Overview of Blogging

Hands working at a
computer. To the right
is a full coffee cup. 

An educational blog allows students and or teachers to write about different experiences and beliefs they have that pertain to the classroom. Using blogging in the classroom can be a beneficial tool for students and teachers to be each other's audiences. It can also be helpful for developing more communication skills because it pushes students to stay engaged and learn about each other. Blogs are great to get students to feel accomplished and proud of their work. Being able to blog and read a peers blog can give student's some ideas of what to write about.

I was able to read three blog posts from my peers and learn some new perspectives and how it all connects to educational topics. The first blog post I read covers the whole child approach. I read all about how this approach is based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and how a teacher can support and encourage a supportive environment in the classroom for students. I think this is such a significant topic to talk about because of how impactful Maslow's hierarchy of needs is in the psychology of human motivation. I really liked how my peer talked about implementing this approach more into schools in order to see numbers of at risk students graduating increase. My peer gave me some encouragement to use this approach in my future classroom in order to help support my students to the best of my abilities. 

Another blog I read from one of my peers talked about teacher salaries. This topic is very impactful because it affects all of our futures as teachers. One thing my peer mentioned that stuck out to me the most is the work teachers do is typically overlooked by people. I think this is a big part of why teachers are not as respected and paid enough as they should be. I also like the point made that paying teachers more can help further their education which then would help positively impact students' lives. After reading this blog, one thing I thought was important to mention was how much money teachers use from their own salary on their students and classroom. There is only so much money the school gives for teachers to have a classroom that is inviting for students and has all the materials they need to last the whole year. 

The last blog I read talks about the benefits of classroom libraries. This peer talked about a topic that I most likely will encounter in a different way since I will be teaching a math class. What I liked from her blog is how she mentioned that a well-composed classroom library will help students increase their vocabulary skills which can lead to them reading at a higher comprehension level. This made me think back to classroom libraries I have had in the past and how each experience has been positive. I remember loving to look through the book options and choose the one I wanted to read. My mother and sister are 4th and 2nd grade teachers. Collectively they have thousands of books in our basement at home that they choose from each year to rotate in and out of their classroom. Having an organized classroom library and having a range of book levels for students is something I have recognized is very important. 

Getting to have experience with blogging myself, I do think it would be a great tool to implement in my future classroom. For me, blogging is something I enjoy just like I enjoy journaling. I enjoy how informal it is and I can write without having to worry that everything I am saying is perfect. I see a great benefit with blogging in my future math class. I feel that once a week I could have my students either blog about what they have learned, how they feel about the content they are learning, or write about some fun different prompts. I would also love to utilize blogging on my teacher website so students and parents can look and see what we have done during the week and how each class went. I will be teaching middle schoolers which can make it difficult for students to feel engaged in activities, so I want to make sure that blogging is something they look forward to and it can feel like a brain break for them.