Entry 11: Goodbye Blogging World

 When I found out we were doing blogs for class I had mixed emotions. I was excited because I like writing and scared for all hell because I didn't know what I could talk about that was personal yet relevant to other people. My biggest piece of advice is to not OVERTHINK your entries. While there may have been a moment or two of writer's block and not knowing what to say, I really enjoyed blogging. 

In terms of an english class, blogging is a way to practice skills that you have learned and show that you know how to use them without a boring worksheet. It is your own ideas and changes as you go, which is really important when teaching people to be their own writers and not use a typical writing format. I think this is a good way for teachers and students to know where they stand in a class, performance wise. I also like that when you get stuck with an entry you can look at blogs of other classmates or simply other blogs on the internet to come up with new ideas or ways to say something. For as much as I enjoyed writing blogs,I enjoyed reading other people's even more. 

For myself as a student, blogging helped me realize that I need to focus on digging deeper with my information when I write. For as long as I can remember, I could BS a paper and focus more on how I was saying something rather than what I was actually saying. I have always been a wordy person and this pushed me to make my words say something instead of sounding good. This is an important lesson in writing that every student goes through at some point in their schooling. These blogs can really help you develop and grow as an author and thinker, if you take them seriously. 

When taking this class, don't be afraid of the work load. It can be done. Don't be afraid of the papers, they will get better as the semester goes on. Don't be afraid of the blogs. You will have a love/hate relationship with them. 

Entry 10: Appreciate Your Teachers

Growing up my mom was an aid in a special needs preschool classroom. At a very young age I was exposed to the behind the scenes work that teachers do on an everyday basis. I saw how hard these teachers worked and how under appreciated they were by the people I called my classmates. Many of the people close to me think that I am crazy for becoming an Ed Major. Truth be told I am very afraid for my future as an educator. But the idea that I can have an impact on a student the way many of my teachers have had on me, outweighs any fear I could ever have.

The amount of work that goes into running and maintaining a classroom is tremendous. Students often complain about the amount of time spent in a classroom, without realizing that their teachers show up at least an hour before them every morning and leave many hours after them. This also increases for teachers who sponsor any clubs or coach any sports. There is a huge time commitment and sacrifice that comes with becoming an educator.

One major time commitment of teaching is creating lesson plans. Writing lesson plans and scheduling a week or a day can be very difficult. More times than not, lesson plans do not turn out the way that they are intended to. But teachers are forced to improvise and make it the best lesson they can. They have to take into account the different types of learning styles in their class, the allotted time for each subject and the available materials to create an activity. I know teachers who thought they had created a sure fire lesson plan that fails miserably. I have had teachers redo entire lessons because they were not satisfied with the outcome. Teachers do everything in their power to assure that their students are learning the material.

Another reason to appreciate teachers for is the fact that they spend their own money to stock the classroom with supplies and decorations. Imagine how cranky your mom gets spending excess money on school supplies every fall and multiply it by twenty-five. Teachers today are no longer given a decent budget to supply their classrooms. They use the little amount of money that they are paid to assure that you as a student have the best materials that you can. They also help supply students whose parents struggle financially with school supplies and often snacks at school. Not only is there a cost for a degree in education, but there is a cost to keep teaching.

Appreciating your teachers should not be limited to just one week throughout the year. There doesn't have to be a grand gesture, but show appreciation and respect for all that your teachers do.

Entry 9: Me, My Self and Media

In today's society media is everywhere. It has changed the way that people do everything from everyday activities to large scale projects. Personally, media is a big part of my life and the lives of the people that I surround myself with. 

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube are all part of my everyday routine. I spend a good portion of the day looking at makeup tutorials, do it yourself projects, easy recipes and product reviews online. I love having the ability to get ideas for anything from nearly anyone around the world.

In the world of social media, there is a page for everyone. I can  argue that anyone who says that hate social media, hasn't found the right site or profile to follow. 

While my boyfriend may not be mesmerized by a Kathleen Light's makeup tutorial like I would be, he can certainly lose him self in a binge watching session of Optic Gaming videos. 

There are so many ways that media can bring people together and really improve the ease of an everyday routine, but it does have downsides. 

One thing I find really important with media, as with anything else, is balance. There has to be a time and place for media use. While you are working, driving or at the dinner table,it is best to have the devices put away. 

While there are so many benefits to media I think the video below does an amazing jobs of laying out some of the down sides: 

What do you think? Is it time to put away the devices and get back to a time before or are media a great new way of living?