Social Media Strategies

Using twitter, Facebook, and Instagram may not be new for some of my students, but learning how to use these sites effectively and safely in our classroom may be new to most of us.  Like other new concepts and topics, I could approach employing these sites with my students using the gradual release of responsibility. What differs is that their responses and posts could have a digital footprint that lasts forever.  As a teacher I want to ensure that safety, respect, and responsibility are embedded in every social media lesson we engage in.

The components of the gradual release of responsibility paradigm include teacher modelling for students, guiding students, and gradual independent work.  I would model examples of appropriate posts and ways of responding. There are so many examples in the media about celebrities making inappropriate tweets. As recently as this morning, Madonna posted a racial slur when referring to a picture of her son. Later she appeared unremorseful when she ‘apologized’ for her comments.  Juan Pablo from The Bachelor (– no I don’t watch it so I probably got his name wrong) made remarks about gay and lesbians not being able to participate on The Bachelor and now the network and show are doing major damage control. In the classroom, we can’t hire specialized firms to help us take back our words.

Stories like those above would be great ‘hooks’ for my students and lead to great discussion about digital citizenship. (Of course I would also include more fulsome and newsworthy stories). From here I would engage the students in creating success criteria and anchor charts for appropriate and acceptable posts. I would guide them with the use of sites specifically created for schools. Gradually, with more guidance and evidence of their appropriate use and posts, I would introduce the more popular media sites such as Facebook and Instagram.

With the use of appropriate strategies, social media can be another great tool we employ in our classrooms. After writing this reflection, it seems that implementing social media in our classrooms is not so different than teaching strategies for literacy and numeracy. Imagine not giving students the strategies and guidance needed for writing an autobiography, or working in a Science lab. Wouldn’t that lead to disaster too?