Presentation tool: Prezi

Though I am still pretty old-school and will always favor PowerPoint, I have to admit that Prezi has many advantages and I can see why it would be appealing to teachers. I would probably use Prezi a lot in my own class, simply because I will be teaching high school, and I think that age group would be a lot more engaged if I were giving a lesson on Prezi as opposed to the standard PowerPoint. Prezi makes it a bit more fun, and I think that's the main thing kids look for, and teachers should be trying to look for as well in order to keep their students interactive and engaged. I could easily post this up for my students to look at on their own time, and the videos/pictures/map of Prezi seems a lot easier/more interesting to look at on your own than a boring Powerpoint, where the setup is very standard and doesn't allow a whole lot of creative license.

Article

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/06/28/teachers-report-educational-benefits-of-frequent-technology-use.aspx


This article discusses the benefits of technology within the classroom. The article justifies this by explaining that sometimes the kids can actually learn more from the modern-day technologies because they can identify it more than even the teachers themselves at times. I actually agree with this just because I think it's easy for kids to identify with the technologies that are being utilized during their generation, and helps them integrate their own interests with the lessons within the classroom.

Philosophy on Teaching

My reason for wanting to be a teacher is fairly simple: I want there to be one less bad one in the world. Over the past 15 years of being a student, I have had my fair share of both wonderful and pitiful teachers. Good or bad, I have taken something from each of them that has inspired me to become what I am currently working towards. I have found that one of my greatest passions is to someday have the opportunity to share what I have learned with others who are in need of my knowledge, both academically and not. That passion entails everything the world of education does, and that's how I know I need to be a part of it. I want to be everything my good teachers were, and everything my bad teachers weren't. The most important thing to me is making kids feel like they matter, not only in the classroom, but in the world at large. It's important to acknowledge each and every one of their talents and help them flourish as individuals through those talents. In my eyes, teachers should do so much more than teach a basic curriculum. Because of my personal experiences with teachers in the past, I know that they are capable of so much more. Aside from my parents, it was those few good teachers who have inspired me to become the person I am today. I believe everyone has something different to offer, and I think it's a teacher's job to discover that and help the student utilize it in the best way possible, both in and outside of the school atmosphere. I can only hope that one day I will be able to grant that motivation to my own students. I want to educate them, help them, inspire them, and be a person they know they can trust has their best interest at heart.

1st Post

I'm not really sure what we're supposed to write about...hopefully it won't always be this awkwardly difficult :)