Contemplation on Andy Mead's Discussion and a look at Social Media Use of Classroom Teachers

 "We get to live in a time that we get to use social media as a tool"-Gigi Hadid

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    When I was growing up, the words social media were never used collectively in a sentence to convey the meaning they do today. I remember when Facebook first came out and started to become popular. Many of my classmates talked about how their parents were getting it and some of them were going to beg their parents to get it. I talked to my parents and they were very much against the idea. I didn't get my account until I was in grade 12. I was so excited. I posted some of the silliest stuff. Shortly after high school, I got Instagram and it is now my most used social media platform. I'll be honest, I didn't get Twitter until this past year for this class and I still need to explore the platform further before making comments on it. 

    Social media has definitely changed the way we connect with those around them. I am able to see pictures of my little second cousin who lives down in the United States. I can follow businesses and see what they are selling or if they are having a sale. Social media is also a place where feelings can get hurt. People sometimes forget that they are writing their post or comment and that others might see it. Social media has often gotten a bad rap when it came to classroom use. Andy's discussion showed that we can use social media in a positive light. Due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, parents are not allowed in the schools so posting pictures on social media allows families to see what is going on in their child's classroom and what they are learning about. Andy also mentioned that this opens up the opportunity for parents to share what they saw on the social media page with their child and to have a discussion about what they did at school. I agree that this is a great way to invite your child's family into the classroom without physically being there.

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     Andy also shared a bit about Manitoba's Remote Learning Centre which was started as a result of the current pandemic. We haven't seen anything like this for Kindergarten to Grade 8 in Manitoba ever before. We have had inform net which allows high school students to do remote learning prior to covid-19. This remote learning center will open up opportunities for students to learn at home with students who are in similar situations to them! It will be interesting to see the role this remote learning center will play even after the pandemic is over and we go back to a 'new normal.'

    I'm going to go back to talking about social media. In my first year of education, I took a class called Educator in the Law. In that class we talked about how teachers are held to a high standard due to their role in the community. We also talked about how we need to be careful when thinking about using using social media in our classroom. After that course, it made me a little nervous to think about using it into my own classroom. I have thought about this in the past and after our discussion with Andy, I made a few adjustments. The list below is what I'm going to take into consideration when deciding whether I will make my class a social media account. I haven't made a definite decision however I think that I am learning more towards making my class a social media account after our talk with Andy this past Monday. 

😀Pros

• A way to connect with parents and show what we are doing in class
• A way for parents to talk about what happened during the school day
• Makes way for a conversation about proper internet use
• Students are familiar with social media so using it in my lessons can help keep students engaged in their learning

😐Cons

• Privacy issues
• Parents might disagree with your teaching style/what their child is learning
• You have to be careful about what you decide to show on your social media page
• Overreliance on Technology can occur. It is good for students to have a break from technology too!

As I was thinking about social media, I thought it was important to look at other people's perspectives on the matter. I found a video entitled Using Social Media in the Classroom. It has the first hand experience from a teacher in Saskatchewan who uses social media to invite parents into their world and to show student progress throughout the year. It gave me a new perspective on how using technology, specifically blogging and twitter, can help my students practice skills that they will use in the real world. I'm also always up for listening to a good ted talk. The one that I watched that leant itself nicely to this talk was entitled Incorporating and Accounting for Social Media in Education. The speaker talks about the idea that students know how to work social media and find joy out of it so why not use it in the classroom to help engage them in their learning. He also discusses how out online and offline life are becoming more connected as we use the world wide web more. Lastly, he argues that we can use social media to talk about what would be considered 'sensitive issues.' As an early years educator, I may not be using the apps such as vine that he discusses, however this also gave me ideas about how I could follow experts on social media and share their opinions with my class to help create an ongoing dialogue. If you have the time to watch this video, I'd highly recommend this. As I have the time, I'd like to do further research and see how teachers utilize social media in their early years classrooms. 

First Hand Experience with Social Media in the Classroom

Ted Talk about Social Media Use in the Classroom 

    Social media also has benefits when it comes to seeing what other teachers do in their classrooms. Social media has taken on the role of also sharing resources between one another. I am so grateful that educators are standing together and helping one another! I thought that it would be beneficial to share a few inspiring teachers that I currently follow on social media to give everyone ideas. I will preface this paragraph by saying I am going to link twitter pages, however these pages also have Facebook and Instagram unless otherwise listed. The first teacher I follow is Catherine Reed which is @brownbagteacher. She shares how she organizes her own classroom, art projects she has had success with, and regularly retweets other teachers work. She is based in the USA but some of her activities she has shared can fit our Manitoba Curriculum.  Secondly, I follow Michelle Griffo who's handle is @ApplesAndABC's . She loves to share about two main topics, how to decorate a classroom and shares ideas on how to integrate technology into your lessons. Lastly, I follow @JayBilly As far as I know, he only has a twitter account. He is the author of a book entitled Lead With Culture: What Really Matters in Our Schools. He has also been sharing clip's from classrooms in his school that show how they have adapted to socially distanced learning. Right now, he has been posting a lot about politics in the USA since the inauguration is coming up however most of his content is related to his teaching career which I appreciate. 

    I know that was a ton of information I threw at you however social media use in classrooms is quite broad, I didn't want to do the topic a disservice. If you have any accounts you like to follow, let me know in the comments below and I will take a look! Also, it you have any thoughts on this blog post, let me know. I look forward to hearing about your take on social media use by classroom teachers.