Fair Use and Copyright

Fair Use and Copyright refers to the proper use and distribution of all copyright protected material. Copyright was created with good intentions, so that people wouldn't steal other peoples ideas, which is great except I think it has gone a little too far. First of all, I would argue that out of all of the things that get copyrighted, I would say only half of them are original. Second, there are so many copyright laws now its almost impossible to know and keep up with all of them. Although I know I need to be aware of them in the classroom, I'm not trying to steal anyone's ideas. I'm trying to educate children without having to personally generate all the material I use to teach. I would have no problem referencing the things I use. I'm not trying to steal or take copyrighted material. I'm merely borrowing it.

Philosophy of Education

If we assume for a second that the traditional philosophy of education is where a student does an assignment, gets a grade, does another assignment gets another grade, has a test, gets a grade and so on and so on until the end of the semester where their final grade is determined by combining all these grades together. My philosophy of education is similar to learning how to drive. Ideally when you learn to drive you start out practicing with a parent in a parking lot or somewhere away from town, then you get a learners permit where you are allowed to drive with a parent wherever, then comes drivers ed, and once you pass drivers ed you are allowed to drive alone to school. Finally, you take a written test when you turn sixteen and if you pass you are able to drive. This is how I think education should work, we shouldn't grade students on their first experience with a subject or concept. They should have practice mastering a concept while we make value judgments of their improvement along the way. If they aren't improving we come along beside and provide more support and if they are, we challenge them more. This philosophy also uses a combination of both authentic and traditional assessment. A students grade is based more on how much they learned than what they know.