Readings for week 1 of CEdO525

The first article we had to read for week 1 of 525 was Principles of Teaching and Learning, I was reading the section about teaching principles. I found the fourth point especially hit home with me. It discussed coverage of topics in the classroom and how a teacher decides what to teach and how much to teach in a semester. I teach business and have many different state standards available. Since I am the business department in my district, I am limited in how many of those standards are reached. So, I attempt to meet as many of them as possible, however, sometimes that becomes a challenge because of the make-up of the class. Each student learns in a different way and at a different pace and all have different backgrounds and experiences. My class sizes have been increasing since I began teaching which also poses a challenge for me. I find myself adapting how I teach certain material or how I present information to my classes. For some classes, I am not able to cover as much material as I would like to, but with others, I can cover much more than expected.

Teachers must be willing to be flexible with how they teach and what they teach. It is important that each student receives the education that they are expecting to receive, but it is also important to not lose other students in the process. It is a fine line, and a difficult one, that teachers walk. We must prepare ourselves for any challenges that may arise.

The second reading we had in Week 1 of CEdO525 was A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning With Technology on Student Outcomes. I will be honest and admit that I struggled with this article. I am not a scientist, nor am I a mathematician. So much of this article confused me. What I did understand from the research were the results and I was quite surprised by them. The results indicated that when technology is used to assist in teaching and learning, it had a slight positive effect on learning. And in some cases, technology had a negative effect on behavior. I find much of this hard to believe. It has been my experience when using technology in my classroom, that often the students are better behaved and have much better outcomes with learning.