zugibe-blog

[zugibe-blog]

A Blog for the Classroom

Connecting Our Learning Community

In education, it’s important for all stakeholders to be connected and invested in students’ learning. All too often there is a disconnect between students, teachers, parents and/or community members. How can we stay connected? We build PLCs. “The term PLC refers to a Personal Learning Community, usually formed with a closed community within a school, or a district, or a community of people with a common interest”(Whitby & Anderson, 2014, p.4). The key to building PLCs is social media. Social media doesn’t have to just be about one platform- there are a variety of platforms that we can use to stay connected to one another and build strong connections as an educational community. Through these connections we must engage in open and meaningful discussions in order to unify the message we’re sending to students. If teachers and parents are on totally different pages, it does a huge disservice to students. However, when there are clear, consistent expectations and an engaged community, amazing things can happen.

Getting Started: Ways to use Social Media as a Unifying Front and In-Classroom Learning Strategy

Some of the most popular platforms to build and engage PLCs are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Many schools and districts post regular updates on these platforms to “brand their schools and supply positive messages to the community”(Whitby & Anderson, 2014, p.8). On Facebook, there are groups that exist for school and district-based communities. In fact, I’m a part of my school’s teacher, parent (though I’m not a parent) and weather groups. In these groups we engage in discussions about a variety of topics including local happenings and how we can work together to improve student learning. Local businesses use Facebook pages to post special deals for students. For example, the Chick-Fil-A near the school distributes free promotional sandwich cards for good grades. This is one great way to motivate and engage students; let’s be honest- who doesn’t love free food?? 

It’s challenging to boost student engagement outside the classroom because of the stigma surrounding social media. In order to share engaging lessons and get students interested in science, our science department created an Instagram account. Since its debut, it has grown in popularity. Teachers throughout the department share the login so we can post (with permission) photos of students actively engaged in exciting lessons. One day we were doing an awesome blood pressure lab in exercise science and decided to record a video. Generally students and other school pages follow our account, and our page follows other science pages (so students can find them) and other school-based accounts. This account has been very successful because students love the chance to be “featured” on the page, and get to see what’s happening in other science electives we offer at the school.

Promoting Student Success and Maximizing Positivity

Using social media with students is often frowned upon because there’s a lot that could go wrong. But when we step outside the house each morning there’s a lot that could go wrong..does that stop us from leaving? It’s important to start using social media with goals in mind: promoting student success and maximizing positivity. It’s hard to know where to start when incorporating social media into your classroom for the first time. A good starting place is to use Google Classroom which limits interactions to within the class. Students can post on the feed, engage in discussions and ask others for help. Another way I’ve incorporated social media in my classroom is by having students create accounts on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook impersonating a famous scientist or animal. They add/follow others that their individual would have associated with and make posts as if they were that entity. This has proven to be a fun and engaging way for students to compile their research. 

Using social media and teaching students digital citizenship is a great way to prepare them for a successful career. Blogging is one way that students can learn both of these. Student blogging can enhance writing skills, destress students, and help introverts express themselves when they are normally too reserved (Lampinen, 2013). Students can use blogging to connect with other students and enhance their own learning in a positive way. 

                                           References

Lampinen, M. (2013, April 8). Blogging in the 21st-Century Classroom [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/blogging-in-21st-century-classroom-michelle-lampinen

Whitby, T., & Anderson, S. W. (2014). The relevant educator: How connectedness empowers learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a SAGE Company.