teach-able MOMENTS

It’s difficult to imagine how education would be in the year 2020. I mean, in the year 1996, I do not think I would have been able to predict the world as it is today. The possibilities are endless at this point. The one factor that I know for sure that will determine what education will be like in twelve years is…TECHNOLOGY.

If you look back to how information was given and received inside the classroom, we have gone from the…

slate –> chalkboard –> whiteboard –> overhead projector –> document camera –> smart board

…just to name a few. Just by looking at this, it is hard to believe that technology would not be heavily integrated into the classroom by the year 2020. However, in what way, shape, or form will technology be used by that time, one can only imagine.

My guess is that by the year 2020 every child will have access to a computer inside the classroom (and maybe even at home), in which they can access all of their teachers’ lectures, lessons, and assignments. This will not only give students access to more information, but it will also give parents the option of home-schooling their children. Why send children to school if they can receive the same kind of education in a safe and secure environment? This would definitely lower the teacher to student ratio in the classroom and give teachers more time to focus more on academic content rather than management inside the classroom.

Would this be the best path for education? Maybe. Maybe not. On one hand, all children would be given equal access to educational resources. On the other hand, children would be given less opportunities for social interaction, which is essential for human growth and development. (I think all of us would agree that there are just some things that cannot be taught through looking at a computer screen.)

Although I do not know what effect technology will have on our future, I do know that it will have a significant role in how education will be structured. My only hope is that if technology is the route that we are going to take, we should use it as a way to enhance and build upon what we already do so well in our classrooms … to TEACH and INFORM our students about the world so that they can become productive members in our society.

digital-story-idea

Last Thursday I said GOODBYE to my first set of students of my teaching career. I knew I was going to be sad to leave them, but I did not exactly know how sad I was going to be until the bell for the end of fifth period rang.

For me, my fifth period class was probably the most difficult class to manage mainly because it was right after lunch. PLUS it was the class that had the most talkative, energetic, and outspoken kids. I guess you can say I struggled a bit to get them on track every single day, and it was probably the period that gave me the most headaches. However, on the last day of class, I realized just how much I was going to miss that class because despite going through a lot of hardships with them, they were the class that I (suprisingly) bonded with the most.

When the bell for the end of fifth period rang, I received more hugs from my students than any other period. With every hug that I got, it was harder for me to let go. I did not want the year to end, especially when my most difficult students came up to tell me that I had been there favorite teacher that year. Hearing how much they appreciated the work I had done and seeing their faces as I talked to them for the last time made it difficult for me to leave them behind.

Although we played the role of teacher and student for the entire school year, I feel like my students taught me a lot about who I was and what kind of teacher I wanted to become (which is something that I did not realize until I received those hugs on the last day of school). Everything that I have learned from them, I will bring with me wherever I go and incorporate it into my next year of teaching, wherever it may be…