Stanley Smith's Education Technology Philosophy

 

Shock and disbelief hit me square in the face the day I walked into the book room to assist in making a proper diagnosis of a vehicle that would not return from turning to return to the straight ahead position. The shop foreman looked at me and had a sly grin on his face. “Sorry son” were his words “the books are all gone.” “Everything is now on the computer and you are going to have to look it up there.” That was my introduction to the computer, and it was not what I call a proper introduction.

As I made my way through the computer I found it was easier to navigate, easier to find information and the truth is it opened up a complete new world for me. As I open the doorway to the next stage of my life I will find students who have a good knowledge of technology. At least they will be more advanced than I was at the time of my introduction. Together we will learn new methods of research, new study aids, how to create a job resume probably even an ePortfolio. The class and I will learn together as we climb the ladder of knowledge. I think an excellent way to engage students in the classroom is to create a real world connection able to utilize technology. I have often read and heard that if students do not believe they will use the classroom material in their future they have little or no use for the information and will consider it useless, pointless and not worth their time. As we all know today’s students are using technology almost constantly. As teachers we must keep up to date with technology in order to communicate with the students. Doing so will enable us, or me in my case; allow me to build a classroom that is meaningful and productive to the students. What I am saying is one should strive to create a meaningful classroom environment for the students where they feel welcome, comfortable and know they are going to learn new things. Of course I will be learning as well as I practice the old saying I heard while in the U.S. Army “we learn by teaching” and it is so very true.

A very important aspect of teaching is the classroom has to be well managed. The teacher must be able to control the environment at all times. The teacher must have the student’s respect no matter how you get it, but you must prove you deserve that respect. Along with that the instructor must have class procedures, or rules, and stick to them. At the same time the student should feel comfortable and welcome to participate with the entire class and certainly the instructor. Trust must be there between students and instructor for successful communication. I plan on teaching the lower grades and part of my purpose will be to insure the students are not afraid to learn. Personally I believe the best means to learn is hands-on. Next is, learn from mistakes and do not let a mistake bother you. Think like Thomas Edison “I did not make a mistake I just found another way it did not work.” I sure want to teach everyone I come in contact with to be lifelong learners. Above all and everything else I want my students to learn how to read and use words. There is so much to learn and so little time it is important to make use of all technology available to student learning. Students will at all times be encouraged to seek new information to add on to what they already know by any and all means available.

I want them to be aware of the fact that technology is a tool to use to learn and do things with and not something they cannot do without. Just as important is, I must learn new skills in order to teach, that is one of the reasons I am still in college. I do plan on learning forever and ever.

The world we live in is a very exciting place full of surprises and one sure way to travel is by way of the internet. Part of what I learned the past week or so I think I will reference and use as a guideline and that is this.

1. In order to teach I must increase my own knowledge of technology and attempt to keep up with the new innovations as they come along.

2. I will integrate technology into my classroom so that I may provide my students with the best education I am able to supply.

3. I will add to this list as I discover new ideas and new information.

 

    If anyone ever needs a boost or a reason why they are teaching there are several sites to choose from concerning the teacher’s creed. One I like well is this one.

www.poemsclub.com/a-teachers-creed.html   another is www.cosmofunnel.com/poems/teachers-creed-17216

There are numerous sites to reach out to for inspiration, so if you ever get down in the dumps about your job look up the teacher’s creed. You will find it in many forms and hopefully enlightening.

 

Thank for reading:

Stanley Smith  

onearmpiratesps.blogspot.com

Profile: Father, Grandfather, Storyteller, Author, Student, Lover of Life, and that is only the beginning:

 

 



Thursday, November 14, 2013

onearmpiratesps.blogspot.com

Profile:

Uncle Marshall Brown came by to visit Frank Smith when he began plowing the field for spring planting. Uncle Marshall always came to check on Frank since Frank was a young farmer, and Uncle Marshall had a good knowledge of farming. The story goes that Uncle Marshall told Frank he needed a son to assist with the farming in that he already had three girls. According to the story Frank agreed, and told that he planned on taking care of that. Almost to the date nine months later Stanley Paul Smith was born December 3, 1940 in Bryan County, Oklahoma. This began the adventure of Stanley Paul Smith.

              The first fifteen years consisted of learning to farm, milk cows, feed and care for the farm animals. The times when not farming I was sent to school to learn how to read and write. Schools I attended were country schools with the classes’ one through six in the same room usually taught by the same teacher.  All the schools I attended during those years did not have indoor plumbing. Unlike at home we had a girl’s outhouse separate from the boy’s.

