What’s Up, Spinstas?

Michael Scott . . . the best teacher?

Sorry, I had to do it.  Since this is my last blog for this class, I decided I needed to lighten the mood by adding an “Office” clip.  First off, I’d like to discuss my topic.  Although I believe that academic honesty is something I will need to be cautious of, I do not believe that using programs like TurnItIn.com is the answer to the problem.  I understand that the internet has given students more opportunities to use other’s work as their own, but I am going to try a different approach to the problem.  I believe that I need to communicate effectively with my students in order to create a positive atmosphere within the classroom.  I will teach the students the correct way to cite information and gather sources for research papers or get ideas for other papers, but I will stress to them that I am interested mostly in seeing individual growth within their writing and maximum effort within their papers.  I want them to take risks with their thesis statements and try to defend different positions that THEY believe in.  If there seems to be a problem with cheating in the class, I will ask the students what they believe I should do, what the school board expects me to do, and what I believe should happen.  By communicating with my students effectively, I hope to gain respect for them as they gain respect for me.  In my opinion, communication is key (haha ironic that it’s coming from a person that never seems to talk,  huh?).  Anyways, I have learned a great deal from this experience by reading numerous articles and your responses.  I want to thank all of you for your comments to my blogs which have helped me learn more about my topic and my options.  I appreciate the time you have taken to read my responses and I hope I have sparked some interest in you.  I have also learned that I am a bit intimidated by teaching now because I have never realized how much impact our teaching has on our students.  I hope through personal growth and learning, I can better prepare myself for the challenges of the future in order to become an effective teacher that encourages hard work and learning.  I have learned a great deal about the problems within the education system within America and the different perspectives on how to fix these issues.  I have found this blogging experience very fulfilling.  Not only have I been able to share my opinion with you, but I have been able to hear your opinions about my blogs and your topics.  I hope that this blogging continues between all of us because I feel like we can all learn from each other as our lives progress into teaching careers.  Through these blogs, we can share individual experiences about students or educational problems and attempt to help each other face the challenges we have discussed this semester.  Once again, I’d like to thank you all for your time and responses, and I hope I was able to stimulate your mind as you did mine.

Matt