Blogging as a Teacher

Blogging has been around for years, and people have made them for an array of topics from baking to politics. One recently new type of blog, however, is the educational blog. These blogs are created and used by teachers for their classes, where students can see different assignments, discussion topics, and more. Recently, teachers have also had students create their own blogs where they have had to participate in group discussions and peer review activities, among other things. According to NSU Florida, blogging has had many positive effects on students who have taken part. Students who blog are able to express themselves more, promotes critical thinking in students, and improves their writing skills. These skills are useful for students to learn, and doing so digitally fits how they will experience a large amount of their lives. 

While reading through my peers' blogs, I focused on how technology can be used in the classroom, something I wrote about myself earlier in the semester. The first topic that stood out to me was Finch Davis's blog on ChatGPT. I loved how Finch used the AI to help him find primary sources for his history class, and I think it's incredible that technology has come so far as to be able to find these sources so quickly. I then looked at Makenzi Dougherty's blog on how technology can benefit the classroom. I liked her example of NearPod, and how it can be used in the classroom to create interactive questions and stimulate discussion. I also liked how she mentions students using technology to do their own research on topics, stimulating interest in the topic and research outside of the classroom. The last blog I looked at was Haylie Lacy's own blog on technology in the classroom. I liked how she documented her personal experience of seeing technology develop in her own classroom, like when her classroom got SmartBoards in elementary school or laptops in middle school. Technology will keep evolving, and we, as (future) educators, need to evolve with it.

Students using laptops in school.

Blogging seems to be a great way to get students engaged in lessons, helps them work on critical thinking and writing skills necessary to them further in their educations. The blogs I found spoke on the benefits of technology in education, and I think blogging can be a big part of this, whether it's students writing their own blogs or teachers using theirs to stimulate class discussion and critical thinking skills.

The Arts' Place in School

Students taking a class on painting in an art school.

The Arts can sometimes be one of the most overlooked aspects of a school. Those who don't participate in them sometimes forget about their existence in education, but other people are incredibly active in them! Between music, theater, drawing, and photography, among other things, the Arts allow students to destress and work on skills that are not the primary focus of the students' other classes. U. S. News states that students can learn to communicate better, lower stress levels, and develop social skills through the Arts. I think that reducing levels of stress for students is very important, and to be able to do so through a class in school is incredibly helpful to students because of how important a student's mental health is to their education. 

I believe that the Arts are one of the most important aspects of education. The ability to help students relieve their stress while still in school is really important to me because it can create a safe space for students in their school where they know they can go to calm down and enjoy themselves. The Arts are also a great substitute for sports. In high school, I always played sports and could not imagine not playing one throughout the entire year. However, many others in my school didn't play any. Instead, their time was devoted to after school arts activities, such as theater, band, and a sing/dance group we had. These students put a lot of effort into their own hobbies, and they were lucky enough to do so because of the opportunities they had available to them. Some people, however, do not have those same opportunities. They may not have a safe space at school or a place to go when the day is done to spend time with other people they share interests with, and they're not able to destress or learn to talk to new people. The Arts is so important to some students, while others don't get to try them. The Arts need to be prioritized in schools to give students the opportunities they deserve to meet new people, practice new skills, and genuinely enjoy school more.