Theoretical Foundations

     There is not one generic, "one size fits all" way to learn. Learning is similar to the way one travels to a given point. For instance, when I drive to campus I take the same road every week. This is the way that makes most sense to me. For another person, they drive to campus from a completely different pathway. Both ways are similar yet different in so many ways. This is how learning is. I am a very visual learner; I have to see something with my own eyes for it to fully make sense to me. For others, they may possess a different learning style, a different pathway. I feel that as future teachers, it is our job to assess our student's learning styles and best meet the needs of ALL of our students, not just the students who learn by auditory means.

     Although I cannot be absolutely for sure what my own personal teaching style is due to my lack of experience, I would hypothesize that my teaching style will be more hands on and visual. I feel as though I will have to adjust this for my students who cannot learn in a seemingly ‘unorganized’ classroom setting. I hope to be able to meet all of my students learning needs.
     I believe educational technology will fit rather nicely into my classroom. I love having creative control of a project and being able to make it personal. I want my students to be able to enjoy the same aspects of technology. Along with being able to create their own projects, students of all learning styles are able to learn from some type of technology. By combining different audio, visual, and interactive technologies, I hope to be able to encourage and help my students learn the given information. For instance, I was observing a classroom last semester. In this first grade classroom, the students were learning how to add and subtract the number thirteen. One student in particular was having a hard time doing so. I commented on this to the teacher who informed me that this student had a hard time learning math in the classroom, but would understand it when the lesson was reinforced in the computer lab the next afternoon.  The next day, I arrived in time to see the magic unfold. This same little girl sat behind the computer screen and added and subtracted as though she had understood the lesson perfectly. I asked her how she had learned so quickly. She said, “Well it’s easier when I do it on the computer. It tells me if I do it wrong, and it shows me how to do it right. Then I just get it.” This little girl truly opened my eyes to how much technology can change a person’s life.
     According to the multiple intelligence tests, I scored in the upper teens and low twenties in all aspects besides nature and logical learning styles. This actually did not surprise me very much. I have never enjoyed math, and I am more of an inside girl. I feel as if these are two aspects I must overcome before I have a classroom of mv very own.