Guiding Questions and Rationale of the Showcase
In December of 2002 I graduated from North Carolina State University with B.A. in English and secondary teaching certification. In the fall of 2003 I was hired for my first teaching job as a seventh grade language arts and social studies teacher. I was ready! I was excited! I had a plethora of newfound collegiate knowledge that I could not wait to expose to my new students. More importantly I was excited about the journey I was beginning and the opportunity I would have to become a giver of knowledge. After three years of teaching I felt confident in my classroom management skills and my ability to connect to young adolescent learners. Yet, I clearly remember sitting at my desk in my third year baffled, confused, and frustrated. I had become a giver of knowledge. My students were reading, were writing, were engaged in problem-based learning, were exposed to technology and assuring me that I was a good giver of knowledge; yet within this third year of teaching I had a critical realization. I knew Twain and Shakespeare. I knew composition and presentation. I knew technology. Yet I could not define how I was teaching and if my students were actually learning. My students were masters at producution – I got papers, reports, presentations, projects and so forth that were at times remarkable, but when my principal sat down with me that third year to look at my performance data I was hit with a hard reality. My students were not showing growth in their learning. At that very moment I realized the error of my ways -- I had equated production to learning. I had fallen into a trap of knowledge giver and had failed at being a teacher. I realized that I did not have a foundational working knowledge of what teaching meant and more importantly how to ensure that my students were actually learning and not just producing. I left my principal after discussing my performance data and returned to my classroom. I sat at my desk for a very long time and pondered my next professional move. The feedback had forced me to admit that I did not have an understanding of instruction. I realized that I was instructing without the knowledge of the act of learning. I knew much content about my subject matter but very little about the theory of teaching and the science of student learning.
I entered graduate school at North Carolina State University in the summer of 2010, I had a mission to accomplish and that mission was grounded in the experience I just shared. How do students learn? What is the history of the teaching profession and what theories have proven to produce results in students' learning? What transformations do I need to make to become a teacher and not a giver of knowledge?
I entered graduate school at North Carolina State University in the summer of 2010, I had a mission to accomplish and that mission was grounded in the experience I just shared. How do students learn? What is the history of the teaching profession and what theories have proven to produce results in students' learning? What transformations do I need to make to become a teacher and not a giver of knowledge?
A Showcase of My Findings
Through my experience in the New Literacies in Global Learning program at North Carolina State University I have gained a profound understanding of concepts and theories of pedagogy that have revolutionized my teaching. For example, metacognition and "TPACK" have become major tenants of my newfound philosophy. I invite you to explore my showcase and discover my transformation into a master teacher for the global 21st century.