Halloween Post - What is truly scary?

My Halloween Post - What is truly scary?

After having endured the positive and negatives of social media for years while doing what so many people attest is really great work at my school, I have come to the following conclusion - Facebook is scary.  No change that, Facebook gives a platform to people who are scary.  While so many great things can be accomplished via social media, Facebook and other platforms provide folks who have an agenda the opportunity to bully folks who truly don't deserve it.   Where else in your life, or in this universe, can you say whatever your want, free from repercussions or reprisals?  While I sometimes feel the desire to fire back at the haters, when you get into an argument with a fool, after a while it's hard to tell who is the fool.  So I guess I'll just drop back and punt, turn the other cheek, and take solace in the fact that karma always catches up these folks.  It's like you should never go to the grocery store when you are hungry.  You should never post when you are upset or angry.  Me?  Not angry, just frustrated.  And a little sad.

Technology Underutilized?

    So I'm sitting in an airport on my third weather delay (one delay was because we had to wait to swap out our airplane for a different one because the windshield wiper was broken -seriously) and I am sitting across from four elderly ladies (yes much older than even me), each of which have their own iPhones in their respective zebra, mirror, bejeweled, and one understated plain case, and I'm thinking to myself, how cool is that?  Are they surfing the internet for up to the minute weather reports to calculate when we might be able to take off, checking the markets to see how their annuities are faring after a third day of world-wide declines, getting the latest from CNN to see if those pings might really be from the lost Malaysian flight? Uh, no.  They are sharing YouTube files as Facebook friends of a dog dancing to Pharrell William's Cause I'm Happy.  At first I was aghast.  What a glaring under utilization of technology! How could the amazing power of this innovative technology wind up in the hands of old folks content that would use it solely for promoting a good belly laugh while watching a dancing dog?  
     I asked myself, "Would Steve Jobs be rolling over in his grave if he were to view this spectacle?"  I'm going to go out on a limb here, not personally knowing the man, but I think he would be smiling.  Shouldn't the value of technology be determined by the user?  Who am I to sit in judgement of what is a worthy use of technology?  Technology is a tool to be used to support the needs of the user.  For me, it's about accessing information and collaborating with like-minded people across the world.  So what?  Technology is transforming so many aspects of our lives.  From how we access our favorite shows and movies, to how we bank, to how we do our shopping.  In addition to shaping how we communicate with family and friends, social media has sparked and supported uprisings and revolutions around the world.  Maybe instead of poo-pooing these ladies watching dog videos, I should be celebrating they (1) have way cool devices, (2) know how to use them, and (3) are social networkers, which I might add appears to be working quite well for them.   You go Grandma and your Facebook friends!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?- Social Media in Schools

     How much longer are we going to sit around reflecting on the "potentially exciting learning and teaching tools" social media affords us before we actually check it out and examine what the impact might be in our schools.  While I fully understand the desire, as well as the need to protect kids from the evils of the internet, are we not doing them a disservice by not teaching them how to use social media appropriately and safely.  It's kind of like not talking about sex for fear of encouraging promiscuity.  We all know how well that works. By educating our kids, we may in fact prevent some of the slimy stories we hear in the press.  Kids, even those in elementary schools, are more social media savvy than we may want to give them credit for.  Who is teaching them how to use these "potentially exciting learning and teaching tools?"  Their friends?   Scary! Their parents? Maybe.  What is our role as educators in helping kids manage the digital world that surrounds them?  Are some kids going to make mistakes, push the limits, see what they can get away with?  Absolutely, but why hold back the overwhelming majority who won't.  Shouldn't the folks that sit at home for hours on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Pintrist be willing to give their kids the same access?
     It's a complex issue, no doubt, but we are teachers.  We can figure out how to do just about anything we set our minds to.  Our kids are counting on us.  If not us, who?  Their friends?
     Here is some food for thought in an article written by Eamon O'Donovan in District Administrator:

http://www.districtadministration.com/article/social-media-guidelines-school-administrators

Writing in the 21st Century

Concerned about the way "kids these days" are writing?  Tweeting, text messaging, Facebook posts..... That's not "real writing" right?  Susan Lucille Davis, English Teacher at Chinquapin Preparatory School in Houston Texas, gets it.  We have two choices.  We can throw up our hands and assume kids will never develop into the next Shakespeare or Hemingway or we can look at what Davis calls "contemporary writing activities" and use these authentic contexts to teach kids the power the written word.  We can teach them how to communicate their thoughts and dreams in their writing in a socially connected arena that was not possible when I was in school.  When I wrote in school, two people read my work, my teacher and maybe my Mom.  The written word is changing the world in real time.  Look at what has happened in the Middle East.  Tweets and posts changed a regime, not intellectual or political manifestos.  This is an exciting time to teach written language in schools.  We just need to change our mindset and teach kids where they are, not where we were.  You can read Susan's post below:

http://gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/06/teaching-authentic-writing-socially-mediated-world/