When I become a student teacher...

When I am student teaching, I would like for the students to have not only interactions with the me, the teacher, but also with the other students. I would like for their desks to be set up in groups of four or five depending on the class size. This way, when they are working on something, they can ask each other for help without me having to attend to every single student. I feel that it is important for students to be able to address their problems with other students and start solving problems on their own. This will help them to obtain responsibility and independence characteristics. Working in groups also helps students to learn concepts like sharing, kindness, and leadership. However, I would have to test the group seating arrangement out for a few days. If the students abused the privilege and were talking to much and not getting their work done, then I would have to put them back into rows.
I would also like for students to be able to develop information themselves. I would like to have them research answers on computers or in books, so that every answer is not always coming from me. Children need to know that they will not always have a teacher to tell them the correct answer; they will need to find some solutions on their own. Research will help them to learn more than just the information a teacher would provide. They have to read through articles or summaries to find answers; the answers are not just standing alone waiting for someone to find them. Technology is a very important topic in education now, so it is important to start implementing technology concepts at a young age so that it stays consistently with them throughout their education. Using effective power points, audio or video examples, and simple programs like Microsoft Word and Excel can be tactfully implemented into the lessons to make learning more fun.
I also think that instruction should not be the same thing day after day. There are times when activities are appropriate for kinesthetic learners, but power point presentations and videos might be more suitable for visual learners, and audio examples can be used for auditory learners. There are so many different types of learners out there, so it is important to vary instruction to be able to reach every child.
I have a lot of ideas for my instruction as you can see, but mostly I would just like to vary it as much as I can without losing the students. I think that it will really keep the students interested. Hopefully they will think: what does she have planned for us next??