In regards to social media in the classroom, much like my previous post, I think there are a lot of exciting opportunities for students to practice writing skills in a setting much more relevant to their daily lives and what they are familiar with. Having students write for social media might make them more comfortable, allowing them to practice in a low-pressure situation. It also could be used to make older texts more relevant to today. For example, in one of my classes in college, we had to make a social media profile for one of the characters in the novel, having them make posts incorporating text, gifs, images, and videos. Not only does this force students to think critically about what characters would be like today, but allows them to operate creatively in a multimodal environment that they are familiar with. Having students that come into our classrooms incredibly technologically literate is an incredible opportunity for us as educators because we can harness this knowledge to allow our students to use their skills to creatively engage with the material.
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I also love the possibilities for allowing students to share their work both with each other and with the world, creating and engaging in a variety of communities. The ease at which students can receive feedback from peers and others in this medium is perhaps one of the most attractive features. Not only does having students receive constructive comments help them improve their writing, but crafting appropriate and useful comment is in it of itself an important skill for students to learn.
I was also a little surprised at how robust the teacher community was online and really look forward to exploring it. The sharing of information and strategies seems commonplace, which is really encouraging. Knowing that there are so many fellow educators out there that are more than willing to help one another out is reassuring, especially going into my first year teaching. This is definitely something I will be exploring further.
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You made some really great points in this blog. Instead of writing a standard book report, why not engage your students by having them create a social media page for a character in the book, excellent idea! I too was surprised to see the level of resources available online. Looks like its time to get a Twitter account. I enjoyed reading your blog, thanks for sharing.
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