Recently, I have heard my aunts and uncles saying how kids these days being attached to their phone and always on social media and how they never socialize with others. Today in class it clicked, kids in society totally do socialize through social media, and if my older members in my family grew up in this time they would act this way too! Social media is not the devil taking away kids' social skills, but it is another way of interacting with other people, especially those who are far away. That wasn't easy to do, and now people don't give it a single thought.
What the people with social-media-phobia don't realize, is that it can be used as a productive tool. The school that had a twitter page not only help build more community but also teaches students a valuable lesson; what you post on social media can follow you, so make sure it is appropriate. Social media is a great way to build community. Community within the classroom, but also with other teachers that you might not know, however, you are both teaching biology and going through the same unit, so you can collaborate with them. Social media is an awesome tool, the problem is most people don't realize this or know how to use it. I look forward to figuring out how to incorporate social media into my classroom. I think it is a great way to interact with students in ways that they understand because we aren't teaching for our understanding, its the students understanding that we car about, so why not use a platform that students can interact with?
Link that I commented on: https://www.writeabout.com/2017/06/flowers-5/#comment-192650
I had the same reaction, Grace. Sometimes during a lull in family holidays or birthdays, my niece and nephew will relax in a different room. They're always on their phones. While I knew they were on social media, I didn't realize the significance of the contact with their friends. I thought it was cool to Facetime with my husband while he was deployed, but I didn't think it was quite as cool to see the teens in my family quietly zoned out on their phones. It's actually the same thing and I need to change my attitude about it!
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