CriticalIssuesinEdNickIncalcaterra

Smith, H. (2016).  [Online Image]. My Kids Time. https://www.mykidstime.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/teacher_parent_communication.png In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of teaching is making sure you have a healthy relationship with not only the students, but the parents of these students as well. Through reading several different articles, watching videos, and also attending the local board of education meeting, I was happy to see that this aspect of teaching is very prevalent in discussion. Even through this pandemic, I see an effort to try to create and sustain these relationship throughout these tough times. Making meaningful relationships with the students in your class is a huge first step in creating a healthy relationship between you and these families in the communities, as this can lead to trust and admiration. As explained in " 3 Ways to Make Meaningful Connections With Your Students", there are many ways to create these relationships, including alw...

Zeringue, A. (2015). Social Media Outlets [Online Image]. Marketing Land. https://marketingland.com/wp-content/ml-loads/2014/09/social-media-icon-signs-ss-1920.jpg  Social media use amongst children and young teens has been a huge point of debate in our society today, but especially the use of cell phones. Cell phones have pretty much taken over the world, as it is uncommon to see someone without one now, and it's pretty uncommon to see someone without some sort of social media account as well. In my opinion, social media has many positives, but also several negative issues, which has me pretty split on the debated issue on social medias relationship with schools. However, after reading through the articles, and watching the documentary, I'd say I lean more towards social media having more of a negative effect on students, than a positive effect.  According to the article " The Scientific Debate Over Teens, Screens And Mental Health",  More teens and young adults are...

  Cotton, S. (2018). Vaping: how safe is it? [Online Image]. The Conversation. https://images.theconversation.com/files/231058/original/file-20180808-191044-1lzwdcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=926&fit=clip There were many memorable and interesting moments I came across while reading through the articles and watching the video on vaping in schools. Both the video, and the articles opened my eyes to the issues of alcohol and drug abuse, and the ramifications these abuses can have on not only a person's health, but their relationship with their families and significant others.  One moment from the video "Vaping in Schools: 'Juuling is Popular Among Teens Despite Health Risks", that was memorable was when the principal describes how there isn't a stereotype for people who vape. He describes how he has "athletes and honor kids doing it", which makes it hard to tell who is actually vaping, and who isn't. Another moment that was ve...

Provenzano, K. (2018). Calm App Logo [Online Image]. Textexpander. https://textexpander.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/banner-teblog-Calm-app-1200x600.png After reading through the articles and watching the film, I was able to recognize how important it is as a future educator to be aware of the social emotional, and mindfulness learning amongst children. Both the articles, and the film showed me the several different benefits from teaching these topics, and making sure each child can develop in a healthy and positive way.  Just as it explains in the article, "Why Is Mindfulness Needed in Education?", it is extremely important to address the overall health of not only the students, but the staff as well. Both the staff  (educators, administration, and other members of the community) and the students have tons of responsibilities, and countless things to worry about including their academics, social expectations, and things going on outside of the classrooms they need to w...

  Hughes, G. (2016). A homeless man sits with his dog on the street [Online Image]. The Canadian Press. https://toronto.citynews.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/sites/10/2016/03/18/homelessyouth16x9.jpg The issues revolving around poverty and homelessness are unfortunately still extremely prevalent in our country, and are even prevalent within the younger demographic as well. Even just reading the title of the article from the New York Times really surprised me, and made me recognize how big this issue still is today, as the article says "114,000 Students in N.Y.C. are homeless"( Shapiro, 2019 ). Watching the documentary and reading the articles really opened my eyes to the different problems  revolving around poverty and homelessness that not only adults face, but children across the country. There were several different themes I picked up on while w atching the documentary and reading the articles, but one that stuck out to me the most was the idea of school being one of t...

Dadhwal, S. (2020). BPD [Online Image]. DU Beat. https://dubeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/borderlinepersonalitydisorder-feature-Image.jpg   Millions of children across public schools struggle with different mental health disorders. One of these disorders, and the one I chose to make my presentation on was the Bor derline Personality Disorder, also known as BPD. BPD is a c ondition characterized by difficulties regulating emotions, as someone who has it may feel intense emotions for an extended amount of time, and it's harder for them to return to a stable place afterwards. U nfortunately , m any different schools aren't prepared to work with students with mental health disorders, as there's been too little training in recognizing the problems, the trained staff is overworked, and there isn't enough money (Anderson, 2016). Despite all of this, I believe schools need to do a better job at preparing to help students with mental disorders, as no kid should ever have t...