Journal #3

I really think using social media could be a major benefit to students. While I am concerned with online predators and bullies, I think the problem is made to be larger than it really is. Truthfully, although students are "safer" at school, the truth is they would be exposed to these dangers at home anyways. I think the key is to teach the students how to be safe rather than simply avoiding social media all together. With that said I do not use social media simply because in today's day and age, blame for anything that goes wrong is always placed on the teacher. Every year there is always some ridiculous story about a teacher being fired because of what was found on a social media site (sometimes it isn't even the teacher's profile). This is why I stay away from it; I don't want to be the next teacher being fired because a student posted something they shouldn't have on a class blog.

I think it is unfair that teachers would be the first ones to be blamed and it is because of this mentality that I feel many teachers don't implement this kind of technology. I was honestly thinking about starting an edmodo until I heard so many other teachers at my site mention how it could eventually lead to problems, so that ended my flirtation with social media in the classroom. I think until this attitude of "blame the teacher" stops, many teachers will refuse to use this kind of technology, despite the power it could possibly hold. I know this is the case for many teachers at my school site. Plus, I hate social media to be honest.

Despite that, two things form the article really made me want to integrate social media into my classroom. I thought the teacher that was able to show students are willing to do assignments simply because it was social media was pretty ingenious. I never thought something like this would work and it does show that students may be willing to work if you simply provide them with a means to do the work in a way they are familiar. I really can't believe that over 100 students participated in the no-credit assignments; I wish I could get something like this started in my class without having to fear for my job safety. Many students seem like they just need something to do and their phones make it so easy. So I guess providing them with a way to integrate their learning into their social media makes a lot of sense. I think if I started this I would have to offer extra credit to really make it take off. Nevertheless, I think it would be cool to have students take pictures of a chemical reaction they see taking place at home and upload it to their profile, or something similar.

The other thing is the talk about collaboration. I personally do not like collaborating on anything. I like doing things myself and feel like I can always do a better job when I work alone. Typically when forced to work in groups I let the other group members know I will do the entire project myself and put their names on it; no one has ever rejected my proposal. Nevertheless, I have found collaboration to be a powerful tool in the teaching profession and have come to realize that it is expected in the job force. It is important that students learn how to collaborate because it does require some skill and knowledge. Students have to learn how to work with a group before they enter the job force; it requires being both a leader and a follower, not something many people can do well without some practice. This can be worked into the classroom without the use of social media though so I think many teachers can do something like this without the use of FaceBook and the like. I really do hate FaceBook.