Julie+Roach

Discussion 1-2 9/25/13

Hello everyone! Honestly, I grew up telling myself I would never teach and it wasn't until after I completed a B.S. in Kinesiology and was working at a gym that I realized how much I enjoyed coaching and teaching kids new things. I began subbing and went into the non-traditional teaching program after a principal offered me a job for the following school year. After I completed that two-year program, I wasn't sure what to do next. I got the chance to go to China my second year teaching to observe schools in Beijing and Henan and during that trip I found that I actually had very strong opinions regarding education. I just didn't know what step I needed to take to learn more about education. My husband urged me to look into grad school even though I was afraid to try and get my master's. He's actually the one who found SNHU and after I got into the program, I realized how much I wanted a career and not just a job. Most recently I've decided that I eventually want to teach education courses at the college level to prepare others for the classroom and the challenges that the 21st century has posed for all teachers. This is my fourth year as a K-6 PE and exercise science teacher and I love what I do, but I want to take my experiences and help others to gain the skills to become teachers who also love what they do.

I believe that technology integration most certainly extends beyond the classroom because it has become part of all of our lives. If we plan to teach students of the 21st century, we need to understand where they're coming from and how technology has impacted their lives. I am also a firm believer in actually using what you plan to integrate outside of the classroom to become more familiar and comfortable with it before trying to use it or teach about it to someone else. I know that the more I use something, the easier it is for me to incorporate it into my lessons and show others how to begin using it too. I'm not sure that I can say that technology drives society or vise versa because I think it's a little bit of both. I feel like Bernard Vergnew says it quite well in his statement from The OECD Observer. Vergnew states that "Today's technological revolution is a cycle of innovation, moving at incredible speed to reshape the way we work, learn, play and communicate. As we seek ways to manage that change, we should first remember that technology itself has no power to drive the cycle. Innovation comes not from the inventions, but from human imagination, creativity and action." I agree that it is a cycle and society gains ideas from technology that allow it to progress therefore sparking more ideas and perpetuating that cycle. I suppose I believe that both society and technology spur the other along, however, society is what has to fuel technology since it does not have the power to continue the cycle.

(Below is a link to the Confucius Institute of Arkansas. Even though it's through UCA, you can find it offered all over the nation close to you. If you ever get a chance to go you should! It's a really neat program!)

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References:

Vergnew, Bernard. (2000). Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD Observer. 80-81. Retrieved from []