Mirela Fejzic

Mental Health Worries Mental health is important for all individuals, no matter their age. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. The way that we think, feel, and act all comes from the current state of our mental health. I chose to focus on the mental health category since the students that I currently have are the ones who seem to have been affected the most by the pandemic. Although we have been in school for only a month and a half, I can already tell what state my students' mental health is. There are more students that I'm worried about than not. I always thought that the cause of this was social media because, each student owns smartphone. After reading through a few sources, I have learned some information that opens my eyes to the current situation.  Image Source Social Media Takes Over We all have people that we look up to, either as role models or heroes. Most of the time, children will choose a celebrity to be their idol. Their i...

Before Nicole As a teen, I absolutely loved social media. I enjoyed being able to message friends, post pictures, poke people on Facebook , crush over boys on Instagram , and share hilarious GIFs. As I got older, I started to have a love-hate relationship with social media. I realized how much of my time was being consumed. As a result, I decided to deactivate almost all of my social media accounts. The time that I used to use on Instagram , Facebook , TikTok , Snapchat , and Tumblr was now being used to spend time doing activities that I love. Once I was able to realize that my anxiety from social media has decreased drastically, I was afraid of letting any technology in. During my first year of teaching, I was clueless when it came to integrating technology. I always felt that I would be doing a disservice to my students since a lot of negative impacts could be attached to it. I never went out of my way to find interactive websites or programs that I would be able to use with my stu...

Digital Tattoos I do not have any tattoos because of how permanent they are. I have learned the hard way that I outgrow my likes the older I get which is why I could not commit to a tattoo. My thought process is that I would have to like that tattoo forever which is something I can't promise myself. I feel the exact same way when it comes to any posts that I make on social media. This is due to the fact I posted a lot of embarrassing photos or statuses on different platforms. I would have never thought that I would make myself cringe from reading old postings. Not only can I see it, but the whole world could have the chance to see it too which is even worse. I think posting online is very similar to tattoos because you are making an imprint on the world just digitally. In "Digital Tattoos in the Industry" by Rebecca Soto , it is mentioned that, "A digital tattoo is an individual or business 'footprint' or digital identity. In this connected world, immediately...

Personal Learning Network (PLN) Have you ever needed to go on Pinterest or Teachers Pay Teachers in search of inspiration for a lesson? Personal learning networks are crucial for teachers in order to share ideas and resources. Just like how educators encourage students to listen to when questions are being asked by other students since they might be thinking the same thing. Educators do the same thing. If an educator is struggling to find strategies to incorporate effective classroom management, then they could easily benefit from the ideas of other educators who have mastered it. This is why it is important for teachers to be able to collaborate and share ideas. Teachers push for the needs of students, but who satisfies our needs? A burden is lifted when another teacher is able to provide a need that you have been in search of. Teachers understand one another since our experiences might have different details, but in the end it is all the same. PLNs help educators do exactly that be...

Accessibility in Education Each individual student has unique needs that are required for them to be successful. This is why it is important for educators to incorporate accessibility within the classroom in order for all students to participate. Accessibility helps focus on meeting the needs of diverse students. An effective strategy to accomplish an accessible classroom would be the UDL Framework. According to Indiana University Bloomington , "The UDL Framework encourages educators to provide multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression". This shows how important it is for educators to provide effective instruction since there are many components that are tagged along with a lesson. Students need to be able to given the resources that are necessary in order to be successful. Individual differences deserve a focus of attention especially since these characteristics are particular to each and every student. With t...