What I Have Learned About Educational Blogging

Throughout this class, I have learned quite a bit about educational blogging. At first, my conceptual understanding of what blogging was entirely was very limited. I did not know educators and instructors used blogging to discuss concepts like educational methods and hot-topic issues. Blogs, in their purest form, create an open space for discussions around any and all topics. One does not need expert qualifications to create blogs. Educational blogs differ from other blogs in the sense that it focuses on students and the school system. 

An educational blog is much more than a personal journal or diary Stephen Downes states in his blog entry Educational Blogging. By utilizing frequent updates, linking to useful resources, and reflecting a personal style, a blog is a tool that allows students and instructors to organize discussions centered around educational topics. For instructors, this can involve sharing instructional methods, creative ideas, classroom looks, discussion of state standards, and more. I have learned from my experience that while blogging is also useful for teachers, it can also be useful for students. Students can use blogs for classroom discussions, history or literature reports, daily reading journals, and so on. In both examples for teachers and students, blogging creates a creative space that links communities. 

Several icons coming out of a megaphone
referencing the spread of information

For example, when reading my peers' blogs, I am able to learn more about classroom environments and situations that I might not be familiar with. In a peer's blog, I read about using technology in an art classroom. I have had experience as a student using technology like Google Earth to visually explore the earth for science classes, but I hadn't thought of using virtual tours of museums and art galleries to help my art students. I find that a lot these tech concepts can overlap in classrooms. If you are teaching an English class about a certain time period, it may be useful to do a virtual "walk-through" of how society looked at the time; for history, interactive timelines are extremely useful. In a separate peer's blog, I was able to read about a topic I had already considered myself. By reading her blog about family environment's and how it can affect a student's education, I gained perspectives of different approaches to helping these students. And, once again, I was able to read about topics I had never considered through another peer's blog about agriculture in the school. I have no connections to farming or agriculture in my life; my high school had an agriculture program, but I did not interact with it. So, reading about how to help sustain an interest in agriculture within future generations by educating myself on the programs and current technology will be useful to these students.

While I find blogging to be helpful in finding resources and opening discussions, I am not sure if I will continue to use it as a teacher myself. Personally, I enjoy reading blogs more than I do writing them -- but that is not to say they aren't useful or productive. I find that, at the moment, I do not have enough experience for it. I think educational blogging is extremely useful when a well-rounded teacher presents their information or opinions. I also think I could find myself assigning my students to blog if it fits the lesson plans. Any way to keep my students engaged and excited about classwork is useful to me.

Education Topic: LGBTQIA+

An unnecessarily controversial topic in American education today revolves around the LGBTQIA+ community and its inclusion in our classrooms. I say this is unnecessary because the absolute vitriol behind this is insane. We are talking about children learning how to express themselves and understand themselves safely. It is important to offer safe spaces for children to experiment and learn about themselves; our job as teachers is to educate but also safely guide these students through their most formative years.

A large group of people waving rainbow flags in support

Firstly, and I cannot stress this enough, it is so important to allow children to ask uncomfortable/taboo questions. Children are going to notice things in the world - this includes people of different races, gender non-conforming people, disabled folks, and so on. They might not understand what they are seeing, so they're going to ask. A child should not be shamed for asking a genuine question, even if it comes off as insensitive. As long as they are not deliberately hateful, these questions should be welcomed. As teachers, our children might come across uncomfortable themes we are required to teach in novels (the n-word in To Kill A Mockingbird, for example). However, creating a safe space for questioning does not mean allowing other children to bully others. In the same way we wouldn't let a child mock their classmate with autism, students are not allowed to make a mockery of queerness.

Secondly, a classroom library (if allowed by state laws) should be full of diverse books. A Black student should be able to find a book about Black happiness, and a queer student should be able to readily find a queer novel. It might be hard to argue for introducing queer novels into the lesson plan, so subversive teaching is your friend. For example, if you are teaching The Great Gatsby, you might hint at the queer themes in the novel. Leave the floor open for queer readings or connections. In the novel Things Fall Apart, we tend to focus on the masculinity of Okonkwo and his downfall, but why not focus on the queer possibilities of his son Nwoye? It's possible to find any kind of inkling of queerness from most novels in the canon, and I think it is important to at least try and open up the floor for these interpretations.

While it's important to find ways to teach about queer interpretations and themes, it's also important to recognize that this is a battle queer teachers and students have to fight for. We are losing our rights rapidly - from the anti-queer bills passing in Florida to Tennessee's recent ban on drag, we are in danger. Our classrooms need to be safe spaces, but we need to be ready to fight in courtrooms. Protect our books and protect our queer youth.