Sharing through Media

There are so many free resources for teachers available and a unique community for sharing and building communities all over the world. Embracing different resources such as Twitter and Instagram provides teachers with a vehicle for using what students know to introduce information that they may not know already. Allowing students to show what they know and what they learn in a different way helps to increase students’ interest in sharing information. Using alternate forms of information sharing also allows the use of media as a form of reflection when they find it to be a more powerful means of communication.

It is also important to help students to understand critical thinking through questioning. A great way to introduce critical thinking is to use close reading strategies with pictures; using pictures as a check in to invite questioning and discussions provides a great way of allowing differing opinions and different views to be discussed and explored. We can explore different ways of communicating by combining different forms of media, and helping them to narrow down what is important to internalize, and what to push aside.  

We also need to encourage what students are creating and sharing. When we encourage our students to take an active role in their education, we should provide positive feedback and words to help encourage sharing and improvement.

#comments4kids - https://www.writeabout.com/2017/06/thought-reality/ - we ask students to explore and explain their thoughts, but we need to create that safe environment for them to share. We need to use concentrated constructive criticism to encourage their continued educational growth. We need to remember that they receive so much more from thoughtful and meaningful feedback.