JB3 Class Blog Journal (EME6414 )

At the beginning of this semester, I was tasked with an assignment in my other class that frightened me a bit: a Twitter ed Chat. First , I was new to Twitter and wasn't a big fan of it to begin with. I had no idea what a Twitter chat was and was afraid of the unknown. So like anyone, I put off the assignment until I couldn't anymore.  This past week, I realized I needed to face my fear and get this done. The assignment was due soon. I had actually attempted to do this assignment for a few weeks, however every chat I attempted to do seemed to be on a hiatus for the summer. This didn't help my fears and anxiety. I was also trying to schedule doing this chat around my children's bedtime and my husband being on shift. This limited my time frame. I found a feature on Twitter, where I could be notified of each day's chats three times a day. This way I could see what was on the agenda for the day and plan. It also included #hashtags and handles to each chat to help me see...

So I am teaching an online class to 4th and 5th graders right now and we are reading the book "No Talking" by Andrew Clements together. I've been really thinking about the whole concept of the book and childhood and school and growing up and everything. I asked the students if they thought they could do the experiment from the book. While most thought it might be challenging for school, they didn't think it would be too hard around their friends or family. The reality is, the majority of society can function without talking nowadays. With the use of cellphones and emojis along with body language, we can all communicate without even saying a word. And while we may not think about it, our children are very capable of doing this. Don't believe me? Tell a class of students that they can't talk the whole class period. I promise they will find a way.  During midterm exams, students have to be silent. I am not allowed to dismiss students until the exam period is over...

It's so strange that the conversation this week in class is about Digital citizenship and activism. I say this because in a conversation on Friday last week I was asked by a co-worker about digital citizenship and my thoughts on it's place in curriculum planning and development and in teaching. And then again today I was in another Global Ambassador meeting for PenPal Schools and the conversation was centered around Digital Citizenship and Activism.  I have long felt that students not only needed and had a voice, but I have also felt that they needed to understand how to use it responsibly in their changing world. With younger and younger users on the internet and social media, students need to know how to navigate the waters. They need to know how to decipher the fact from the fiction, the good from the bad. The need to know when to speak up and when to listen. They need to know how to research and source check. Beyond that, they need to understand what a digital footprint it,...

I have been optimistic yet skeptical about how to use many of these tools in/for the classroom, especially Twitter & Instagram. While I can find myself being able to integrate many of these, the major 'social' media ones seemed to make me very nervous when it comes to teenagers. Every time I get excited, a negative thought and implication comes creeping in. However, just the other day I was messing around on Instagram and came across some accounts for some of my friends who teach at other schools. They were not their personal IG accounts but their 'teacher' accounts. I spent some time looking through their teacher accounts, and some were club or coach accounts, and looked at how they were handling them and what it was they were posting.  The ability to do this gave me more comfort and some ideas. I had no idea any of my friends were using these platforms for their classes. I think I will reach out to more teachers and coaches and see if they are using the platforms ...

So those who know me well, know that I have always hated Twitter. This was before I ever had a Twitter account and was ever asked to use it. So yes, an unjust assumption of it. I always believed that Twitter was for celebrity stalking and politics. While I do still believe that this is mostly what goes on there, I am starting to find more on Twitter. It is a jumbled mess of a social media platform but if I can just learn to navigate it, it might be useful.  When I joined, I decided to take the full plunge.  I not only started trying to follow class hashtags and classmates, I tried to follow interest and topics. This being said, I follow some music and bands that I love. While I love a lot of music, I decided to only follow my very favorite bands. Anyway, I happen to have concert tickets to one of these said bands. The concert was supposed to be May 3rd. Now this band was huge in the 90s. I happen to be a big grunge baby from the 90s and love this band- The Smashing Pumpkins. I...