Skyping With the 8th Grade

As part of class we were able to Skype with eighth graders today and see the set up of their classroom and how they use technology in their classes. From this experience I was surprised to see how much these students use technology in their courses. They were even using sites and tools that we have not been introduced too. The tools they used were voicethread, pixton, edmodo, blabberize, prezi and google drive.
I feel that this was a valuable use of class time and that it was very useful for us as future teachers. From the tools that they described to us I am very interested in finding out more on blabberize and edmodo. I feel that edmodo would work well with a lot of classes we take at Husson.

Pixton

Teachers and Social Media

With our world being more and more technological we find ourselves using more and more social media. Almost all of us have a Facebook or Twitter or another form of social media. The line between what is private and what is personal has become quite thin when it comes to what we share on our social media. However when we become teachers what we post onto our social media we must remember that it is not private. What we post can be seen by our students, by the parents, by our peers and by our bosses. What we post can be taken in any way, some may not agree with an opinion that we have given, by a picture that we have posted and take offense. There have been instances in the past where teachers have lost their jobs due to a comment they posted or buy a picture they had uploaded.
                                      
After reading the article written by Nancy Soloman on Friendly Advice For Teachers: Beware of Facebook, I find it interesting that there are so many teachers getting knocked on what they are posting onto their social media. I am even more dumbfounded by what it is these teachers are posting onto their Facebook, especially since I know some student-teachers now who should better monitor their posting. After reading this article I am thinking twice on having a Facebook of my own, the whole idea seems to make for more trouble then it is worth.

After reading the article Teachers and Facebook: "Don't do it!"written by Maureen Downey, I am fascinated at the fact that many teachers feel as though it has been an invasion of their privacy by not being allowed to have a Facebook. In a school system in Georgia teachers have been recommended to take down their Facebook's because of postings and pictures. I agree with both sides of this story. Yes, it is a better idea to avoid having Facebook's in the school system to avoid any trouble with postings whether it be a writing or a picture. As individuals it does seem unfair that we as teachers are looked upon so strongly and are unable to post personal things on Facebook but we have to think about how we are perceived. As teachers we are to be role models to our students and we are to represent our schools. 

As a personal policy I do not post anything on Facebook that is questionable. As my Facebook is now I would have no problem showing it to my future employers or my current employers. After further studying on this I have found that it is better practice to keep from complaining about my job, students or my personal life. I am going to practice only posting positive things that relate to my personal life and leaving my job off my Facebook. I might even find that when I do teach I will get rid of my Facebook altogether. 

(The following video was taken from Youtube it was a news cast from the past)