Introduction

Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of education is a hybrid of two theories- Albert Bandura's, Social Learning and B.F. Skinner's, Behaviorism. Biologically, humans are curious, social beings. We are hardwired to learn what to do, what not to do by witnessing the organic occurring consequence around us and experimenting with different behaviors. Children holistically learn through their exposure to, and experiences with, both positive and negative models. The driving idea of Social Learning is that children learn through observation. It is human nature to want to be accepted and at a very young age humans learn to mimic behavior that results in the desired consequence. 

 

The tie-in with Skinner's theory of Behaviorism is children intuitively understand behavior results in a response/consequence. For Behaviorism to be effective, the teacher must be skilled in applying positive reinforcement to desired behaviors and following through with a negative punishment to the behaviors she wishes to decrease.

 

By practicing a combination of Social Learning and Behaviorism, I will have the opportunity to effectively create a classroom environment that utilizes the children's natural social learning development and their intuitive understanding that all behaviors result in a response/consequence.

Technology Experiences

My technology experience, limited as they may be, have grown tremendously over my four years of college courses. Prior to taking college courses my experience was limited to emails, photo editing, social media, basic web applications, and web browsing. During my college career I have been to exposed to basic programs like Micro Soft Office, Google Docs and Google Sheets, Moodle, BlackBoard, and Zoom. Through practical application I have grown in my confidence and efficiency in these areas of technology. 

Technology Integration

Technology integration allows students to combine technology and classroom content. Basically, using some form of technology while working a content concept. A basic example would be a a student using Word to write a paper for Social Studies and email to send the document to the teacher. A student using a shared Google Doc to take a class poll while working on a graphing assignment for math is another basic example. Classroom appropriate applications such as Class DoJo and SeeSaw are great examples of technology boosting the communication between her students and their parents. Students of all ages can strengthen their content knowledge through sites such as Quizlet and animated video series such as Crash Course. The plethora of virtual classroom platforms has made teaching and learning available without the necessity of being in a physical classroom.  The integration of technology and classroom content is virtually everywhere.

Technology is Ms. Fentress' Classroom

Technology in my classroom will be a welcome tool in my primary grade classroom. The use of communication applications will create a strong community of teacher, student, and parent in my classroom. My ability to choose content appropriate videos will increase engagement and interest in grades 1st-3rd and my efficiency in using district-wide technology-based learning tools will ensure my students are receiving the lesson content in manner the district expects. My students ability to use technology as an effective learning tool will being with me and how I present and use technology in the classroom.