Blog Journal #3

Greetings, everyone! Alright, let's talk about one of the trickier topics of classroom education: copyright laws. We've all heard of plagiarism, especially in academic settings, but copyright really is its own can of worms. Not only is copyright infringement illegal, but infringement can come with some serious consequences. As teachers, how do we navigate these limitations while still trying to provide a meaningful educational experience for our students? Thankfully, that is where exemptions come in: if we as teachers use a copyrighted material for educational or criticism purposes in the classroom, we get a free pass! Now that does not mean we are allowed to be photocopying every full book we see or pirating any movies for the sake of education, but it does mean that we can incorporate some elements of those materials into our own work (as long as we're not overdoing it, of course). If you're unsure where the limit is, I would suggest looking for more information at https://www.copyright.gov/.

With the rising popularity of social media among young students, cyber-bullying is becoming more prevalent in today's classrooms. As teachers, it can be difficult to notice the signs when compared to traditional, "in-person" bullying, since all of it occurs in the cyberspace. With that being said, you can still contribute in different ways. Some solutions to combat cyber-bullying could be to promote an environment where everyone is encouraged to treat others with kindness and respect. Another solution could be to have open conversations with your students about the dangers of social media and the very real consequences of cyber-bullying (the examples will vary depending on your students' ages and maturity levels, so keep this in mind), like depression and teen suicide. Just because it's less noticeable to us as educators, does not mean we cannot instill change. 

Another trend in recent months in the education community has been the rise of generative AI software, such as ChatGPT, and its misuse in the classroom. There are arguments to be made about the efficacy of these programs, and whether or not they are actually helping students learn. In my opinion, the answer falls on both sides. These AI's strengths lie in taking preexisting information and breaking it down into a more digestible format depending on the needs of the user, which search browsers like Google often lack. However, they are less successful at generating new and accurate information, especially when it comes to specific facts and calculations, so their input should never be taken at face value. As educators, rather than combat the new technology (which will undoubtedly fail), we could teach our students how to use it in a productive manner. In a way that will benefit their learning. 

I really enjoyed making my first newsletter, since it's not something I had previously considered to be part of a teacher's job description. I learned how to highlight text on Word, how to create multiple columns, and how to create Word Art, among other new skills. In the future, I will focus more on maintaining a clean theme with a limited (but consistent) number of fonts and visuals. Even if I have no need to create a newsletter in my future career, the skills I mentioned are so versatile that they could apply to virtually any job that requires knowledge of Microsoft Word and its components. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with how my newsletter came out! Here is a sneak peek below for those who are curious:

 

Until next time!