Blog Post #3

     When it comes to creating your own content a lot of times you have to modify or use content from other creators. As teachers we have to be very mindful of what we are using and if we have permission to use it. When I worked on my school paper, it was essential not to infringe on copyright or plagiarize anything. Academic honesty and integrity is something that is very important and not only something that teachers should abide by but something that they should be teaching their students. This also means a lot of extra work as a teacher to create lesson plans and instructional materials. It can feel easy to just modify and take other educators' lesson plans, but unless they’ve gotten permission from that teacher, then they are infringing on a copyright.

    Decreased productivity is something that is very common but also very devastating to a classroom. Whether it’s lack of engagement with material or just the middle of the year blues teachers have to focus on keeping their students engaged and interested in the classroom. In order to combat this teachers need to create exciting and challenging lessons with materials that students will be interested in. Another issue that has arisen especially in the age of technology is academic dishonesty. Plagiarism and cheating are things that could not only hurt a student’s reputation but could get them in a lot of trouble. As a teacher, you need to clearly outline what are the boundaries of academic honesty and create ways to help children get around the temptation of passing off another's work as their own. 

    The newsletter design assignment was quite challenging for me. Having not used Microsoft word in a long time and being unfamiliar with a lot of its features I had a lot of learning to do. Whether it was formatting or figuring out how to create a zip file it was a very challenging task for me, and therefore I am not completely happy with the results. I tried my hardest but maybe in the future, I will be more creative with the colors that I picked and the layout of the newsletter. In the future, I would also try to break up the text a little more so that it is easier to read for students and for parents. Skills that I’ve used on this assignment will definitely help me create similar newsletters in the future in my own classroom but it also taught me how to create reminders and organize a classroom in a way that makes sense for students and isn’t overwhelming.