My Takeaway

My Critical Takeaways 

Something that resonated with me most as a future teacher was the discussion of mental health. 

Throughout this class and my time working with children, I have taken note of the importance of both of these topics. In elementary school settings, many people overlook the mental well being of young students. It is often assumed that young students do not need to tend to their mental health, they believe that these students do not have a care in the world, that they do not feel the stress that older students feel about school work. However, that is not the case. Students and children of all ages can struggle with their mental health, from anxiety to other more severe disorders, teachers spend long spans of time with their students, it is important that teachers keep an eye on their students, watching for signs that they may be in mental distress. Even their youngest students.
Anxiety is on the rise amongst young students, it is important that teachers and parents provide support and understanding as they help their students work through what is bothering them. Teaching students proper coping mechanisms and creating a classroom culture of safety and support will help the students feel more at ease in the classroom and in their day to day life.
With 1/10 children on average suffering from a mental health issue, there is a strong possibility a teacher could have more than one child dealing with a mental health issue, thus, promoting the idea that teachers need to be aware of their student's behaviors and mental wellbeing.

State Mandated Workshops

The Prevention of School Violence 

This past week I was able to participate in the New York State mandated workshop for the prevention of school violence. Luckily, I was able to take it online as all in-person workshops have been halted for changed for the time being. This workshop is of great importance because it teaches educators how they can prevent violence in their schools, as well as who they should be working with, and what they should be looking out for. Violence in schools is something that we have touched upon during the past semester, I discussed it in a previous post. School violence seems to be on a rise in today's society, from my own school experiences to what we see on the news I believe it is important for educators to have an understanding of what needs to be done to prevent more violence, from what they should look for in students and adults entering the schools, to how they should interact with other educators and the police. A teacher's top priority should be the safety of their students and to provide that safety to the school community we must stay educated and aware.

School Board Meeting

I attended a Board of Education meeting for Rockville Center School District, on March 4th, 2020. The meeting was held at South Side High School and began at 7:30 pm and lasted over 3 hours. The meeting was filled with parents, students, teachers, and other school officials. This was not the first school board meeting I have attended but with each meeting/experience interacting with schools outside of the norm, I learn something new about how a school and school district operates. There were many items on the agenda to be presented the main two were the budget, and the process of creating a new program, which was the reason for such a large turnout, and the boards plan for how to handle the Corona Virus. Before the meeting began packets of paper were handed out, including, the agenda, a copy of the budget, and a pamphlet containing the names of everyone on the board and the roles they play.

The meeting commenced with the Pledge of Allegiance and a general welcome. After this, students from the Wilson Elementary School who participate in the student council presented to the group and school board about their accomplishments and goals for the following school year. These students were honored and recognized for their work on the student council and were excited to present to the board about what they were able to do in their school. The Principal and Advisor also spoke on the students’ behalf highlighting the fundraising, leadership skills, and positive impact, the students were able to spread and gain through processing. I loved that the students were able to participate in their school at a higher level from such a young age, it is a great way to build leadership skills and get to know their school community better. 

Following the highlighting of students from the elementary school the creation of a new program was discussed. With in the past two years, a tragedy struck at the High School involving the suicide of a student, in return, The Ryan O’Shea Foundation, named for another passed student, donated $18,500 to Southside High School to create a new program, Sources of Strength. The new program is a suicide prevention organization. The mission is to bring awareness to mental health and to provide education to students in order to try and prevent suicide. This is just one of the new additions to the school’s ongoing efforts to find solutions to the students’ bullying and mental health problems.

The next topic of discussion was the Coronavirus, and the boards plan on how to deal with the pandemic moving forward. It was announced that the administrators had been regularly meeting with the Health Department Officials of the County, State Education Department Officials, and with the New York State Department of Health. The board announced that they had two main priorities, the safety of the students while they are in school and the schools’ ability to maintain continuity and instruction for all students in the case of the school closing. They spoke about the need to emphasize good hygiene, for the students and staff, as well as the sanitation of the schools and the property in the schools. They announced there that they were creating a plan to be put in place in the event of the school closing due to the virus. (This plan has now been put in action with the school closing).

Lastly, the board began the discussion of the budget, with a new tax cap that would vary district to district depending on what is occurring in that independent district. To be honest, I had a hard time following this part of the discussion, but it showed me what I should be looking into more before I become a teacher. At this point, they also discussed what needed to be fixed or improved, as well as the need for more classrooms and new playgrounds. There were several arguments that took place during this time over items that were not fixed properly or in a timely manner.

I am grateful I was able to experience the board meeting, especially because I watch several children, on a daily basis, who attend Rockville Center schools. It was interesting to get a look behind the scenes on how everything was run and see that they were actually discussing virus and what they were going to do about it. It was an overall great experience.

Active Shooter Drills in Schools: are they actually helpful?

Active Shooter Drills in Schools: Are They Actually Helpful?

Active shooter drills, students and faculty simulate how they are to respond in an active shooting situation. While this may seem helpful, like a fire drill, they can actually cause more harm than good as it is important to find the balance between preparing and traumatizing. Many schools have been going through these drills unannounced, as you would with a fire drill, however believing that an active shooter is in the school is far more stressful and terrifying than believing the fire alarm was set off because of a fire, these drills can traumatize students and cause unneeded stress and fear for students. Many organizations including the National Education Association suggest that if the drills are going to be performed it is important to prepare the students for the drill, explain to them what is happening and when it is going to happen.  

There is very little evidence supporting the idea that these drills are actively helpful when the situations do occur, but there is evidence supporting the idea that these drills do cause mental harm to the students who go through them. These drills are often life-like and graphic so while the children are not in legitimate harm they can still become traumatized from the event. The fact that they have to practice for these events can also increase the amount of anxiety a student has because they are more likely to worry about or think about the idea that the event could occur. 

