The Value of Social Media
Social media has had mixed reviews from educators for as long as I can remember. What I can do is speak from my own personal experience. Social media has allowed me to connect to other educators outside of my little corner in NE Indiana. Don't get me wrong, I learn so much from you all as I visit your schools, collaborate with you during workshops, or participate in book studies. But there is some exciting stuff happening in schools across the country. How do we really know about it unless we are connected to them in some way?
Here is your mission for this week:
I came across a link to a google doc that has genius hour presentation ideas. I am going to paste the link here. Hopefully it works:
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1gjgKt6EUlpEZVGqlfYhPwTga5BJeyLtXyrZDR6ZWyjo/edit?usp=sharing
Great resource. I'd substitute iMovie with something like Storyboardthat.com since iMovie is not available on ChromeBook. The kids could also create podcasts. Twisted Wave or soundation would work for that.
DeleteI also found this livebider resources as I was trolling through twitter #geniushour. Again, I'll try to attach the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livebinders.com/play/play/829279?tabid=1f60a1f9-2505-5b50-b482-37aff48b5c77
I have started following Genius Hour on Twitter. It is a great way to hear what other teachers and schools are doing. I love the idea of a family night to start the whole process rolling. They had great photos.
ReplyDeleteI have just started following Genius Hour on twitter after I watched Lance's video. I also found a STEM Genius Hour, so I started following that too. I found this article from Forbes tweeted out about females are lacking in the STEM world. I feel very passionately about getting more females into the computer science, math, etc "STEM" fields. This article explains why this may be happening. https://twitter.com/AHSTuttle/status/834498146348761105
ReplyDeleteGreat find. Having a mixture of perspective or working with people that think differently is essential. In most jobs I've held, I've worked primarily with/for females. Mixtures of perspectives in collaboration is essential to seeing the big picture in a project. We need more women in the realm of engineering.
Deletehttps://t.co/ztX6tXjptk
ReplyDeletehttps://t.co/O569vle0dm
12 ways to make genius hour work
I list these two sources. The second one gives discussion on 12 ways to make genius hour work.
I have struggled with students doing something and they are still getting their bearings after several class times. Rule 5: it takes time this is something new
The first source is poster guidelines to help and guide
I typically think of social media in the realm of personal use. This chapter has caused me to think more if using it for educational purposes. Even though I work with a small group of students, I can see how using twitter to showcase students' work could get parents involved. I also like the idea of having boards available in Pinterest to involve parents. More parent involvement is needed for ELL students. I would also be interested in looking for an ELL educational group to follow on Facebook. Looking for one on twitter would be good as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, with all this social media to follow does everyone have a specific schedule to use for checking it? It can eat up a lot of time and I don't want that.
Jean, you're correct that it does take time. It can even consume people as social media can be addictive. That's why I typically participate in only one twitter chat a week. I do check Twitter frequently otherwise. Most of the time it is when I have 5-10 minutes to spare sitting in the car waiting for my kids to finish up one of their appointments.
DeleteOn the flip-side, it also streamlines professional development. Think about what I said previously. I can grow as an educator in the 5-10 minutes I have while waiting for my daughter to come out of dance practice. Follow the right people and professional development was never easier.