A Learning Teacher

Reading Response #1 

After reading the article The Digital Learning Imperative: How Technology and Teaching Meet Today's Education Challenge and listening to the SWAMP speakers, there are many aspects that have expanded my understanding of the teaching profession. "More than 1 million children drop out of school every year" because the school system is unable to meet the demands of these students. This statistic blew my mind. The United States is losing a vast chunk of the student population due to the inability to adapt. I use this term broadly of course because within the umbrella of adaptability there are a plethora of varying factors, economics and funding being the largest ones. After reading the article and listening to our guest speakers, the idea that really resonated with me seems the most basic. To be the best teacher, I also have to be the best learner. I can never stop furthering and educating myself in my profession. Teachers are underqualified and after graduating their credential programs they have already fallen behind. The only way to keep up is to keep learning. I may be confident in my analytical abilities or my usage of English grammar but I don't know everything. Carrie Targhetta said that she uses a unit that incorporates more modern pieces that appeal to her students. She decided to use an excerpt from Gruen's novel Water for Elephants because all of her female students were reading it. She adapted the material to fit the student's interests and fuel their writing. Not only are her student's learning but so is she. It seems that the mentality of the teacher needs to change too. We are not the omnipresent all knowing being that a student must worship sitting wide eyed and silent while absorbing everything that comes out of my mouth like a sponge. What a silly concept? I learn something new every day, just like my students do. The only way to move forward is to learn and use the tools that are available. The biggest tool currently is technology. The internet has not only connected the entire world but it has opened a floodgate of information. But what good is this information if you don't know how to wade through it? As a teacher, I must use technology to close the gap between the needs of my students and the needs of the working world. I must also continually strive to improve and advance in my own profession.