Farewell

Though this blog assignment was only required for my online course, I actually found myself enjoying it. Though I am only 21, I definitely appreciate everything I learned in this class about professionalism on the internet. Though this course was about so much more than social media marketing and things of that nature, the social media aspect really stood out to me because it is so prevalent in todays society. Many people think that because they are young, that they aren't held to a professional standard, or that they do not have to portray themselves in a professional light just because it is used for personal use. What our generation do not understand is that, future employers are tech savvy now days. The first thing that some employers do before they hire you is see what you are doing on your personal time. The resume can only show so much, they have to see what kind of person you really are. This course enabled me to create several social media pages that are strictly for professional use. It prompted me to go to my personal pages and clear them of all childish antics and to make it more worthy to come upon if my name is googled. I found a link that helps you guys know what your social media says about you. What would they see when they pull your name up?

http://www.careerealism.com/social-media-profile-you/

Change in Trends for Education System

The teaching profession has undergone quite a few changes in recent years. Changes such as a decline in the ratio of students to teachers in the elementary schools, the creation of the alternative to public schools such as charter and pilot schools, and a few other factors have all brought about new trends in teaching jobs.

More and more people have entered the teaching profession over the years, resulting in a decrease of the student to teacher ratio in the public school system from an average of 22 to 1 to 15 to 1. Some people may see this as a bad thing but this is actually great for the students to have smaller class sizes which gave them more one on one student teacher time. Though this is good for the students this is terrible for the future educators because once the demand is decreased, it is much harder to get a job. Check out this article on factors that have changed the education system in the past few years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-c-phillips/top-10-education-trends-t_b_6345056.html

The Problem with the Loan Forgiveness Incentive

In a prior post I talked about how the government pays off a certain portion or defers a portion of your student loans if you are an educator. Well in Texas for sure, I cannot speak for other states. Yes, loan forgiveness is a GREAT reward for teaching, but sadly this can be a terrible thing for the education system. By offering to pay off people’s debt, some people may go into education just because they do not want to pay off all of their loans, or for reasons other than a passion for the students. In the end, this will ultimately affect the students. By people entering into the education field without a care for the students or the education system, the students will not get the proper attention and care. I know that there is a time limit that a teacher has to be teaching in that school district before they qualify, but some people may not think that is that long for debt forgiveness. Just food for thought. This is the link again that describes the loan forgiveness requirements.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service

Student Loan Forgiveness for Teachers

Did you guys know that the government pays off a portion of your student loans if you meet a certain criterion as an educator? Every year TEA submits a list of teacher shortage areas by the subject being taught and where the need lies in certain schools or school districts. They also compose a list of designated low-income schools to the Department of Education. Teachers with student loans may qualify for loan forgiveness, deferment, or cancellation benefits. This offer a sort of incentive to teachers who don’t want to teach at the lower income schools or schools in more urban areas. Unfortunately, you cannot just raise your hand and say, “hey, I teach at a low income school, can you forgive my loans?” Eligibility for these benefits depends on the type of loan, the date of their first loan, and whether the teacher serves in the prior designated low-income school or subject matter teacher shortage area. This link gives you some more information on the low income school that have made the list, and the teacher shortage areas that they are looking for. Check it out!

http://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Educators/Educator_Initiatives_and_Performance/Student_Loan_For

giveness_for_Teachers/

Online Classes

This summer was my first time taking any online courses. I initially took online courses during the summer because I thought that they would be easy and less time consuming. I was absolutely wrong. Online classes require the same amount of time if not more, of an actual lecture class. Online classes are actually harder than lecture classes because you are completely on your own. You don't have reminders and you have to be disciplined this was definitely an eye opener for me. I know now that taking the easy way out, or to think that you are cutting corners in any way is NOT the way to do anything. In the end, you are only harming yourself and your education if you aren't disciplined enough to dedicate the time and energy to it. Before taking any online classes I would recommend this article.

 http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/college-life/what-i-wish-someone-told-me-before-taking-online-classes/