              Despite my begging and pleading I was taken away from my beloved Oklahoma, and forced to come to Texas. Greiner Junior High in Dallas, Texas became my very first real school. There were more people in the school than in any town I had ever been to. At first I was in shock at all the things there. Kids driving their own cars to school, a real football team, pep rallies, plays in the auditorium, rock and roll dances in the gym on Friday night. People who were in charge of the dances called the dances “sock hops”, or by names similar.        

              Being “country” in a city school often had it bad moments, but there were also some good ones. Sometimes it became necessary to defend myself from individuals poking fun at someone who had to milk cows and farm for a living. Pretty soon after moving to the city I got a job in a grocery store. I had to drive a truck to deliver groceries, stock the shelves, and bag the groceries. I remember the owner’s response when I told him I couldn’t drive a vehicle. His words were something to the effect of it’s just like a tractor only don’t get caught otherwise you might get a ticket.

              W.H. Adamson was my next school. I attended there for the next three years and graduated in 1959. At the time I thought I was getting a real education. Compared to what the education system is now I was totally mistaken. I was fortunate to get on a work program where I went to school a half day and worked a half day. Back then they called it Distributive Education. My final year there I won a trophy and a certificate as “Outstanding Student” in my class. My senior year I had the privilege of working in Downtown Dallas. There I discovered what it was like to see movies in the Majestic, Palace, and some other theaters. Downtown Dallas in 1959 was the place to shop and I was fortunate to visit all the good places there. This time was just prior to the time companies were beginning to build shopping malls outside of downtown.

              After graduation I wanted no more education, so I joined the U.S. Army. During my tour I served as a Military Policeman, worked as a clerk typist and transported secret documents among other duties. I also worked for a year in the training section my duties were as a film projectionist. Through the goodness of the Army I traveled to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and 38 other states. The best came when they allowed me to take an extended tour in Europe. I visited Germany, France, England, Holland and a host of other countries. I have to admit I was fascinated by the railway system in Europe.

              Becoming a civilian again I found it necessary to learn a trade to support my family. I started working on cars and became pretty good at it. I spent the next forty five years as a General Motors Mechanic. All in all it was a pretty successful career until I damaged my shoulders and had to have surgery in 2007. During my recovery I found I couldn’t get hired without some college unless I wanted to work for minimum wage. Not strong enough to work safely on vehicles I made the decision to check my military benefits and see about attending college. At that time my aspirations were to become a writer, or a paid story teller. During my recovery I had written my first book. After writing my first book I realized I knew nothing about writing. This led me to Navarro College to sharpen my skills.

              Attending college for the first time in the spring of 2009 at the age of 68 was quite a shock to me. There I discovered with the help of a tutor I could pass the classes. Along the way one of my counselors suggested that with my experience I might consider becoming a teacher. I also found out that I could get a loan I didn’t have to pay back if I could make the grade. At the end of the first semester I took my grades to the finance office where they said a 3.8 was more than enough to qualify for the loan. After all this time I was quiet happy with myself that I had the potential to become a teacher. The truth is I always held educators on a very high pedestal and never considered myself of that caliber. Finding out I had the potential enlightened me to work harder and get the right training to become a teacher. There have been some times when the studies were not so easy, but so far I am on my way.

              I am sure with the right attitude and the willingness to work hard I will reach my goal. Surely there will be some bumps in the road. Almost every day I find it true that if it was easy anybody could do it. Well, the truth is it is not easy to become an educator. The one thing that upsets me the most is to see children pass from one grade to the next and unable to spell or read at the proper level. After I succeed and start teaching my plan is that all my students will know how to read and spell better. In the meantime I will continue to try and improve my own writing and reading. I like to think of life as an adventure and plan on continuing mine for as long as possible.

 

 

   

 

   

 

   

onearmpiratesps.BlogSpot.com

Profile:

Thursday, November 14, 2013

onearmpiratesps.BlogSpot.com

Profile: Father, Grandfather, Author, Storyteller, Traveler, Believer, Student, and that is the beginning:

Uncle Marshall Brown came by to visit Frank Smith when he began plowing the field for spring planting. Uncle Marshall always came to check on Frank since Frank was a young farmer, and Uncle Marshall had a good knowledge of farming. The story goes that Uncle Marshall told Frank he needed a son to assist with the farming in that he already had three girls. According to the story Frank agreed, and told that he planned on taking care of that. Almost to the date nine months later Stanley Paul Smith was born December 3, 1940 in Bryan County, Oklahoma. This began the adventure of Stanley Paul Smith.

