Synthesis Paper #2

a.What will be the role/responsibility of schooling in 2025?

b. What rigorous/authentic learning experiences can teachers employ to engage all students in learning (especially those that might be otherwise left out)?

Schooling in 2025 will be, as we have stated, technology driven. What is important to remember however is that the students will still be in a school environment and interacting with peers and teachers every day. Schools will need to be able to provide life skills and tools for the students to prepare them for the outside world. Not only will the curriculum taught still be important, but the way that the students are learning through observing will be important too. Skills will need to be taught to the students. These include responsibility, respect, leadership and the ability/tools to adapt to all situations they may encounter later in life. It will be the responsibility of the school to teach the students these skills through demonstration and regular practice within the school day. We need to ensure that we are giving all of the students that pass through the school system the education and skills they may one day need in order to further their education or career. Without a base made in schools, the future population may lack these essential skills.

All students will need to be included in the learning within schools in 2025. Much like today this will be a goal that all teachers should keep in mind when planning their lesson and their day. Authentic learning experiences need to be included in the curriculum. We can do this by having hands on experiences and resources for the students to touch and explore when being taught a subject. Putting students into a mock situation, for example, and then having them recall not only what happened but their thoughts and feelings will let all students feel important when in a classroom. It is a chance for the students to shine and show their personal learning experience for the day or week. Content will have to be talked about and studied in a way that may force the teacher to differentiate as much as possible. We need to keep in mind that no two students learn the same way, and instead of ignoring that, we must embrace it. With all the technology that will be available to us, this differentiating process will make teaching different learners much more hands on and customized. It will be a great benefit to us as teachers, and the students.

Synthesis Paper #1

Synthesis Paper #1

Content Knowledge in 2025

In the year 2025 content knowledge will have expanded and changed from what we know now. Students will still be expected to understand certain facts about history and social studies, but the way they go about learning and comprehending these pieces of information will be vastly different. Classes will largely be taught on and online or through a private server. They will be largely interactive. Students will explore topics in history by experiencing (almost) firsthand accounts through programs available to them on the internet. It will be as if they are the character in history, learning as they go.  Through the technology they will have access to 3D images of artifacts, and understand their structure, feeling and age. There will no longer be tests which the students are expected to recite dates and names of people, but instead explain the period in history through the experiences that they have learned about through their research. It will be important for them to understand that sometimes historical facts are based on one person’s perspective. Sharing their research experiences with other students through chats will be an assessment that teachers can use. We will be teaching our kids history as a story, not as a list of facts they will soon forget.

Students will need to understand the technology that they are working with. To do this, the teacher must understand this technology as well. Students in the year 2025 will most likely be comfortable with the technology that they are presented, but if a teacher cannot access this technology, the system may not work right.  Students will also need to learn how to gain research from their experiences online. Through experience they will be able to understand what pieces of information is accurate, and what is inaccurate. This is essential. If students cannot differentiate between the correct information and the incorrect information, they will not be capable of learning the essential understandings that we as educators would like them to understand from a specific topic. They will also need to understand how to communicate what they have learned in a professional way. Even though texting and chatting online will still be very popular, using short hand and text language, such as “lol”, in a testing situation will still be unacceptable. It will still be our duty as teachers to prepare students for the future, and this includes good writing skills.

As a teacher in 2025, I will strive to always be looking for new and better technology. I will find ways to incorporate it more in my classroom. Above all, I will make sure that every student can learn in a way he or she feels comfortable with. Keeping students focus on what is important in our history will be a huge factor. The role of teacher will be less on actual teaching and more on monitoring the students as they teach themselves and gain skills and information to use in their future.

Welcome!!

For my second semester in the Secondary Education Program at George Mason University, we are asked to keep a blog for my class. This will be that blog.
I am a 22 year old Grad Students hoping to get my first teaching job as soon as possible. Teaching is a passion of mine, and I intend to do it for as long as I can. I received my Bachelors in History in Spring 2010 and I look forward to teaching students how amazing history can actually be. I will be posting papers and some other fun information on this blog! Enjoy!!