Week 2 - Bullying in Schools

Last week I decided I was going to do my research on the process of becoming a teacher; however this week I started researching and found this topic was far too broad. While conducting research I came across the topic of Bullying in Schools. This topic stood out to me as a very important topic to start researching. I feel this would be a subject that would prove to be very helpful while entering into the world of becoming an Educator. Students are bullied in school more often than many of us want to believe. Bullying in schools leads to psychological issues, violence, students who were bullied becoming bullies themselves, and even result in tragedies such as school shootings.

I found that using the Leatherby Libraries E-Reference Collections was very useful. This is a research method I never felt I would be comfortable using. I always used the web to search for sites containing information on the subject I was researching, mainly because it felt like the easiest source of information. This week has taught me that the easiest sources of information are not always the best sources of information. I found that using the CRAAP test while researching helped me to discover which sources would be the best and most useful sources. I found myself skimming sites and articles for the information the CRAAP test said to look for, which helped me to not waste time on sites, books and articles that were not relevant.  I found that looking for information on the author and their credibility was one of my most useful tools. I found myself immediately searching for information on the author, which if not easily accessible, I moved on to the next article. This tool made me think, if the author’s information was not available, was the information on the site or in the article or book even true?

This week has opened my mind and my eyes. I find myself not being as fearful or intimidated by the thought of research. I look forward to researching the topic of bullying in schools and more specifically I would like to research methods of prevention. I would like to know how myself, as an Educator (someday) can help to prevent bullying in school. I want to make a difference in the lives of my students.