Karen L. Groves

 You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.  ~Clay P. Bedford

Learning is a lifelong process that takes place in a variety of environments. In a classroom, learning involves motivating, challenging, and inspiring students to think, probe, and explore their understandings through an active and stimulating manner. For me, teaching is a shared and reflective endeavor in which teachers and students learn from each other and each other’s experiences in a respectful and thoughtful environment. Specifically, my role as a teacher is to:

·        Encourage inquiry

·        Develop skills to answer questions?

·        Awaken students’ passion to become lifelong learners

·        Help students appreciate and respect varying perspectives.

Each and every child’s learning should be accompanied by an element of discovery and surprise!

Each child enters school with unique skills, abilities, needs, and interests. It is crucial to provide many varied opportunities for children to succeed. Through my teaching I provide students with differentiated instruction. I often provide options to make it natural for some students to work independently or work together, for some to have a more hands-on approach and for others to arrive at learning in a visual way. I select times in my teaching to differentiate by interests so children can link what is being learning with something that is important to them. I try to adjust the teaching and the learning to meet where kids are and help them to achieve maximum growth as learners.

Children deserve a teacher who values their thinking process, links classroom learning to real life applications, integrates content areas, encourages cooperation, and insists upon quality work. I create a warm and enticing learning environment in which I encourage risk-taking and strong self-esteem by challenging students to achieve new heights while supporting them in the process.

A successful teacher collaborates and shares with colleagues. Collaboration has been a vital component of my own personal learning and professional development. It has also helped me to improve student accomplishments in my classroom. Teachers who work together can combine their expertise in all areas to ensure student achievement throughout the entire school. I take great pleasure when I have opportunities to be a part of a collaborative team. Sharing and working together can have a positive affect on school climate, procedures, curriculum, or instruction.

As my school district has become more technology equipped, I have made infusion of technology into the Reading and Writing curriculums my personal focus and my professional goal. I am creating a portfolio of lessons that will support the integration of technology throughout the curriculum, with a focus on reading and writing. Research shows that the integration of technology supports teachers in scaffolding which helps students read and write more sucessfully. Technology also provides alternative experiences for children with diverse learning rates and styles.

I am currently using a variety of software programs that support visual learning. I believe the use of visual learning can enhance lessons on a daily basis. Visual learning provides students with a tool to organize information, build prior knowledge, internalize, and see how things fit together.

With the skills I will acquire from a degree in Educational Technology, I plan to assist my school district with the integration of technology in all curricula areas. Our goal is to have all teachers using technology as a daily resource in the classroom. Technology is here with far reaching implications, especially in education. I believe we need to embrace technology and provide professional development to teachers in technology. By helping teachers become more proficient in technology, technology integration will become more apparent in all classrooms.