The idea of academic content,
explored in chapter 4, in one that has greatly interested me since even before
I decided I wanted to become an educator. I've always been baffled by how
teachers maneuver each day of the year so that it is not repetitive and
something new is always being covered. Certainly this is not always the case,
and over the years many classes in K-12 were dull and thoroughly uninteresting,
but it is not where I want to be as a teacher myself. Some may argue that they
are limited because local curriculums and national standards don't provide
guidelines for every single day of instruction, but it seems as though that
would be more freeing than having to follow a step-by-step program. If one is
truly interested in education, there is more freedom there to teach what one
believes is most important and what will benefit their particular set of
children, with whom they'd be better acquainted than any department of
education official. Though this might prove to be a greater challenge, it is
also likely to provide the greatest reward, as there is room to tailor lessons
to the students' needs.
Chapter 4 also touches on using
technology in lesson planning. Not only does the Internet provide innumerable
resources to enhance original lessons, there are many websites dedicated to
gathering successful ones from teachers all over the world, ready to be reused
at a moment's notice. The greatest advantage is that you should never feel
limited in what you can teach, or unprepared, because you have, quite
literally, a world of resources at your fingertips.
As an aspiring writer and Language
Arts/English/Creative Writing teacher, I'm excited about the idea of digital
storytelling explored in chapter 9. Naturally I look forward to innovative ways
in which people, particularly students, can share their original stories with
the rest of the world. Though I hope that, moving forward, the digitalization
of nearly everything won't extend to the written format for novels that have
endured the test of time, this method hopefully acts as a gateway into other
forms of sharing stories that will motivate students involved to explore even
further.
Resources:
Maloy, Robert,
Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park
(2013). Transforming Learning with New
Technologies. 2nd Edition.
Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
NDTV. (2014, November 19).
How can technology aid a teacher's lesson plan? Retrieved from
Definitely pursue digital storytelling - there is a vast array of resources out there taking the concept in a variety of directions and it is so very powerful! :)
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