Last night, in between helping students with their independent, online curriculum, (always my first priority) I was able to read a few and write a few tweets to contribute to an #edchat. One of the issues we discussed was how to continue to collaborating and sharing in our awesome #edchat group and beyond. One of the ideas discussed was to blog about ideas, struggles, innovations, best practices, etc. Since I was one of those tweeting this as a good idea, I figure that I better be blogging myself. So here is my first education blog. I'm pretty new to this, so I think I'll give try to give some brief insight into who I am and what I do, as well as a few random educational thoughts.
To begin with, my name is Rick Jackson. I teach at an evening program at an Alternative High School in Michigan. I am currently the only teacher in the program. The students use a web-based online curriculum program to learn and complete classes. I am there to maintain order and to help on a one on one basis. I graduated with a major in US HIstory and a minors in Sociology and Education from a small liberal arts college near St. Louis, MO. I went back a couple of years later to finish the requirements to be a certified teacher after I was sure that's what I wanted to do. I'm currently in a Master's of Teaching Mathematics at an online university. In addition to the part time evening position, I substitute teach nearly every day.
I consider myself a constructivist at heart and always seek to meet the needs of my students. I think we should begin with where our students are. I hear a lot of lip service about putting the student first, but I'm not convinced that everybody means it. I believe in building a collaborative relationship with your students and then helping them become passionate, lifelong learners. I was inspired by EdCamp Grand Rapids a week or so ago and hope to have an opportunity to really put some of what I learned into practice. My situation is such that I am not in a classroom where I can do too much. I'm pretty locked into the format we have, because of the nature of my program. That said, I am playing around with small things and trying to keep myself growing, so that I can hit the ground running when I'm given the opportunity. I hope to continue collaborating with fellow educators for the betterment of our students and educational system. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks.
To begin with, my name is Rick Jackson. I teach at an evening program at an Alternative High School in Michigan. I am currently the only teacher in the program. The students use a web-based online curriculum program to learn and complete classes. I am there to maintain order and to help on a one on one basis. I graduated with a major in US HIstory and a minors in Sociology and Education from a small liberal arts college near St. Louis, MO. I went back a couple of years later to finish the requirements to be a certified teacher after I was sure that's what I wanted to do. I'm currently in a Master's of Teaching Mathematics at an online university. In addition to the part time evening position, I substitute teach nearly every day.
I consider myself a constructivist at heart and always seek to meet the needs of my students. I think we should begin with where our students are. I hear a lot of lip service about putting the student first, but I'm not convinced that everybody means it. I believe in building a collaborative relationship with your students and then helping them become passionate, lifelong learners. I was inspired by EdCamp Grand Rapids a week or so ago and hope to have an opportunity to really put some of what I learned into practice. My situation is such that I am not in a classroom where I can do too much. I'm pretty locked into the format we have, because of the nature of my program. That said, I am playing around with small things and trying to keep myself growing, so that I can hit the ground running when I'm given the opportunity. I hope to continue collaborating with fellow educators for the betterment of our students and educational system. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks.