Me as an educator

To be honest, I'm not really sure yet who I am as an educator - at least of high school students. I've been teaching college writing courses for quite awhile now, but most of the classes I teach are remedial, so I don't have a lot of opportunity to experiment.

I guess I would say that I'm a pretty casual teacher in the sense that I'm kind of laid back and not very strict. I also would never even consider lecturing for an entire class period. I always have a brief lecture (15-20 minutes) and then some kind of hands-on activity for the students to practice. Then we usually talk about the activity before moving on to something else. I also try to make myself as available as possible to my students in case they need help with anything.

I do use some technology in my classes in the sense that I occasionally use PowerPoint for a lecture. I also have the student go online to do research for a paper they must write and to find information on MLA citation rules. They can also use the computers in the classroom (when I'm in a smart room) to write their papers when they choose. Those are really the only technologies available to me in a basic writing class.