The Thought Behind Educational Blogging

Educational blogging can be an effective tool to have in a classroom setting in order to connect with others, talk about important topics and keep students and families up to date. This type of blogging is used for educational purposes because it can support student and teacher learning through reflections, collaborations, questions and engagements for higher level thinking. Many teachers and students participate in educational blogging in order to practice skills of communication and conversation as well as develop more analytic thinking. Benefits can include self expression, delivery of news to families, ability to be creative, improvement of writing and communication skills, and sharing resources and information to others. Some challenges can also arise with educational blogging which could be inconsistent posting, copyright issues, forgetting to use or update pages, or poor writing skills. Overall, educational blogging can be effectively used in the classroom if it follows appropriate guidelines and is used as a helpful tool rather than one that is quickly forgotten. 

A student is explaining her blog to the class,
so there can be a group discussion on the topic

Blogging for educational purposes can be used for families outside of the classroom as well. Families tend to stay curious about what their children may be engaging in when they are at school. I was able to learn more about parental involvement from my peer. Parents can raise their children a certain way which can be reflected in the classroom. Communicating with parents and guardians can help build a relationship with these individuals, so that way they can feel comfortable to address problems or ask questions. Teachers can also better understand their students behavior, background or home life when relationships are created with the parents. This information can give the teacher new ideas on how to work with a certain student or what resources they might need. In addition to this, I learned that when parents are more involved in the classroom, it can show the child that they are loved and that their families care about their work and learning at school. This can boost a child's confidence in the classroom and I definitely felt this way when my parents were involved with my school and class. Classroom management can be an important topic to think about when focusing about what to include in your curriculum. This is related to how a classroom runs and operates on the daily. One of my peers touched on the idea that when many think about the idea of classroom management, ideas of rules, directions and teaching strategies tend to come to mind. I was able to quickly realize that although these are important aspects, classroom management also focuses on ways to improve student learning and work through behavior, materials and activities. This is definitely not an easy thing to master right off the bat, especially since different students may have a variety of needs. One type of classroom management may not work for everyone, so it is important to be flexible in case something needs to be adjusted. Teachers need to remember that it could take a few tries. Looking at all that teachers do to incorporate interactive activities and helpful resources for students to utilize, it can be upsetting to think about the low teacher salaries in America. Educators help guide people to be successful in their future, so I learned that it would not be possible to have doctors or lawyers without teachers. Many teachers end up leaving their careers because they do not feel respected, even though it is an extremely important job. Teachers put in an immense amount of effort to support their students, so even as a student hoping to enter the education field, it is scary to think about the current salary issue! Being able to compare teacher salaries to a $10 an hour job, if each child in the classroom was equivalent to $10 an hour, I learned that this could add up to $252,000. That is a large amount of money, especially since Tennessee educator salaries are averaging to $50,000. This emphasizes the idea that teachers are not paid enough for all the work that they do. 

I have not been a huge blogger myself. By making this blog, I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to express my thoughts on certain topics that I find important in the education field. I have found myself reading blog posts in the past whether I was looking for certain information or just curious about the topic. I have been able to feel creative with my words and practice ways to appropriately communicate beneficial information to the public. On the other hand, I have faced worry about if my audience disagrees with my blog posts, however, blogs can be used to create effective discussions! I think that blogs are a helpful tool to include in the classroom for teachers, students and families to utilize. Blogs can be an easy way to locate information that is important to be aware of whether it is a recap on what is happening in the classroom, important topics to learn about or upcoming events on the calendar. I would like to use a blog myself to connect with those outside of the classroom, but I think that my students could also benefit from blogging themselves too. This could help them express their thoughts and opinions while practicing writing skills. Blogs can be used to create a group discussion, so everyone could feel listened to and heard. If blogs are commonly used and appropriate to all, I believe that this is great platform to incorporate in the classroom.