Inquiry based learning and historical teaching

As a teacher I think I have subconsciously used Inquiry based teaching.   I work mostly with children with autism, who do not vocalize much of their questions and feelings about things, but according to this website, Inquiry based learning is about finding the truth about things, exploring, and asking questions.  It is about finding out about the world and what meanings things have.  I think that a lot of the work I do with my students is through inquiry because together we find ways to best learn and explore our surroundings.  We question each other as to what works best and how to find the best things for us.  I try to teach them pertinent information and go about it in interactive ways to further their understanding and allow them to explore topics through what interests them to the best of their ability.  Through my own learning I have gotten the opportunity to do a great deal of Inquiry based learning.  In many of my college courses we were taught through real life experiences.  For various different projects we were given options to choose topics within the subject that were of interest to us and explore them hands on through interviews, experience and research.  I was given opportunities to explore the unknown community and world around me.  In my future classroom as a special education teacher I think inquiry based learning will be a better fit but historical learning will also need to be incorporated.  Inquiry based learning allows for my freedom for the students to explore and wonder but historical based learning is concrete and is still needed.

Implications of copyright issues for teachers

From learning about copyright issues in class I now have a better idea of many of the laws and regulations that encompass copyright.  As for implications as an educator I feel that sound judgement of what I use and allow my students to use will really be what is needed to keep us safe and out of trouble.  I have learned that most instances where other people's work is used for educational purposes is deemed to be lawful as long as it has proper citation.  This is because it is used for educational reasons and the student or educator using the work is not profiting or changing the value of whatever they are using.  As an educator I will be sure to educate my students on the copyright issues and make sure they understand what is against the law and what is ok for the context of their learning. I will teach them proper citing ways to give credit to other's work.

photoshop experience

The image i have created here using photoshop was my first experience using the program.  I tried to incorporate some things I love most in life and that make me the happiest.  The background original picture is of my old dog, Nova, who passed away, on a sand bar at the beach.  I added images of my puppy, the red dog, Quinn, and me riding a horse.  I chose these images because I absolutely love the beach and find it to be one of the most peaceful places and my dogs like it too.  I added the image of me jumping on the horse because jumping is one of the most incredible feelings.  It is like you are flying and it takes away all the troubles in the world.  At the exact moment I am going over a jump I feel nothing but me and the horse and time seems to stop.

I thought that using photopshop was very difficult.  As I said, it was my first experience with the program and I needed assistance on using the various tools to do various things.  Cutting out the images was the hardest, especially because I chose to use images that had very busy and complicated backgrounds.  I was proud of my final product because of this.  I thought it was amazing to see the transformation using photoshop could do to an image.

As for using photoshop with my future students. I may or may not use it.  I could see myself having students who are in special education have gifts in the arts and not academics and thrive from using photoshop.  They could really tap into their creative side! However, in the population I hope to work with I do not see it being applicable to them, considering they are elementary aged children with autism.  But some may love it, I never know.

Photoshop Picture