When Facebook first came into the social networking scene, I was a student at Southern Connecticut State University. Facebook was a way to connect, and network, with your school peers. In the meantime, you came across people you went to high school with, as well as mutual friends. Did I ever think I would be thinking "Hmmm, should I accept or deny this parent as a friend?", or "Do you think this picture is appropriate if a parent sees this?" Unfortunately, these thoughts have crossed my mind mutual times.
I try to keep my personal life as separate from my school life as I can. If I ever mention school on Facebook, I try to keep it in a postive light, unlike some educators mentioned in the following articles:
High School Teacher Loses Job Due to Facebook Comments
Superintendent Loses Job Over Facebook Comment
Now with everyone and their mother (literally, even my Grandma has Facebook) on Facebook, everyone knows your every move at every second of the day. As educators, we seem to be one of the only professions held under a microscope for every little thing we do. So what's the difference between having a picture of me on Facebook holding an alcholic beverage and a parent seeing me at a restaurant holding an alcoholic beverage? Life shouldn't have to stop just because we are educators. Yes, we are role models and definitely have high standards held. Privacy settings are available and we pick and choose who is our Facebook "friend". If a teacher chooses to post nasty comments about their school and has parents/co-workers are Facebook friends, well maybe it shouldn't be a big surprise when you're under the fire.
According to Sarah Kessler in The Case for Social Media in Schools, "Social media as a teaching tool has a natural collaborative element. Students critique and comment on each other’s assignments, work in teams to create content, and can easily access each other and the teacher with questions or to start a discussion" As far as social networking in the classroom, I feel that it does have many potential benefits, especially with websites like Kidblog.org. Kidblog offers each student in class a blog without requiring an active email address. Teachers can monitor each students blog, and the blogs are only available to be viewed by the students and yourself.
In a room of 20 students, it can be near impossible for students to review and give feedback to each other. A classrom social network can certainly give the opportunity to peers to review each other's assignments and work on assignments collaboratively. For example, students can create their blogs at the beginning of the year and create an "All About Me" blog. Students can include photos, websites, and other information that is only accessible to the students in their classroom. Other students can comment on the blogs or be required to ask 1-2 questions per student.
Another idea is for students to create projects on their blogs that are all "pieces of a whole". For example, if a class was studying minerals (like we do in the spring in 3rd grade), each student could be assigned a mineral to describe, give attributes, show pictures, etc. Students could use social bookmarking to put their links and references into a site like Delicious, which could help other students. When finished, students could use the blogs to answer different questions about certain minerals, as well as ask each blog creator questions about their minerals. Wow, the idea sounds so good that I may need to start thinking about this project for the spring!! :)
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Rebecca, I completely agree with you. Facebook use to be a place to connect to classmates. I remember using facebook in college as a way to find out what I missed in class if I didn't attend. I find myself being very cautious about what I put on facebook. I have had many parents and students send me friend requests on facebook that I have to regret.
ReplyDeleteI also liked how you mentioned using social networking as a way for students to reflect and give feedback to their classmates. This is something I did not even think about doing on my kidsblog. I think this would a great way for the students to effectively communicate to each other about their classwork/projects.
Facebook has proved to cause many problems for educators. In my own experience I have had several parents of my students friend request me. I have made the decision not to accept any parent friend requests. The problem with that is that I have actually had a parent come up to me in school and ask me why I did not accept! It was very awkward to say the least. I told her that it was my way of keeping my personal life personal.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with some of the comments that the teachers have made in the articles you mentioned above. At the same time I absolutely feel that their First Amendment rights have been violated. Yes, teachers are role models but so are police officers. If a police officer made a comment about gay marriage or complained about crime, would he lose his job? My guess is no.
I love your idea for the rocks and minerals unit. I will also be teaching this unit in the spring. I do not really like the worksheet packets that come with the unit (or any of the Carolina Science units for that matter!) I think your idea of assigning each group a different mineral to describe is a fantastic idea that I may use as well.
Becky,
ReplyDeleteI love the link you posted about Social Media in Schools by Sarah Kessler (2010). She really shows how important social media is in our era. The best part is, social networking keeps students engaged. Sarah even writes about a study being made in Portland, Oregon, "20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than 50%, and chronic absenteeism was reduced by more than a third" (Kessler, 2010) One of the students in my school is a huge behavior issue. The only way the teacher can keep him controlled in the classroom is when he is online. I will definitely mention this tool to the teacher to see if this would be something this student could start!
Your ideas for using social networking are great to. I think the "All About Me" blog would be a great way to start a new year. The kids could get to know one another before the school year starts and form friendships online.
I totally agree with your stance on Facebook! I think that we shouldn't be the only "role models" to be criticized for holding a Facebook account. We are just like everyone else, we need to be responsible for what we post and consider that it can be seen by other people.. but we shouldn't be banned from using it!