Kids are the reason that I am in education. I love seeing them blossom in the classroom, on the field, on the stage, and on the court. I love running into them outside of school (most of the time), and I love interacting with them on social media. Yes, I know what I just typed, and yes, it is true!
If you would have asked me two or three years ago if I would be using social media in the classroom, I probably would have been offended and spouted off something about how unprofessional it would be for ME to communicate with MY students via any social media platform--probably pointing out that if I had seniors in high school, a majority would only be four years younger than me, so how could that be professional?
But now? Now I know better. How can it be unprofessional of me to COMMUNICATE with my students in a manner that they seem to prefer? Of course certain rules and stipulations of professionalism have to be adhered to. If they are, then I don't think there is anything wrong with teachers interacting and communicating with their students on social media. In fact, I believe that it only grows the relationship I have with my kids. And like I pointed out before, kids are the reason that I'm in education. The relationships that I have built with my kids are what I am the most proud of as an educator. So, I am always looking for ways to grow and develop these relationships, which is why I have enjoyed interacting with my students on Twitter this year.
Case In Point:
If you would have asked me two or three years ago if I would be using social media in the classroom, I probably would have been offended and spouted off something about how unprofessional it would be for ME to communicate with MY students via any social media platform--probably pointing out that if I had seniors in high school, a majority would only be four years younger than me, so how could that be professional?
But now? Now I know better. How can it be unprofessional of me to COMMUNICATE with my students in a manner that they seem to prefer? Of course certain rules and stipulations of professionalism have to be adhered to. If they are, then I don't think there is anything wrong with teachers interacting and communicating with their students on social media. In fact, I believe that it only grows the relationship I have with my kids. And like I pointed out before, kids are the reason that I'm in education. The relationships that I have built with my kids are what I am the most proud of as an educator. So, I am always looking for ways to grow and develop these relationships, which is why I have enjoyed interacting with my students on Twitter this year.
Case In Point:
I love that my kids want to reply to my tweets, favorite & retweet them, and tweet to me. I love that they do these things even if it doesn't relate to the classroom, and I love it even more when it is related to what we're talking about in class. I love these things because it speaks volumes of the relationship that I have built with my kids. And if they remember nothing else from my classes, I hope that they can at least look back and say, "Yep, she really did care about me."