Guess who had a snow day today?? Me!! Well, more a "fear of potential icy roads" day instead of a snow day. But since I have some time on my hands, it's time for a new blog post.
I love using social media. Once upon a time, I had a MySpace. I had a Xanga. I became a member of Facebook in 2004. Back in my day, it was only available to college students. It has changed a great deal in these last ten years, and I am not a huge fan of Facebook, but it is almost a necessity in order to keep up with family and friends. I believe it creates a false sense of community and keeps us from truly interacting with people... But enough of the negatives... I want to talk about the positives!
On the front page of my school webpage, I have a list of all the ways parents & students can find me on the internet.
Now some of you are probably thinking I am TOO available... And sometimes I feel that way myself. But I always have the opportunity to unplug if I so choose. It takes a great deal of self-control, but it is possible.
When using social media, it is wise to set some ground rules for yourself as an educator. It is very important to practice wisdom when interacting on the internet. This is obvious, so forgive me for pointing it out... But it must be said. When you set your ground rules, make sure they are exactly what you want and follow them strictly.
Examples of possible ground rules:
- Rules about 'friending' or 'following' student profiles.
- Responding to student comments--will you or won't you?
- Official parent responses--Where will you respond to parents? Only via email? Anywhere? If you respond once, be prepared to respond again via that medium because parents will probably expect to reach you from then on.
- Disabling comments altogether (I did this with my youtube channel--lots of internet trolls!)
I could keep going, but you get the idea. Set some rules which will protect you (and your job).
What kinds of things do I post?
The types of things I post depends on the medium I'm using.
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On Instagram, most of my followers are kids. I also have parents and personal friends who follow this account, but the overwhelming majority are kids. As with my Facebook, I never post anything I would not share openly in my classroom. My rule of thumb is "Would I mind if my administrator saw this?" Anyone who posts those things on social media isn't thinking (in my opinion). Everyone can see that stuff, even if you're privacy settings seem secure. Instagram is my favorite medium and the one I use most. I will post questions, funny things, fun moments, reminders... Anything I think my students might enjoy or need to see. You can see examples of my Instagram posts by going to http://instagram.com/obertopia.
Social media can be very useful for teachers if we can harness its power for good instead of evil. Find out what will work best for you and try using it once a week or so... You'll find that many of your students and parents will appreciate the extra notifications. Do you already utilize social media in your classroom? What is your favorite? Got any tips for us? Share them below!
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