My Take on Educational Blogs

    Educational blogging is something that allows students, teachers, parents, etc., to come together and and write about different experiences and beliefs that they have within the education world. According to Vanderbilt Universities Center for Teaching, educational blogging is a kind of social media tool that allows one to share ideas with authentic audiences and to engage those audiences in conversation are so many different things that can be talked about when it comes to education, that the amount of topics you could write about are virtually endless. Using blogging while teaching is a great way to involve parents on your teaching philosophies, and a way for them to learn deeper information about you as a whole that they might not get from you just being their child's teacher. Educational blogging isn't just something teachers can do either, there is also opportunities for students to write about many things as well. They are able to express their thoughts, and have it reach a wider audience rather than just their teachers. By students having an education blog, their parents, teachers, friends, and others from the community are able to see what they are writing about. 

    I read three blogs overall, and I will tell you the information that I learned while reading them! The first blog I read was Molly Milam's blog about mental healthcare in schools. I learned so much about mental healthcare in schools that I had never knew before. There were a lot of statistics that shocked me, such as 

Black and white photo of a young 
child doing virtual school, alone in 
his room. 

only half of youth received care for their mental health struggles in the past year. This is very sad to me because children struggle with mental health concerns much like adults, but it is often hard to express or understand your emotions, so it often gets overlooked. This will effect the students schoolwork because student silently struggle, which makes them unable to focus, have limited motivation, and be socially isolated. I also learned about NAMI, which is an organization that stands for public policies and practices that should promote mental health awareness. The next blog I read was Allison Schaumberger's post about the effects of virtual schooling. This was another super interesting one to read because it is something that I haven't read into a bunch. I know how virtual schooling effected me in college, but I don't know much about the younger schooling years. Virtual learning was generally flexible, so it gave students less of a restricted feeling during a restrictive time. One disadvantage to virtual schooling, is that it requires a lot of self discipline and encouragement to get the work done. I know that this is something I have struggled with a lot when it comes to virtual school, because I will put off my assignments until the last minute. My experiences with virtual learning began in March 2020 when I was a senior in high school. I hope that this world will never have to go through something like that again, but it did open many doors for us in terms of flexible schooling. The third and final blog I read, was Suzy Hill's post about growing class sizes.

Children sitting in a smaller class  `
size which allows for teacher to
give more one-on-one time. 

 I tried to pick blog posts to read, that I don't have a ton of prior       knowledge on. Out of the three blog posts I read, this one is by far   the one I knew the least about. I now know how vital class size is   to a successful school year. Having smaller classrooms allows for   teachers to be more attentive and involved throughout the   student's school days. Having a small classroom size allows for   teachers to do more one-on-one work with students, and makes it   easier to create relationships with all students. I learned that   research shows in college classes, that more students will go if it has a smaller class size. This is interesting to me, because I am the same way. This year all my classes have about 15-20 people in them, and I throughly enjoy going to all my classes everyday. I have created relationships with all my teachers, and that gives me the motivation to come to class. If these classes had 50-100+ people in them, I can't say whether I would have the motivation to go and participate like I do currently. The last thing I liked about Suzy's post, is how she explained the cost of smaller classrooms. Throughout the country, there is a shortage of teachers. Some people neglect smaller classrooms because they don't think the smaller class is simply worth the price tag that is comes with. I learned so much from reading my peer's blog posts!! 

     Educational blogging is something that I had never even heard of before taking ETEC 486. I have learned so much about the importance and not so important advantages and disadvantages technology has on our students and staff. Overall, I think educational blogging is one of those things that just has more benefit than not. Although I have only had my blog for approximately 2 months, I think that is is something I will decide to implement within my own classroom. I want to teach younger students (Kindergarten-2nd), so it would not be appropriate to assign them to write an entire blog post. I think that it is something I would do more for the parents of my students as a way to connect with them. These blog posts can consist of weekly updates surrounding what the students will be learning in each subject, future field trips and why they are beneficial, and any other information I deem appropriate to share to them.  Overall, I think that education blogging is a great tool for every teacher, and I can definitely see myself using this in the future! 

Teacher's Salaries

The talk about teachers' salaries has been a consistent conversation for years in our country. As interests rates, inflation, and the cost of life in general increases, why are salaries not? For the work teachers' do, are they really getting the compensation that they deserve? Teachers' are given sometimes even unlivable wages in todays day and age, and it is unfair considering the work that they do. It is important that teachers' are paid the wages that they deserve, and that they are consistent. I think that the work teachers' do outside of class is often overlooked. The result of low wages often consists of. teacher strikes, which then leaves them not working, and students not learning. Teachers' are overworked, overtired, and underpaid, and something needs to change for the people who shape the future society. 

