My job as an educator is to prepare my students to be successful and productive citizens of the world in which we live. In order to do that I must be knowledgeable about the world that they will enter upon graduation. Learning about the environments that my students will enter will help me equip them in the knowledge and general skills needed to do well. The world in which we live changes every day and as a teacher I must stay abreast of those changes to best serve my students.
Research is very important in the effort to learn about the world around you. Through ECI 523 Teacher as Researcher I learned the value of teacher led research and its impact. Working in and outside of the classroom to answer questions that you have about your practice as and educator and/or the students that you teach is essential. The more questions that an educator answers for themselves in relation to their personal setting, the more effective they can become. In ECI 523 we conducted our own action research plan which we carried out. Our culminating product was to write an action research report to tell about our process, data collected, and findings. I have attached my report below.
In ECI 524 and ECI 525 I worked with Dr. John Lee to learn how to teach in this global world. I worked with my peers in class and across the world to accomplish tasks that were given to us. I learned so much about how to work with others that were both beside me and in other countries. I realized that my students will have to do the same in both their school career and their working careers. As their teacher I need to work to ensure that they are prepared to do that. In class they must be given opportunities to work with 21st century tools and use 21st century skills like group discussion, inquiry, and critical thinking. Below I have attached an example of an opportunity I was given in my graduate program. We worked with students at N.C. State locally and abroad to decode President Lincoln's telegrams. We compiled our work on a website that will be used by many to study Lincoln's administration and leadership during the Civil War. The link below will take you to an essay I wrote after decoding ten of Lincoln's telegrams in which I describe the overall theme of them. I have also put the link to my decoding work of the telegrams. My peers' work can also be found on the wiki.
Essay:
http://lt727.blogspot.com/2014/06/relentless.html
Decoding:
http://lt727.blogspot.com/2014/06/analyzing-and-formatting-telegrams.html
Essay:
http://lt727.blogspot.com/2014/06/relentless.html
Decoding:
http://lt727.blogspot.com/2014/06/analyzing-and-formatting-telegrams.html
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In my effort to know the world in which we live and be active in it to set a good example for my students I submitted a letter to the News & Observer in my Teachers as Leaders course. I wrote to them asking for Master's Pay to be reinstated and gave reasons why taking it away was wrong. While I do not plan to push my personal political or religious opinions on my students, I do want them to see me as an informed citizen that takes respectful yet meaningful action when I feel it necessary. As the productive citizens that I hope to help them become they should be encouraged to do the same thing.