Reflection 7

This week we went to our last school observation. I reflected on my experiences in the last month in the different schools I was able to visit. I did learn a lot from them, but at the same time I feel like I didn't. Most teachers didn't have a whole lot of teaching time. It made me wonder if the students are mostly doing busy work instead of really learning. At the end of class I heard some students complaining about the work that they had to do. I was thinking of how I would go about with a class I had to teach. I don't really like the fact that kids are required to take specific classes. I do understand that it broadens their areas of knowledge, and they get to learn different things, but I feel that there should be more flexibility in doing so. I don't really know how Utah schools work, but I think I would like to teach in a different state. There are so many things that I'm realizing now. The way schools are run is so different everywhere. You think, it would be consistent throughout every state.

Reflection 6

The more I learn about teaching, the more I think about it. At school, at work, and at church I've begun to identify the techniques that teachers use, or the lack of. I think of ways that I would improve their teaching. It has helped me realize that I can be a teacher someday. And not just someday, soon. The other day in my TEE 340 class, we were reviewing for the exam and applied physics is one of my fortes so instead of leaving early like some, I decided to help others. To make a long story short, I ended up on the white board. I was teaching a few of my peers, and they were asking me questions and everything. It was a neat experience. Some of them were able to understand quickly, while others would struggle. Those who understood left. With the ones that were struggling, I had to sit one-on-one to teach them. It made me think of how in the real world, the same will occur. The only difference is that kids won't be able to just get up and leave. You will need to be able to teach them all. Then I realized the importance of teaching to all learning styles. It's something that all teachers should try to master. Not that you'll be able to satisfy all children everyday, but at least be able to implement different techniques so that most will understand. So I decided, it's something that I want to do.

Reflection 5

So I've been trying to decide what I really want to write about. But this last week when we visited the high school I realized that I had a more abundant experience with technology classes than most of the students here.  All of the technology classes I took were pretty good. I mean there were only a couple but I was still able to learn so much. I feel that a lot of the schools have all of the resources but don't know how to use them. Either that, or the teachers are not well trained. I mean, this classroom we visited had a few more things that we did but  they could be using them to build things, or learn how to program. Instead, they were given busy work or just time to play with their apps on their phones.

I remember that my teacher always had something for us to do. I have no idea how he kept us all on the same page. But I think it's because we progressed a bit each day. He was able to teach us drafting, software and woods at the same time. The project that comes to my mind is the building of CO2 cars. We first learned about drafting and how to actually make an ISO drawing. We then learned to design those on AutoCAD. (Let me tell you about AutoCAD, it is one of those basic tools that most engineers use. Although their fields vary, they still need to know how to use it. They have a whole course of it here at BYU.) Well, we learned how to use it. We designed our cars on that program. We then had to transfer that design to another computer where we would change our design into coordinates. We would then use a router or a drill machine if you will, to cut it out. We had to make a few touch-ups here and there but we would then test it for drag in the wind tunnel. A lot of times we had to go back and make changes and so forth to make it ready for our race. I don't recall how long it took us to do all of this, but I do remember that I was in 8th grade and we all finished our cars in time for the race.

Now really, what was the point of that tangent? The point is that children have so much potential to learn and grasp so many ideas but they keep getting shut down. Children are not given that room to grow. I want to be a teacher that will teach children technology and how to use it, but let them do the thinking. It's like the Mindtools article we read about how mindtools are essentially tools. We tell them what to do, not the opposite.

Reflection 4

We went to another junior high this week. It was definitely better than my first experience the week before.  The teacher we observe was pretty good. There are a lot of things that I liked as well as things that I didn't. I like that the class really knew what was expected of them. I think that shows consistency in the classroom. Also, I like that it was self-guided. I'm still trying to figure out if I do like teaching. Maybe when we visit a high school I might enjoy that.

Junior High Visit

Today we had the opportunity to visit a junior high in Utah. I'm still trying to figure out what my feelings are about it. It was definitely different. Not in the sense that it was crazy and chaotic but that it was a different type of world. It took me back to my junior high years and it reminded me of what kind of person I was. But more specifically, what world I was once a part of. I don't think my world really ever changed because I grew up with the same kids for 6 years. Yet, it definitely changed, whether I want to believe it or not. With that in mind, I try to see their world as they see it. Mostly because I feel I can better relate to them that way.

Reflection 3

I've gotten to read a lot of different ideas this last week. I read the Gong book, I read the research on Mindtools, and then I talked to some people about what they thought about learning. Specifically about knowledge and wisdom. I feel like that's one of those big things on my mind so I won't bore you with that this week. I've been thinking about how technology is supposed to aid our learning and teaching but not control us, if that makes any sense. Not to sound terrible but I started thinking of how past professors have used technology to teach, but instead of contributing to the lesson, it really made it worse. I thought of two classes I have taken. They were both about learning the AutoCAD program and essentially teaching us how to use it. The first teacher had us looking at the projector the whole time, not to mention that it was at seven in the morning. But he would tell us how we could do this, or we could do that, depending on what we wanted to do. Then he would give us the assignment and that was it. No interaction whatsoever. On the other hand, the second teacher told us what our goal was, right from the start. He then taught us the basic tools we needed and while he was doing so, we thought about what we were going to use to accomplish our goal. He then gave us access to tutorials and the like. But what made it work, was the fact that he cared how well we did. He came around and checked up on us to see how we were progressing and would help us not get behind.

So then, I realized that I really like learning about new software. I love testing and trying it out and then doing a project just because. This week I decided to teach about Virtual Machines. It went awful. And I know why. I didn't really have them use the actual software. I didn't really share the reason why I like it. I felt like I mostly discouraged them from using it. It's still the same mistake I made with the first teaching assignment. I want to study the most effective way that software can be taught without being boring and discouraging. I feel like a lot of it is self-taught just by messing around. Like today, I started testing Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac and it was just fun. I don't even like Microsoft all that much, but I just wanted to know what made it so different and what were the new things I could do with it. But how can you share that with others? How can you make it be just as exciting for your students so that they go out and try things out on their own as well? What can I do, as a future teacher to help my students open up their minds to new ideas? I guess it's something still in progress.

Reflection 2

This last week as I finished reading the Wong book, there were a few things that I liked.

I learned that success is converting people to your way of feeling, not knowing. It’s hard to convince people to believe in what you know to be true, but if people can feel what you’re feeling; they’ll believe you. We talked in class today about how education is developing productive members of society. I thought about how there are so many different occupations, some people want to be leaders, others want to be inventors, and some want to be teachers. Everything is really important because it covers one aspect of our society. But by being a teacher, you get to work one-on-one with those future leaders and inventors. You could be the person that instigates who they want to be. I’ve thought of all the teachers I’ve had in the past that made me want to know more about technology. I especially remember Mr. Hansen. He was just awesome! He always made different tools available and gave us a challenge. We then had to learn to use the technology to do what we wanted to do. The tools didn’t dictate what we could and couldn’t do. He helped us think about everyday things and how we could improve him. He is one of the reasons why I was so interested in technology and how things work. I hope that, I too, can be like that at some point in my life.