Social Media
In our class, we combine education and technology to push time and learning to their limits. In addition to what research studies show about the effectiveness and global competitiveness of using technology in the classroom, I decided to incorporate technology into my classroom so that I can meet my students where they are as 21st-century learners. By actively stepping into their world, I can communicate with them, and teach them, based on their learning style. For your information and perusal, this is how we use social media/technology in our classroom. Click on any red heading to be taken to that app. Website: www.EnglishFury.com Students and parents can keep up with the work that we're doing in our classroom! Class e-mail: [email protected] Instead of mixing their correspondence with my administrative e-mails, students can use this e-mail address to reach me. Facebook: Facebook.com/EnglishFury After we read a text, students have to comment on Facebook about what they read at least three times a week. Twitter: @englishfury During our research unit, students will have to tweet their thesis statements on our Twitter page. Twitter restricts tweets to about 104 characters, making it the perfect solution for writing concise, to-the-point thesis statements. Instagram: Instagram.com/englishfury In English, we support each other academically. But sometimes, we just want to have fun! Instagram is our scrapbook of senior memories! Pinterest: Pinterest.com/EnglishFury To advance our critical thinking, we either find or upload images on Pinterest to use as writing prompts to interpret what we see. Blog: EnglishFury.com/Mixed-Ink Students practice their writing weekly by posting on our class blog. Socrative Student We use this app in class, for quick, real-time assessments that provide immediate insight into students' levels of understanding. Remind Remind is a texting feature that allows me to send homework reminders or important information to students and/or parents when school is out. As a safety measure, I don't have to disclose my personal phone number and neither do my students. Headphones Sometimes, I allow my students to listen to their headphones while they write/work. We also listen to our headphones to gauge how writings differ based on the music we listen to. This means, some students listen to Yo-Yo Ma (classical), while some listen to Earth, Wind & Fire (mainstream), Kenny Chesney (country) or Najee (jazz), while writing. Then we analyze the differences in tone, diction and imagery, based on what they were listening to and how it impacted what they wrote. Youtube Channel: Coming Soon! We will use YouTube to flip our classroom so that when a student needs a review of a lesson, they can visit our YouTube channel and see the lesson again! We will also record presentations and responses to lessons, when time permits, so that students can share what they've learned with students across the globe! |
Disclaimer
In case you are concerned, I actively monitor all class period long to ensure that my students are on task and not abusing social media usage. They hold each other accountable in this regard as well. All students are made aware of my classroom policies on social media and that being off-task will spoil it for the entire class. They know that it could even mean more severe consequences will be imposed if used during school hours for bullying, cheating, sexting or other inappropriate uses that do not abide by our classroom and/or district rules.