What it Means to be a 21st Century Educator

Being an educator in the 21st century means being an educator of the future. It means having and applying new ideas to education, incorporating new concepts to our lesson plans and upgrading technology in our schools. As educators we are the key to unlocking our students, our own, and the future humans future. Education has history that means as an educator today, it is our responsibility to research and thoroughly understand teaching styles that have existed in the past all over the world. How can we improve if we don’t modernize working concepts and create new ones that push our students to learn at new heights? The past will scaffold what we create for education in the future.
The future is what we push to live in every day, and because of this I believe that one of the most major and important components in creating stronger educational programs is incorporating modern technology in everyday educational activities. In my classroom students will know how to properly research online. They will understand how and why blogs and wikis work. They will find the internet useful for communication. They will be able to make movies and podcasts using programs like imovie and garage band.
Embracing this useful tool, as teachers will enable our students to get more out of their time in the classroom. As teachers we are now able to teach interactively using tools like Smartboard. We can teach geometry to third graders using Scratch and GeoGebra. The possibilities are endless and they will keep our students active in class and interested. Technology is something students begin to understand at an early age and consistently use in every day life.
I believe that teaching some core subjects through technology will convince students that they do and that they can apply technology they learn about in school to the rest of their lives. The more familiar we make students are with the work will allow them to someday enhance and invent other products that will expand the human races possibly of life in the future.
Being a teacher in the 21st century means giving students experience. My classroom will be full of this. Learning will not all about bookwork and worksheets. I believe that students learn to their best ability in a multitude of ways. By giving students a hands-on way to learn followed by direction the students can read, listen, see and act upon what they are learning. Giving students the chance to participate enables them to remember, learn from and repeat more easily.
Being a teacher of the 21st century is important. Educators shape the future. It is important to be smart, educated, motivated and concerned with your students. It will be my job as an educator to ensure my students learn what they need to know so that they will be able to push the world forward and make it a better place for everyone.