User:Kcros007

My name is Kevin Crossman (kcros007) and I am currently a Junior at Old Dominion University. I am a History and Social Studies Major and I would like to teach high school history. I really enjoy studying and learning about history, politics, geography and how they all relate to one another. I live in Virginia Beach and graduated from Kempsville High school. My hobbies include playing, as well as watching, football, baseball and basketball. I attend almost every ODU men's basketball games and will be doing the same for football once they start playing. My favorite sports team of all time however is the Jacksonville Jaguars, mostly because I was born in Jacksonville, Florida.

My philosophy on education is that students need to be taught knowledge and must be made to think critically so that they will be prepared to make difficult life decisions. The best way to prepare students for their life after school is to education them as much as possible with not only facts, but educate them in a way that forces them to think and use there mind creatively to solve problems. No one knows or remembers all the facts, but if you know how to think critically and creatively, and you know how to solve problems in a systematic way, you will be able to find the answer. I believe studying history is very important in this regard because it forces you to think this way. Studying history also allows you to see what good things or mistakes other people have made in the past and helps you try and not make the same mistakes. You can learn from the past in order to help you with the future.

I do not believe boys and girls need to be taught differently, I do however believe students should be grouped with other students of their ability. By grouping students with others that have similar abilities, it allows the students to learn at the same pace with out going too fast or holding some students back. I also believe every student learns better in different ways and that instructional strategies should include several types of teaching methods. You can't cater to just one group of students learning strengths, you have to mix up the different teaching styles to try and reach the students. The classroom environment should include student and teacher interaction as well as interaction with technology such as computers, the Internet, videos, etc.. Students should be exposed to several types of subjects and information because it is all helpful in creating a well rounded, educated person.