              The first fifteen years consisted of learning to farm, milk cows, feed and care for the farm animals. The times when not farming I was sent to school to learn how to read and write. Schools I attended were country schools with the classes’ one through six in the same room usually taught by the same teacher.  All the schools I attended during those years did not have indoor plumbing. Unlike at home we had a girl’s outhouse separate from the boy’s.

              Despite my begging and pleading I was taken away from my beloved Oklahoma, and forced to come to Texas. Greiner Junior High in Dallas, Texas became my very first real school. There were more people in the school than in any town I had ever been to. At first I was in shock at all the things there. Kids driving their own cars to school, a real football team, pep rallies, plays in the auditorium, rock and roll dances in the gym on Friday night. People who were in charge of the dances called the dances “sock hops”, or by names similar.        

              Being “country” in a city school often had it bad moments, but there were also some good ones. Sometimes it became necessary to defend myself from individuals poking fun at someone who had to milk cows and farm for a living. Pretty soon after moving to the city I got a job in a grocery store. I had to drive a truck to deliver groceries, stock the shelves, and bag the groceries. I remember the owner’s response when I told him I couldn’t drive a vehicle. His words were something to the effect of it’s just like a tractor only don’t get caught otherwise you might get a ticket.

              W.H. Adamson was my next school. I attended there for the next three years and graduated in 1959. At the time I thought I was getting a real education. Compared to what the education system is now I was totally mistaken. I was fortunate to get on a work program where I went to school a half day and worked a half day. Back then they called it Distributive Education. My final year there I won a trophy and a certificate as “Outstanding Student” in my class. My senior year I had the privilege of working in Downtown Dallas. There I discovered what it was like to see movies in the Majestic, Palace, and some other theaters. Downtown Dallas in 1959 was the place to shop and I was fortunate to visit all the good places there. This time was just prior to the time companies were beginning to build shopping malls outside of downtown.

              After graduation I wanted no more education, so I joined the U.S. Army. During my tour I served as a Military Policeman, worked as a clerk typist and transported secret documents among other duties. I also worked for a year in the training section my duties were as a film projectionist. Through the goodness of the Army I traveled to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and 38 other states. The best came when they allowed me to take an extended tour in Europe. I visited Germany, France, England, Holland and a host of other countries. I have to admit I was fascinated by the railway system in Europe.

              Becoming a civilian again I found it necessary to learn a trade to support my family. I started working on cars and became pretty good at it. I spent the next forty five years as a General Motors Mechanic. All in all it was a pretty successful career until I damaged my shoulders and had to have surgery in 2007. During my recovery I found I couldn’t get hired without some college unless I wanted to work for minimum wage. Not strong enough to work safely on vehicles I made the decision to check my military benefits and see about attending college. At that time my aspirations were to become a writer, or a paid story teller. During my recovery I had written my first book. After writing my first book I realized I knew nothing about writing. This led me to Navarro College to sharpen my skills.

              Attending college for the first time in the spring of 2009 at the age of 68 was quite a shock to me. There I discovered with the help of a tutor I could pass the classes. Along the way one of my counselors suggested that with my experience I might consider becoming a teacher. I also found out that I could get a loan I didn’t have to pay back if I could make the grade. At the end of the first semester I took my grades to the finance office where they said a 3.8 was more than enough to qualify for the loan. After all this time I was quiet happy with myself that I had the potential to become a teacher. The truth is I always held educators on a very high pedestal and never considered myself of that caliber. Finding out I had the potential enlightened me to work harder and get the right training to become a teacher. There have been some times when the studies were not so easy, but so far I am on my way.

              I am sure with the right attitude and the willingness to work hard I will reach my goal. Surely there will be some bumps in the road. Almost every day I find it true that if it was easy anybody could do it. Well, the truth is it is not easy to become an educator. The one thing that upsets me the most is to see children pass from one grade to the next and unable to spell or read at the proper level. After I succeed and start teaching my plan is that all my students will know how to read and spell better. In the meantime I will continue to try and improve my own writing and reading. I like to think of life as an adventure and plan on continuing mine for as long as possible.

the above is my avatar-below myself and my son

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Stanley Smith

Graduate of HS in Dallas Texas a long time ago.

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