This is a picture of Dr. Jill Biden

who is a huge advocate of the "Grow

Your Own" initiative. She even

recently visited The University of 

Tennessee to speak and learn more 

about "grow Your Own" in Tennessee

This is a topic that I am extremely passionate about. Don't think that just because I am going to be a teacher means that I obviously would be for teachers getting paid more; I just think that the work they do is often overlooked, and they are seen as babysitters instead of the men and women who teach the future of America. Now I am not a teacher yet, but I can advocate for those who are by saying that it is so much more than what it looks like. According to the National Council on Teacher Equality, the typical first year teacher who is coming in with only a bachelor's degree, can expect to make around $32,000 in some areas, or around $50,000 in areas with a higher cost o living such as the District of Columbia. The problem with expecting a raise, it often times schools expect you to further your education to a master's degree as well. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of a master's degree can range anywhere from $30,000-$120,000 depending on the school, major, and length of the program. Still, even on the low end, a master's degree will run you at least $30,000. With the average teacher making $40,000 a year, there really isn't any money to spare to be able to achieve a master's degree without tasking out loans. I think that there should be loan forgiveness for teacher's in America not only for the fact of obtaining a master's degree, but also because of the teacher shortage. There needs to be increased educational opportunities for students all over the country as well. Getting an education does not need to be a luxury. Tennessee is taking a step in the right direction by creating the "Grow Your Own" initiative, which provides innovative, no-cost pathways to the teaching profession. This program supports recruiting, developing, placing, and retaining diverse educators, and helping them be successful in the best ways possible. This program can help a lot with the push for teachers to receive higher wages, as well as support them through navigating graduate school at little to no cost to them. Not only does this help teacher's lives by having higher pay, but it helps them further their education, which in turn helps the future students and leaders of America get the best possible education they can. 

Cyberbullying

This image shows someone on a computer
educating themselves on cyberbullying. 

Cyberbullying in the United States has, in my opinion, been a riding issue for the last 15 years or so. Cyberbullying can be hard to define, but it is known as the intended harm caused by people through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. This is a deliberate, not accidental, behavior, as well as it reflects a pattern instead of just one isolated event. Computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices is what differentiates cyberbullying from just normal bullying. Cyberbullying is something that needs to be talked about greatly, because it is something that the perpetuator and the victim usually only see, whereas with regular bullying face to face, you can have witnesses and more people to stick up for you. It is extremely important to specifically talk about inside of schools though, because teachers are extremely influential in children's lives. I know personally for me, I am going to teach 5-8 year olds, and their minds are like sponges. We can be the source to help students prevent any kind of bullying by talking about it, creating a safe space in schools and inside classrooms, as well as creating strategies for students to use in case they find themselves in an encounter with someone cyberbullying them. I want to instill safe and respectful behavior in my students as early on as possible. As a teacher, I have the power to help and prevent cyberbullying inside my classroom. 

I have been lucky enough to never have experienced cyberbullying personally, but you see it everywhere on social media. It truly is hard to avoid. Whether it happens to celebrities, or everyday people like me and you, there isn't an excuse for it. Cyberbullying can effect students' physical and emotional well-being and safety, but it can also impact their academic success at school. In a survey done by the National Center for Education Statistics, showed that in 2019, 16% of students in grades 9-12 reported being bullied online in the last 12 months. Although this survey was done for high school, in Elementary school the bullying can be just as persistent. They may not be as "tech savvy", and the bullying can be caught under the rug. It is not excusable though, and schools should implement policies to help prevent cyberbullying such as pushing and promoting a positive school climate, monitor at-risk behaviors, and provide interventions for not only the victims, but for the bully as well. A lot of the times someone who feels the need to bully has it come from a deeper place, and need healing to prevent this behavior in the future. Teachers should be trained on what cyberbullying is, what it looks like, and how to respond to it in order to create a safe and fun learning environment for everyone. 

School Security

When talking about "School Safety", a plethora of topics come to mind. School safety is a big umbrella term that can include topics such as bullying and cyberbullying, public and mental health, school climate, as well as the more obvious terms that come to mind when you think of school safety such as targeted threats and things of violent nature. In this post, I will be talking specifically about school safety in the form of school security. School security can have a lot of meanings as well, but for the sake of this post, I will specifically talk about things schools can do better to make a students learning environment feel more secure, and ensure that, to the best of their ability, they are able to make school a safe place again. This includes physical safety such as school police officers, as well as technological safety when it comes to doors and school perimeters. This is such a prominent topic in our society today, and something that schools should make a priority. No school is safe if the people in it aren't doing what needs to be done to ensure a child will go home to their parents that day. 

This is an image of 5 security officers  
graduating to work in Knox County Schools. 

Now even though I have been fortunate enough to never have experienced a "real" active shooter within any of the school's I've attended, I feel so hard for those who have. I know that emotionally it is something people have a hard time ever overcoming, no matter how big or small the incident is. There is real trauma that is happening within schools, students, teachers, as well as even the families affected by these horrible situations. In my opinion, in majority of the active shooter situations within schools, there has been some lack of security. Whether that is technology based, or a lack of personal security, there is still a gap that seems to be a common denominator throughout these events. School Security Officers (SSO's) serve many roles within schools such as giving a sense of safety to students and teachers inside the school, can control who access the school and from where, monitor cameras, enforce school rules, report suspicious activity, and be the first person to respond immediately after a treat is recognized. The key for these officers is that they are armed and ready to respond to any treat, which we have seen does not happen all the time. It is important for all school districts to prioritize hiring at least one officer for each of their buildings, because you never know when an event like this is going to happen. I have always had a crippling fear that it will happen to me, and I could only imagine what the victims of these shootings feel like. Things like this can be prevented from school technology advances as well. In the case of the Uvalde, Texas shooting, a teacher had propped open a door to get her cell phone. When she recognized the danger of the situation, she quickly went to shut the door, thinking it would automatically lock. The door did not lock, and that is how he was able to get into the school. Although this wouldn't have ensured that the shooter wouldn't have made entry into the school, it could have given police and rescue more time to get there before the situation become too fatal. Ensuring all doors lock, and need a key fob to enter on every door, can ensure the safety of students in everyday life, even if there is not an active shooter. The security of schools needs to be of the upmost priority, or we will continue to see cases like this happen all over the country.