Physical Features of the Earth - Digital Story

 Here is a video all about the Earth's physical features! I hope you enjoy it and can use it in your classrooms. 

Benefits of Educational Blogging

Educational blogging is simply what it sounds like, a blog in which there is an educational purpose. Specifically, I have been looking at and creating an educational blog solely based around the field of education. Educational blogs promote self-expression, while also allowing the blogger and readers to dive deeper into general themes. Furthermore, the biggest reason for educational blogging is to share and reflect upon new thoughts and ideas that you could not have conceived yourself. An example of an educational blog that I loved looking over was Lisa Nielson’s “The Innovative Educator”. She describes her personal experience about how she disliked school and how she strives to stop that from happening to her current and future students. One of my favorite sections in her blog was “Passion-Driven Learning”, which describes practical tools to not only engage students and allow them to enjoy learning, but also gives teacher’s examples on how to develop this passion. Educational blogs should be present to educate and encourage teachers to develop and process new ideas that they could have trouble creating on their own. 

Graphic depicting a person working on a computer.

When looking at blogs that were created by my classmates, Makenzi Dougherty’s blog post about class size jumped out at me. I read over her post and wholeheartedly agreed with her over the benefits of small class sizes. In her blog post, she spoke about the average class size in Tennessee being 20.7 and it made me think about personal knowledge I have of an elementary school in Knox County. My mother works within one of the county's elementary schools and learned that the kindergarten currently has 20 children in each of their classrooms. Many of these teachers are overwhelmed and upset by these class sizes because they feel that they cannot adequately teach and learn about their students because of the large number that they have under their care. I also loved when Makenzi spoke about smaller class sizes leading to more time for small group work and discussion. When bigger class sizes are implemented, you lose so much ability to work one-on-one with students and assess where they are and how they can be best assisted. Another blog post I enjoyed reading was Kate Shelton’s post on standardized testing. She spoke of her negative experiences with it because she was never the best test taker. I dealt with that experience in my own schooling. I was also okay at taking tests, but I never fully did as well as I thought I should have. Standardized testing also added additional stress during my years in school. The final blog post that I enjoyed was Kalee Hampton’s post about parental involvement in elementary education. She discussed the crucial importance of having parents participate in their child’s education. It not only decreases disruptive behaviors, but also increases a student’s chance of being successful within the class. 

I think that educational blogging is so useful for learning new information, but also for exploring one’s own thoughts and feelings towards different topics within the educational world. In my last few weeks blogging, I have thought deeper on topics like technology integration and classroom management in a way that I would not have if I was not blogging. I think it is a super useful tool for information. Additionally, I think it would be really fun to create a class blog showcasing fun activities that we complete or any amazing work that my future students create. 

Technology Integration in Elementary Classrooms

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Technology is an ever growing industry that impacts and is implemented in all lives. We are constantly surrounded by technology, whether it be on using a smartphone, or simply using the internet to check the weather. Since technology is such a big deal in our everyday lives, it is safe for us to assume that technology will continue to impact the world of education. Many teachers already incorporate many uses of technology into their teaching through mediums like smart boards and computers. However, with the

rapid growth and reliance on technology in the past few years, many educators can be overwhelmed with the thousands of different technology resources that are available. Also, many teachers may not have the technological fluency to be able to incorporate different technologies in their class. There are many people and models that stress the importance of utilizing technology in the classroom, however, that can be difficult when teachers are tasked to work with young children who do not have the skills to work and learn through technology. Therefore, elementary teachers can be at a stalemate when it comes to incorporating technology in their classrooms with 5-9 year old children. It is important for elementary teachers to know that successful technology integration does not have to be incredibly complex and profound. Successful technology integration is simply giving students access to tools that match the task at hand and also allows for greater understanding of the information they are working with.


I believe that technology integration in classrooms should be used as a supporting tool to traditional educational means, not a replacement for personal interaction with teachers and peers. Successful technology should come alongside learning to further understanding and increase engagement in learning new things. In my own educational experience, my favorite classes have been those that use technology in unique and novel ways that give us greater enjoyment in learning and more opportunity to work/grow with peers. During my senior year of high school, I took an Instructional Practices in Education class where we were tasked with creating a technology-based lesson and/or review strategy to engage students in the grade we chose. The project itself was to be graded independently, but we could work with peers to throw out ideas and give suggestions to further build upon foundational ideas. I focused on making a digital escape room for lower level elementary students to use math to save The Avengers from their enemy, Hydra. It was a fun, engaging way to review with students, and it was also fun to make because I could be creative in creating a storyline. The digital escape room was not there to replace learning, but to support and further elaborate on what had been taught and discussed. That is what I believe makes successful technology integration and there are so many interesting and unique resources that are available to assist teachers in incorporating technology into their classrooms.

