Educational Blogging

 Educational blogging is a way for educators to share their experiences online in the form of writing. They can create a blog to share their experiences and knowledge with a broader audience. Things educators can share on this blog are any topics involving education including teaching strategies, classroom management tips, or resources to help parents and other teachers. They can also add an "All about me" section so their students and parents can get to know them better. The benefits of educational blogging for educators include being able to share their work/content, sharing experiences with one another, getting a better understanding of things that worked and did not work for other teachers, and ways to transform their classroom. Educational blogging can also be a tool for parents to use to learn more about what's going on inside the classroom they are sending their child to. The teacher can also share information with parents about resources and things they could be doing at home to strengthen their child's education. Teachers can also use the blog to address any materials their classroom may need that are not funded by the school. For example, teachers can post on their blog that they need more pencils and if anyone could donate to the classroom it would be so helpful. Overall, educational blogging is a great way to communicate with other educators around the world as well as an opportunity for people to get to know the person as an educator and who they are outside of the classroom. 

Girl typing on her computer.

Personally, I have been able to learn a lot more about topics involving education by reading others' educational blog posts. For example, I read a blog post about school safety written by one of my peers and learned how the safety level inside a school can affect a student's academic performance. Another blog I read talked about parental involvement in classrooms and how that personally affected her experience. The author of this blog, Darby Redding, talks about how she remembers she enjoyed her mom volunteering in the classroom because it made her feel more comfortable. It also have her an opportunity to show her mom what she was learning in the classroom. I had the same experience growing up so it was interesting to hear how someone felt the same as me about when their parents would come to visit the classroom. Her blog also talks about the research involving parents visiting their child's classroom and she found that parents coming to their child's class has positive benefits because it shows the child that the parents value their education which in turn makes the child more confident in the classroom. The last blog I enjoyed reading was by Kate Cofer and she talked about the two most important classroom management strategies. She addressed how the two most important things to consider for classroom management strategies are consistency as well as student contribution to rules and norms. If you have consistent standards and students are involved in creating the standards for the classroom environment, the more likely they are to follow the rules. All of these educational blog posts, plus millions more, are great tools for educators to utilize to benefit their classroom overall.

My experience with blogging has been short but I am glad to have been introduced to a new branch of technology! I used to hear about blogging in Disney shows growing up and I always found it interesting. I honestly thought people who had blogs were super cool and that they were super smart. But I have never created my own blog until this semester! In terms of using blogging for my future classroom, I am interested in implementing it for parents and students. I think it is a great way to share resources, and needs for the classroom, as well as for it to be a way for the parents to get to know me better. I also would enjoy it to showcase students' work, but of course, keep it private for safety purposes. I create the website so only parents and other teachers in the school can view it. Overall,
I do enjoy the aspect of educational blogging as a whole because it is a great way for teachers to stick together and share some tricks or tips they have learned in their time in the classroom. 

Home environments effect in the classroom

 

Child playing with family.

A child's home life can have an impact on their time in school. A home environment is a place where their social and emotional development can be impacted because of the time spent with the parents/caregivers as well as members of the community.  More positive interactions with caregivers have led to having more positive interactions in the classroom. The more stressful environment at home the more likely the child's emotional and social development is to be hindered. The negative environments can also lead the child to have aggressive behaviors. These early years of development and the environment they are surrounded by will leave a long impact on their education and overall development. 

I believe home life is one of the main contributors to student success in the classroom. If the child grew up in a nurturing environment and knew they were supported, they are more likely to succeed in the classroom. I know personally, if I ever needed support in the classroom I knew I had that support at home to help me out if needed. Which I believe made me more confident in learning because I knew if I fell behind I could talk to my parents and they would get me the help I needed. I also grew up in a nurturing environment where my emotions were not constantly fluctuating with my parents being stressed which I think affected how I developed socially. Overall, I believe the environment where a child grows up in will impact their time in school and their overall development. 

Effects of standardized testing

 

Standardized tests have been debated and talked about for a while in the American education system. Standardized tests are administered to measure student achievement and the goal is to complete that at a fair level by placing all the students in the same testing conditions. There are also tests like the ACT and SAT to measure college readiness. These testing requirements are designed to hold educators, students, and schools accountable for academic achievement, measuring benchmarks as well as incentivizing improvement. The debate is focused on if standardized tests are an accurate assessment of student's academic abilities. Even though students are placed in the same testing environment, the test is objective and is leading the education system to create test takers, not focusing on the whole child. 

I do not believe standardized tests should be utilized in the American education system anymore. I vividly remember going to school growing up and dreading when I had to take a standardized test. You had to sit at a desk for hours on end, staring at a piece of paper, and expected to focus for the duration of the time. When I was a junior in high school and it was time to take the SAT/ACT, I cried for days because I felt like If I did not get a certain score I would fail at life and not get into any college. I had to take the ACT five times to get the score I wanted. I just remember taking these tests and thinking, "How does this tell a college who I really am?" The thing is, it does not. Standardized testing does not tell you anything about a student besides the fact that they can fill in a bunch of bubbles on a sheet. I addressed in my last post the idea of educators focusing on the "whole child approach" which basically means focusing on the child as a whole person rather than just a student. That is why education in America has shifted, we are focusing on creating test-takers instead of focusing on how we can shape their minds to explore and be creative. Standardized tests need to find their way out of the education system so the next generation won't be affected. 

Whole Child Approach

 The "whole-child approach" is a concept that has been gaining popularity in education in recent years. The whole-child approach is focused on nurturing all areas of the children's development. For example, focusing on social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and health development. This approach aims to ensure we are shaping students to be good people and not just 'good test takers.' We want to prepare students for the future like college or jobs, while also making sure their other areas of interest and personality are brought to light. The "whole-child approach" wants to remind educators that learning is not only focused in the classroom, we want to create lifelong learners who seek to explore every day, anywhere! 

I think the "whole-child approach" is a great movement in the right direction in the education world. I believe going beyond the student's math and science learning is vital for making sure our students are actively enjoying learning and want to explore more. I remember growing up I felt there was a huge focus on my academics and grades, but no focus on my interests. It made me feel less motivated to learn because I felt as if the teacher only saw me as a "test-taker" and not a person. I also think focusing on students' social-emotional skills can aid them in learning self-regulation skills which will benefit them in the long run. This new approach is something all educators should be implementing in their classrooms and I hope to see it added to classroom curriculums across the country.