Skip to main content

Social Media and the Classroom

By
At AMLE 2017 I attended Todd Bloch's presentation, "Social Media and Our Middle School Students."  His message was strong: Don't deny students access to social media.  Model how to use it! 

While I've embraced technology in my classroom, I've been very wary in incorporating social media; I think I've been scared of putting a public face to my classroom.  But why?  Because of those news stories of teachers fired for inappropriate posts?  I have enough common sense to keep my posts professional, so why not use social media as a means of promoting and advertising my students' work?  By doing so, I'm:

  1. showing the community the work I'm proud of
  2. connecting with parents
  3. connecting with other educators from whom I can find inspiration
  4. getting students excited (they love social media!)
  5. modeling how to shape the cyber footprint I leave

Remind me again why I've been hesitant? 

According to US News and World Report, 35% of college admissions officers are checking applicants' social media accounts (2017).  47% of the time, those checks encourage officers to view the applicants more positively (2017).  Imagine how these statistic might increase by the time our middle schoolers start applying to college?  We threaten students with the lasting implications of cyber bullying.  Do we ever discuss the way students can use their social media accounts to their advantage?  The best way to do so is by modeling the effect.

So, hold me accountable!  I'm on a journey.  @hbkropp is now tweeting out about her classroom.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Positive Classroom

By
I was struck by the importance of creating a positive environment for my students.  One presenter showed a picture of a woman who had a fearful expression on her face.  Most of the teachers in the room said she looked afraid; however, the presenter said 8/10 middle school students thought the teacher was angry.  We need to be careful how we express ourselves in front of our students, knowing that they misread some of our thoughts.
1 comment
Read more

A middle school principal's dream come true...

By
I am so grateful that we were able to take nearly our entire faculty to AMLE, and so proud of our staff for making the day a dream come true for me! We started the day with a near perfect bus ride into Philadelphia, our driver, (Daraan DeShields), gracefully maneuvered our bus to the main entrance of the Philadelphia Convention Center. He was awesome! He started our day by greeting us with a smile, letting us know his expectations for the bus, and also letting us know he would do everything in his power to ensure our trip was comfortable and safe. From that moment, I knew it was going to be a great day. Daraan obviously buys into our vision of creating a school that teaches kids to love school. He even played the radio for us. Thank you Daraan! I think all would agree that individually we each got more out of some sessions than we did other sessions. For me Dr. Monte Selby's session on teacher morale and motivation was the most impactful for me. Monte is one of most entertain...
1 comment
Read more

Giving Kids Opportunities to Re-do and Retest

By
I found this session to be one of the more thought provoking ones that I attended that day.  Often I look at assessments from two very different angles--one as a teacher, and the other as a parent.   The teacher in me has traditionally thought that tests/assessments, and projects should be the culmination of learning--showing off what a student has gleaned from the instruction.  On the other hand, as a parent, I have often wished that my child were given more time to prepare, reflect upon, and learn the material.  The "snapshot" of how my child performed on one assessment doesn't always indicate learning or mastery, and this is unfortunate.  I'm trying hard to reconcile how to offer this option within the confines of a middle school where many of our high school courses are subject to definitive prerequisites.  I believe that the ability to show mastery is what is in the best interest of the kids.  However, part of me feels that it is unfair to ...
Post a Comment
Read more