Classroom Management: Practical Strategies for Your Classroom

 As I established in my previous post, classroom management is a key component to creating a classroom that is conducive to learning and decreasing disruptive behaviors that may inhibit learning. There are hundreds of different strategies that can be found, whether online or from peers. As an educator there are so many responsibilities that take up one's time that it can be incredibly overwhelming to implement the many different classroom management strategies into a class while also trying to keep up with present work and planning. In order to prevent this overwhelming feeling, there are five easily implementable classroom management strategies that can be used across all grades and in all classrooms. These strategies are to be used to make an one's job as an educator easier, while also creating a loving and productive environment where students feel they have grow to their maximum potential. Each of these strategies I have seen work well within my own educational experience. Many of my teachers have used these strategies to discover ways to promote positive behavioral habits among all of the students. A personal favorite of mine was when a teacher would give incentives for appropriately following directions, like granting an opportunity at the prize box or allowing me to do something special (ex. bring a stuffed animal the next day or chew gum while I work).

The first strategy I want to introduce is to identify disruptive behavior that is currently present among your students and attempt to determine why these behaviors are taking place. Try to determine when a child is partaking in the unwanted behavior and what might be the reasons those behaviors are taking place. Does a child struggle transitioning from math to lunch? One could attempt to lessen those behaviors by making the child the line leader, so that they feel responsible for showing others how to walk in the halls. Determining what disruptive behavior is occurring and what might be the cause can allow you to determine which ways might be the best to solve them. Another strategy that could be useful for decreasing disruptive behavior is ensuring your environment isn't promoting or contributing to disruptive behaviors. Do not have the most difficult work of your day be as soon as students arrive or right before the leave to go home. Also, try to keep a classroom that is orderly and organized so that students know what to expect when they walk/look around the room. 

A group of teachers sitting around a table, speaking to one another.

The third and fourth strategies provide tangible and practical ways that teachers can use as models to promote positive behaviors within the class. Actively engaging students during times of lessons and lectures can greatly benefit teachers and students. When students are engaged in a lesson, they are less likely to demonstrate negative/disruptive behaviors. Giving your students guided notes to follow a PowerPoint or allowing the use of dry erase boards to answers questions in real time can engage students and keep them on task. Additionally, encouraging positive behaviors also demonstrates and provides incentives for students to act appropriately. Some ways this can take place are allowing your students and/or class to earn an incentive or allowing students 5-10 minute time periods to do something they enjoy when they follow directions and behave in a respectful manner. Finally, one of the most important classroom management strategies that can be used is your peers! Talk to fellow teachers and administrators about what behaviors you might be struggling with in your class and see if your peers have had successful experiences combatting that behavior. There are many other strategies that can be implemented in all classes, however, this list is a starting point of broad practices that can be used to help your classrooms run smoothly. 

Classroom Management: Why Do We Even Need It?

As an educator, one of the most beneficial tools that one must learn about is proper management of a classroom. Classroom management can simply be defined as techniques and skills that a teacher can use to allow for their classroom to run smoothly, without unwanted behavior from their students. How a teacher manages their classroom can vary across ages and grades, however, it is an important skill to demonstrate throughout the entirety of a student's time in school. When a classroom is not properly managed, students will not be able to work to their fullest potential. The environment a teacher provides sets the mood for how smoothly learning will occur. Some key principles that make up classroom management are relationships with students, setting any necessary boundaries or rules, and finding ways to involve parents in their children's education. Although classroom management can take a lot of effort
initially, in the long run it is incredibly beneficial, not only for teachers leading their students, but for the students who are able to learn to their fullest capacity in an well-managed, structured environment. 

Four students work together as
a group to complete an assignment.

In my own schooling experience, the classes I tended to be most successful in were the ones that had teachers who were utilizing proper classroom management skills. One of my favorite classes that I had was middle school algebra. My teacher was so passionate about teaching and always sought to make learning fun, however, she did set classroom rules and boundaries that allowed us to be successful. She would complete her main instruction and then allow us to work in groups to complete our assignments, however, we could only collaborate if we spoke at an appropriate level. She also used that time to check in on all of her students and make sure they were understanding all of the information. If my teacher had not established boundaries about when we could/couldn't talk and collaborate, she would not have been able to teach and check in on her students individually because she would have to worry about inappropriate behavior that may arise if students were left on their own. She made learning fun, but also made her students understand that we could only enjoy those activities if we respected her and her rules. When I remember my middle school algebra teacher's classroom, it reminds me that having a well-managed classroom does not mean that there can be no enjoyment or fun within a classroom. Classroom management is simply a tool that can and should be used to first, set the mood for a classroom and second, teach students appropriate behavior when completing activities in the classroom, whether independently or within groups. Proper classroom management allows for the creation of a fun, collaborative, and nurturing environment across all grade levels.