There are several factors that should be taken into account when a school is deciding whether or not to perform one of these drills: 

• Drills should not include simulations of an actual shooting 
• Parents should be notified beforehand 
• Children and faculty should be told it is a drill before it starts and at the beginning 
• Drills should be developmentally and age appropriate 
• Mental health professionals should be included in the forming of these drills 

While keeping our schools safe and prepared is important we should also focus on the current wellbeing of our students, we do not want to jeopardize the wellness of our students because we are worried about something that may happen in the future. Being prepared is important but so is maintaining the comfort and security in the schools today.  

References:

Prothero, A. (2020, February 11). Active Shooter Drills in Schools: Harmful or Helpful? The Debate Rages On. Retrieved February 24, 2020, from https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2020/02/active_shooter_drills_schools_harmful_helpful.html 

Prejudice, Bias, and School Violence

Prejudice is described as an unjustified or incorrect attribute towards an individual or group of individuals belonging to a specific social group. Bias is described as the inclination for or against a specific group of people. Prejudices and Biases can be seen in most instances of everyday life, including schools. Many social groups face prejudices every day of their lives. One group that faces constant bias and prejudice is women. Often times in popular culture women are portrayed as ditsy individuals who do not think past surface level. They are often seen as stay at home mothers, assistants, or other professionals that may be looked down upon, it hasn/t been until recently that women have been portrayed as more realistic, well-rounded characters. More often than not they are seen as sex objects or secondary characters. This portrayal of women in media can also lead to body issues for average women as they may not meet the beauty standards seen in the industry. Within the bias of women as a whole, there are layers breaking up the group into subgroups that either receive more or less prejudice depending on social factors. 

Of course, women are not the only social group that face prejudice as part of their daily lives. 

School Violence

Another problem that students and educators face today is the issue of school violence. From gun violence to physical bullying studies show that a majority of students deal with some sort of anxiety due to the subject, over 55% to be exact. Students aren't the only ones who have these fears, educators, and parents share this fear as well. With gun violence rising it is not easy to put the thought out of your mind. As someone who both still attends school and wants to become a teacher the fear of school violence crosses my mind more than occasionally. It is something I have unfortunately tried to prepare myself for. On top of the fatal attacks that are shown on the news, there are hundreds of thousands of nonfatal attacks among students. Students and educators alike need to be educated on school violence, how to prevent it, what to do during it, and what to do after it, and as someone who wants to teach young children, the thought of educating them on these facts is absolutely heartbreaking. For a long time school violence was portrayed as unimportant or inconsequential in film and television, but that should no longer be the case. It is a serious topic that needs to be addressed. 

Are they connected?

In short, possibly, violence both in and out of schools can be linked to severe bias or prejudice, so severe that the individual's ideas cloud their judgment and lead them to believe that the only way to "rectify the situation" is violence. With that being said bias and prejudice are not the only causes of school violence. 

Both topics need to be discussed in and out of school, they affect the students and educators in many ways so it is important to be aware of them. 

References:
Graf, N. (2018). A majority of U.S. teens fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents share their concerns. Pew Research Journal.

Leins, C. (2019, August). These States Require Schools to Teach LGBT History. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2019-08-14/states-that-require-schools-to-teach-lgbt-history

Understanding School Violence. (2016). Understanding School Violence.

Vara-Orta, F. (2019, July 19). Swastikas. The N-word. 'Go Back to Mexico.' What Hate Looks Like in Schools. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/projects/hate-in-schools.html

Teacher Burnout

Teaching is considered to be one of the most rewarding and noble professions out there, however, it is also thought to be an easy profession. People who believe that being a teacher is easy is wrong. Teachers pour their hearts and souls into their jobs, day in and day out. This can easily lead to burnout for the teachers and the students.
Teacher burnout is a preventable problem and there are ways to keep it at bay, we just need to work together and create support systems to help both educators and students.

Ways to prevent burnout, for teachers and students
1. Switch up your teaching style
Change the focus of your classroom, utilize the tools given to you, even if they aren't the most conventional. An example of this is in the documentary Teach one of the teachers the film follows, Shelly Harris, decided to use Khan Academy, an online classroom/workbook to help one of her students when she was not able to reach her herself.
2. Be flexible
When someone becomes a teacher they need to be able to be flexible with their plans and expectations, students are not always going to follow your plans exactly, sometimes nothing will go to plan, Learn to adapt to your students, their needs, and your surroundings.
3. Take time for yourself
You can't teach your best if you do not feel your best, it is important to take time for yourself so you can better take care of your students, remember you are a person too. Even taking a little time to oneself to meditate will be very helpful to the over-stressed teacher (Iancu, et. al, 2018). 
4. Remember why you do it
Remember why you wanted to become a teacher, whether it was the love you have for your students or the love you have for passing on knowledge. Whatever it is remember why you became a teacher and keep that feeling in your heart, use it to fuel you, not break you down.
5. Find a support system
surround yourself with people who support you and want to help you take care of yourself. Teaching can be a difficult job, it is important to surround yourself with people who will build you up.

According to studies, 93% of teachers site high stress or of a combination of stress and low job satisfaction as the reason for teacher burn out (Herman, et. al, 2018). This stress can lead to a lower ability to cope with the demands of the job, which leads to more stress and ultimately burnout.
I believe necessary to provide our teachers and students with the support they need in order for them to be the best they can be, both, in school and out. While teaching could be the most rewarding job there is it also has the potential to be the most draining if teachers do not take care of themselves or are not given the proper support systems needed. If we give students and teachers the support they need they will not only survive but thrive.

Introduction

Hi all! My name is Tristen, I am a early childhood/childhood major with a concentration in history. I am excited to get to know you all and continue on this journey.