I believe in empowerment.
I believe student empowerment is derived from student-centred inquiry and learning. I Believe students are equipped with the best chance to achieve their full potential when they are enabled to direct their own learning. To give students this opportunity I believe it is crucial in my role as an educator to ensure my students are mindful of their learning styles, aware of their strengths, reflective on their challenges and creative in the their abilities to come up with solutions.
I believe student empowerment is allowing young people to thrive as digital natives. Purposeful integration of technology into student learning is at the core of my pedagogy. Allowing students to grow as digital citizens gives them a chance to reach their potential in the 21st century. Students are able to create and collaborate in online spaces such as class blogs (grade 1 blog) and Google Accounts. Teaching in a 1 to 1 program has allowed me to meaningfully shape student learning around our technology. Further to this I currently am working on the team within my school to wok towards becoming recognized as an Apple Distinguished School.
I believe empowerment as an educator is to be a reflective, life-long learner. I relish the professional development opportunities to continue my growth as an educator. Through various online platforms particularly Twitter (@danlast) I keep up to date with current international educational trends and practice through daily engagement with my Professional Learning Network. I reflect regularly on my practice here on this website as a means to continue to shape my teaching and learning.
I believe empowered students are internationally minded global citizens. When students are able to make sense of their place in the world and how they can contribute to positive change the are empowered to take action. Examples of student-led action that I have facilitated include taking students to a remote village school in Cambodia to conduct reading and writing in English workshops with local students, connecting students with community activists through Skype interviews, beach clean-ups in Chiba and more recently a school-wide clothes drive and community-walk campaign to raise funds for refugees escaping Syria.
I believe in empowerment through the power of the Arts in education. In the drama classroom we sometimes make sense of our world through drama. I believe in the transformative power of drama, and the ability that drama has to enact lasting positive change personally, socially and culturally. I believe that when we are immersed in drama we are free to share without fear of judgement. I believe that through drama we are able to create, react, respond, innovate, improvise, direct, challenge, collaborate, discover, empathize and most importantly, experience.
dlasttis 