The Internet is a vast unknown for most people, which is why some of us get sucked into exploring different sites for hours on end. I was in college when Facebook first came out so I have used Facebook for 4 years. I have had to make the transition between having my college 
life displayed on Facebook to monitoring it and having discussion with friends to determine if we were going to edit our profiles because were are educators. As Facebook has advanced, the ability to use different setting has given me a sense of peace of mind knowing that I have more control over who is able to see what on my profile. I feel fortunate that I have the enough sense to actually set those up, but many of my students don't think like that.
As a math teacher, I do not have many lessons for my students on the computer, however, I do know that part of my job is to address additional issues, social issues, that aren't part of my curriculum. I feel that it is important to talk take the time to talk to students about these issues be it a short Mrs. O'Brien P.S.A. or a quick class discussion. Because I am a young teacher, many students may take what I say differently than what their parents say. Today in class we had a little side bar about Facebook in my Honors Algebra 2 class. Many of the students had questions about the New Berlin student and we talked about it. It was a good lead in to a discussion of protesting themselves on the Internet. They seemed engaged in the conversation and some students made comments about how they had gotten talks from their parents about the issue last night. Somehow hearing it from a 26 year-old that has a Facebook account made it a little more real to them. There are opportunities out there, even for math teacher, to take a couple minutes to address life issues.
life displayed on Facebook to monitoring it and having discussion with friends to determine if we were going to edit our profiles because were are educators. As Facebook has advanced, the ability to use different setting has given me a sense of peace of mind knowing that I have more control over who is able to see what on my profile. I feel fortunate that I have the enough sense to actually set those up, but many of my students don't think like that.As a math teacher, I do not have many lessons for my students on the computer, however, I do know that part of my job is to address additional issues, social issues, that aren't part of my curriculum. I feel that it is important to talk take the time to talk to students about these issues be it a short Mrs. O'Brien P.S.A. or a quick class discussion. Because I am a young teacher, many students may take what I say differently than what their parents say. Today in class we had a little side bar about Facebook in my Honors Algebra 2 class. Many of the students had questions about the New Berlin student and we talked about it. It was a good lead in to a discussion of protesting themselves on the Internet. They seemed engaged in the conversation and some students made comments about how they had gotten talks from their parents about the issue last night. Somehow hearing it from a 26 year-old that has a Facebook account made it a little more real to them. There are opportunities out there, even for math teacher, to take a couple minutes to address life issues.
2 comments:
It was terrific to read about the discussion with your Algebra students. I absolutely love your emphasis on the importance of educators offering short PSAs to their students - no matter what subject or grade level is their expertise. Good for you to have the flexibility to take a few moments to address the whole student in your classroom, not only the specific content skill of the day. Technology is something that impacts all students whether or not we see it within our specific classrooms, and your life experiences puts you in a position to connect with kids. Thanks for sharing.
Haha! How CUTE are you?! Next time you deliver one of your PSAs, make sure you include me....maybe I'd learn a thing or two.
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