Cameron Sharbel McKinley
Alabama Teacher of the Year
Riverchase Elementary School, Hoover
Grades K-5, Technology

My teaching philosophy
I believe three things are important when teaching. First, allow students to work for a real audience. This is what I call authentic assessment. Second, give students opportunities to teach others, for that is how brain research says we learn best. Last, guide students toward ways to make a positive difference in the community or the world, benefiting others while acquiring real-world skills. No matter where I teach or at what age level, I believe that everyone can be excited about something, you just have to find out what it is, tap into that excitement and use it to motivate and teach. I can honestly say that I love teaching all the different ages. It is challenging to adjust teaching styles and methods to the various learner abilities and ages, but then, that is what I love—a challenge! Technology allows us to reach students in ways that were not possible in the past. Modeling successful use and allowing students to experience technological successes is important. Our world is changing rapidly, our horizons are expanding, and it is up to us to equip students with the skills they need to be successful in a closely connected world.

My philosophy in action
Giving students control of their learning and letting them try to solve real-world problems stimulates stronger student interest and effort. When studying ethics in technology, my students developed an Anti-Piracy Day as one of the projects. They organized the school to devote a day to stamping out software and music piracy. Students signed pledges and went a whole day without listening to music or using any software, to see what it would be like if we had no more of these products due to piracy. I challenge my students to SHAPE the future, BE the future and to know that they CAN make a difference. My students’ projects, like our Dibels Interactive reading PowerPoint, Candy Grams, Senior Citizen Project, Environmental Concern Research, Anti-Piracy Day, Interactive Teaching Projects, and Virtual School Tour Project, are examples of students using technology to enhance the community in which they live.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
My greatest contribution to education is sharing my enthusiasm for technology with teachers, pre-service students, parents and students. I design creative technology solutions to motivate, to bridge the gaps, and to excite learners. I enjoy discovering free resources for teachers, parents, and students, which challenge and engage the mind in unique ways. My most significant contributions involve developing ways to combine student learning, technology, and community service that allow students to complete projects that make a positive difference in our world. I want students to understand that with the privilege of using technology comes responsibility. Students must consider how they can use the skills they learn to help others in the community and in the world. I’ve organized community oriented service clubs, mentored college professors and pre-service teachers, and had students of all ages work on projects that can be used by others to foster learning in some way. I have presented on many topics for teachers throughout the state. The best reward is feedback from teachers that something I taught them made a positive difference in their classrooms. Other significant contributions include gathering and sharing resources with teachers all over the world. I created a free resource page for teachers and parents with free software and tools to move students and teachers forward in technology. It is through my work in compiling, modeling and sharing resources for teachers and students that I feel I have made my biggest impact. I model projects where students, teachers and the community all benefit, and that makes all the difference!

The most critical issues facing educators today
As a business person for 10 years turned educator going on 11 years, I am concerned that we are not preparing students for the globalized world that awaits them. I went from public education to the business world to the federal government world to the education world. I have a good sense of what is needed to succeed in each of these worlds. Margaret Mead said, “We are continually faced with great opportunities that are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.” I see a number of “opportunities” in public education that I consider major issues we must address in order to make better education choices for our future. These issues include accountability and testing, student math and science proficiency, teacher shortages, adequate funding for No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and its implementation, and finally, the one most important to me, technology in schools – student proficiency with technology and its proper use in education.

I believe that technology in schools is essential to preparing students for our globalized world. More specifically, I am talking about funding initiatives to address Technology Management, Integration, and Responsible Use. We must at least reach the same level of competence common in the real world. Our students, the products of education, must be prepared to operate in a constantly changing global world.

Ways to resolve this issue
We must provide opportunities for teachers to see technology creatively integrated into all subject areas. They need to see successful collaborations among students from all over the world. Demonstrations of students and teachers making a positive difference by using technology must be provided. Educators should be the leaders in harnessing the power of technology to motivate, to teach, to solve problems, to change the world. We have to do a better job of providing resources, informing teachers of the resources available, and stimulating creative use of these resources in the learning process. Technology can also help make assessments more meaningful. For example, teachers could use electronic portfolios. How about using qualified, unbiased, anonymous assessors from anywhere in the world to evaluate student work? Students can find an audience for their work and actually make a difference using the web. We need to give students opportunities to add valuable resources to the world’s knowledge base and to encourage them to use their skills to help make the world a better place. In today’s world, where everyone can create the news or be the news, it is more critical than ever that we guide students through this maze of information as we take the trip with them.

In order to ensure teachers are equipped to take this trip, we must do a number of things. We need to offer resources, such as instructional technology specialists, at each of our schools. We need to offer more professional development or model classroom visits to equip and stimulate teachers with successful ideas to use with students. Educating teachers to help students evaluate and use the information they find is critical. Every time I use technology to make life easier for teachers, I am modeling it for them in hopes they will do the same for their students. It is important to understand that we will be a world of collaborators, not stand-alone thinkers. Students cannot just debate within the classroom; they must be ready to debate the world. We must model and encourage real world, collaborative, technologically rich projects whenever we can.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
YOU can make a difference!

One lesson every student should learn
Learning is forever!

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