Jmejia019

The Basics: jmejia019 is a user whose hometown and current residence is Norfolk, Virginia, United States. He is a male and a 20 yr old junior at Old Dominion University currently studying history. Main hobbies include soccer, automobiles, video games, surfing, music and technology.

Educational Philosophy: My educational philosophy is fairly straight forward and simple; provide the best learning enviornment possible. Although this is of course a wide-open statement, but this is because the philosophy itself is wide open. In reference to more specific issues:

Diversity- I believe that special needs students should be intergrated into the "standard" classroom as much as possible without interfering with the education of their, or others' education. I do not believe that students should be taught differently or separateed by gender or ability but be taught on as much of an individual and personalised basis as possible as to ensure the success of said individuals. For some students this means recieving less attention and for some it means recieving more. I believe that there should be bilingual instruction (bieng bilingual myself) but i believe that students who have english as a second language should be given a curriculum that heavily emphasizes english proficiency as its main goal. I believe that although Ebonics is a distinct dialect of the English language, students should be urged to study and master Standard American English as it is a vital tool for their post-graduation lives. "At-risk" students should be treated the same as their peers but be given extra support from instructors.

Instructional Strategies- I plan to teach with a combination of strategies. Although it is important for students to work and groups and learn through first hand experience, there are also times when students need to listen. This is not only to Learn the material, but also to set standards for adult behaviour that must be maintained in the post-graduation world.

Curriculum- As far as the purpose of schools, I believe that the answer is simple and very broad. Schools are not only places of acedemic learning, but also social, political and cultural learning. They are also places of professional learning. Schools teach all kinds of classes (art, music, shop, math, writing, foreign language, etc) to cover academic and professional areas but also fullfill their social function by places adolecents with their peers and with authority figures.