that passion for every subject? Imagine how high test scores could be, but most importantly, imagine what the students can do when they're passionate about learning? 


Love,
Miss. Molly;
An aspiring and optimistic educator that wants to change the world one child at a time.