This link will work if you cut and paste it into the address bar. At least it did for me. It's a link to the short video I created on Adobe Spark about how teachers might use the app called iNaturalist into their science instruction. iNaturalist is a social media tool because students are able to share and discuss their nature observations with a worldwide community of scientists and naturalists.
https://spark.adobe.com/video/O6FCoCyjHqsrq How can/Should social media be used to help you develop/collaborate/communicate as a professional? What are the critical issues to consider? One way I use social media is to communicate with parents through Class Dojo. It's a great way to share news and photos with parents. We can also privately send messages to each other. Honestly I do not use this app to award or take away Class Dojo points. I just can't seem to get used to using my phone to incentivize my students. I've tried to use it, but I always forget. I feel it gets in the way of our interaction. Other teachers love it and use it all the time. ANYWAY, another way my school uses social media is to communicate with parents on a district level. Our district office publishes a digital news flyer once a month to share stories. I just found out our district also has a Facebook account. I do not use Facebook, so when someone messaged me and told me I was "famous", I didn't know what they were talking about. Turns out a photo from Read Across America Day of my class was on Facebook. I quit Facebook a few years ago. I did this because never felt the need to share my stories or photos online. When I went on Facebook, the same few people were always sharing theirs and I got tired of it. I also felt guilty that I never shared anything. In addition, advertisements invaded the platform to such an extent that they became the majority of the content I was seeing. I got tired of that. Social media in general does not appeal to me because I feel it distracts me from being able to "be here now". I'm really interested in simplifying my life and finding comfort/inspiration/meaning in the immediate world and people around me. Is this because of my age? I was born in 1970 and grew up without social media. I don't seem to need or want it now. However, tonight's assignment was an eye opener. I had been looking for more ideas for my capstone project. I specifically am looking for more ways to integrate technology into outdoor education. I was struggling to find new ideas. Learning to hashtag on Twitter and Instagram showed me how to connect with other people who are interested in the same thing, worldwide. This is a powerful way to communicate and collaborate! I DO plan on using Twitter and Instagram to "join the conversation" on how to get kids outdoors and learning about the environment. What would you do if you were to come across an inappropriate post made by one of your students outside of the school. Do you address the post and, if so, how? Whom do you involve in the conversations? What considerations must you make in determining your course of action? As far as I know, my third graders are not using social media. They do interact online with other students in video games like Fortnite. In my class, they ALL LOVE the math game called Prodigy because they each have an avatar and can interact in online digital worlds. It fascinates them. The problem is that's all they want to do on there. They get in these rooms together and chat but don't do enough math, in my opinion. So I limit them on the Prodigy. If I ever did find out they were doing inappropriate posts out of school, I'd go to my principal and tell her. I'd feel uncomfortable dealing with that kind of situation without informing her about it. It'd be good to know if our school has a social media policy as described in this ICARE's readings.
2 Comments
Megan Burton
3/8/2020 11:01:41 pm
It's great to see how you're staying true to yourself in your use of social media, yet trying to stretch a bit. It's always a challenge to keep a balance while being innovative. Thanks for sharing!
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Melissa
3/9/2020 06:01:37 pm
Jeremy,
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AuthorJeremy Smith teaches third grade at Calistoga Elementary School. Archives
July 2020
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