My Degree Plan Situation

In case you guys did not catch it in my first post, or if I did not seem to mention it, I am in college to get my Bachelors Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies: Early Childhood to 6th grade. I love my university, do not get me wrong. Being an African American woman, I feel that it is an awesome importunity to attend a HBCU.  I love the student body (the people who are actually enrolled, not the visiting hooligans) and the professors who actually care about their students. Now to the title of my post, the crazy degree requirements. My school is requiring all education majors to take a geography course that is NOT OFFERED AT THE UNIVERSITY. Meaning I would have to go to a community college and pay out of pocket just to take a class required for me to graduate from the university. That makes absolutely no sense to me. Other than that, I feel that all of the classes on the degree plan will actually help me going out into my field. They really do take you back to the basics, to get an understanding from a child's point of view. I do not have a link for you guys this time. Sorry.

I'm a Steve Harvey Fan

In the same professional media course mentioned in my previous blog post, we were asked to do a critique of a twitter feed. I chose one of my favorite entertainers and entrepreneurs, Steve Harvey. If anyone else has seen him whether it has been on "Little Big Shots" or "Family Fued", he is completely hilarious. But not only that, he is a great person. He uses his fame as a platform to motivate kids to achieve and to better the communities that are usually overlooked. Critique of a Twitter Feed

Unlike most celebrities, Mr. Harvey does not appear to have a computer or hired professional tweeting on his behalf. It also stands out to me that he actually interacts with his fans who tag or comment on anything that he has posted, instead of just continuously posting with no responses or input to anyone else. Judging by what gets tweeted most, many of his tweets are promoting his different shows and articles on his website. Even though he does seem to tweet about himself often, the links to his website are usually encouraging or positive shows coming up or articles about self-worth or life lessons. I think you guys should check out some of his shows, or even check out his social media sites. 

http://www.steveharveytv.com/

A Blog WAAYY Better Than Mine

In my professional media course, I was asked to do a critique of a professional blog. I chose Canadian first-grade teacher Kathy Cassidy. This to me is the making of a great professional teacher blog because most teachers are always looking for ways to better themselves and to draw in their students. Besides sharing fun ideas like making fairy-tale characters out of clay, Ms. Cassidy lets us witness her students’ learning firsthand by posting lots of videos and photographs. She also posts videos from different events so that we get to learn from her many guest speakers too.

As far as color and imagery she did not use much of that at all. That may not fit the requirements of an effective professional blog but I think that the goal of a blog is to share personal experiences, and her blog does exactly that. It is not full of links and videos and photos from other websites or things that she has found online. Her blog is composed of all of her personal experiences with her students and the guest speakers who come to her campus to share their wisdom with the little kiddos. I think its worth you guys checking it out. It is absolutely adorable. 

  http://mscassidysclass.edublogs.org/

Pinterest Fanatic

A few weeks ago I created a Pinterest. I had never really explored that website before so I never had any interest in starting one. For those who do not know exactly what a Pinterest is, it is a social site where you see different topics or pins that you find useful and you “pin” it to use for later or for someone else to use who are looking into the same things that you are. I recently went “pin” crazy and I tagged and saved all types of things that I thought may help someone in the future who wanted to become future educators. I saved things that varied all the way from instructor appropriate wardrobes, to lesson plans, to book that every elementary school teacher should have on their bookshelves. Feel free to check it out! 

Put A Pin In It!

An Introduction to ME!

Hello, my name is Acacia Gillum. I’m currently a 21-year-old college student at Prairie view A&M University. I have one child, Bryce Jalon McKinney II, who is 6 months old, and is the apple of my eye. This is my fourth year enrolled but I have changed my major so much that I am technically a sophomore in college. Starting off I jumped from accounting, to mechanical engineering, to nursing, and finally I settled down and figured out that education was a good spot for me. I wanted to go into education because I know that there are a lot of teachers out there who do not have a real passion for children and do not care if they succeed later in life or not. It is a sad reality that some teachers wake up miserable and go into the school house just to collect a check with no regard for that little human who’s minds you are supposed to be molding to be the future of this country. I found this article today about reasons to be a teacher and I think it fits perfectly! 

10 Reasons to Become a Teacher