What have I learned?

“The illiterate of the 21st century will NOT be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

This is a quote that was given to our Education 501 Class at the beginning of the year.
What does it mean to me now that I have learned about planning and teaching in Education 501?
Well, when I look at this quote I see possibility. Firstly, children in the 21st century are different than the children from long ago because they are fortunate enough to be able to attend school.
If fact, they have to. According to section 13 (1) of the School Act: An individual who is eligible to be enrolled in a school, at September 1 in a year is 6 years of age or older, and is younger than 16 years of age shall attend school.

In regards to planning and teaching, I have learned that not every child learns the same way, learns at the same speed, or cognitively develops at the same time. As a teacher is it my role to reach every student by using Gardner's Multiple intelligences. Some students learn better by seeing the teacher do an example, some learn better by simply listening to instruction, and some learn better by doing it themselves in a hands-on activity. These are only three of the 8 intelligences Gardner has identified.

Every child is different, not only in how they learn, but also in how fast they learn. When a teacher plans, he/she needs to plan much more than simply the lesson for the average student. Teachers need to plan for the students that finish everything early, the students who need extra time for every assignment, or the student who has special needs. If a teacher is not planned, the class will not be controlled, nor will it remain a positive learning environment because the teacher will spend her time thinking of what she will have to do next.

Lastly, one thing we need to remember that students might make you think that they understand the concept being taught; but as a teacher, you have to make sure you have some form of informal assessment that lets you know if they students 'get it'. Everyday teachers find students in their classrooms who do not understand a particular concept. These students will not make eye contact with their teacher, will pretend to write notes, or anything else they can come up with as a way of making it seem that they are too busy to answer the question that the teacher will use to determine their understanding. Those students who get away with the classic move of 'I'm too busy so don't ask me the question', get to the end of the lesson and did not learn anything. Unfortunately, there are many teachers who let this slide, which results in his/her students not learning.

As I have wrote in my philosophy of teaching, every child is able to achieve to the best of their ability, whether it is at a grade of A, B, or C. With the amount of research and resources available to us, there should be no such thing as a student who is illiterate in the 21st century. As teachers of the 21st century, we should try to use the different teaching methods and assessment strategies so that we make it possible to reach every student. And the first step is planning.