Old Topic, New Twist: Teachers and Facebook

Image from http://edudemic.com/2011/01/every-teachers-must-have-guide-to-facebook/

Before we bemoan Facebook as a teaching tool, we might consider its possibilities. In this short piece, Every Teacher's Must Have Guide to Facebook, we see a list of what not to do as well as what to do. Does the what to do list help you? Do you see potential applications for using Facebook as a teaching tool, assuming it is unblocked in schools, or at least usable by students outside the school walls for educational uses?

Social Activism of Yesteryear Versus Social Media of Today

Please take some time to read this New Yorker magazine article by best-selling author Malcolm Galdwell (e.g., Tipping Point and Blink): Twitter, Facebook, and Social Activism.

The article addresses social media of today as opposed to activism of the past. What is your response to the article? How might the ideas in this article be used in the classroom to provoke discussion?

Photo from http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/malcolm-gladwell-on-outliers-the-story-of-success/article104648.html

Professional Organizations’ Facebook Pages

If you use Facebook, you might want to receive feeds from your professional organizations, or if you prefer, save the URLs in your bookmark folder and access the pages without using a Facebook account. Here are examples of five professional organizations with Facebook pages:

National Council of Teachers of Math at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/TeachersofMathematics

Spanish Teachers at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Spanish-Teachers/306012289177

American Association of Teachers of French at:
http://www.facebook.com/AATFrench

International Reading Association at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Reading-Association/8149175108

Read, Write, Think at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/pages/ReadWriteThinkorg/114708779358

If you check out any of the Facebook pages of a professional organization, let us know your response. If you know of other organizations with Facebook pages, share with us this information.

Social Network Sites in the Schools

Digital Directions, an online journal, published a helpfu article exploring the pros and cons of using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Ning in the school setting. This article should be helpful reading to you as an educator. Let us know what you think after you have read the article, Social Networking Goes to the School.

Illustration Roy Weiman from the article "Social Networking Goes to School."

Teacher Suspended for Facebook Post

An East Stroudsbury University professor was suspended for a comment she put on Facebook. She claimed she was kidding when she said she had a bad day and wanted to kill some students. The school officials took her comments seriously, and suspended her when a student brought the matter to the attention of the administration. Some say the suspension was a violation of free speech while others claim all threats of this kind even if made in jest should be taken seriously. Read more about the case in Higher Ed Morning, Facebook: Teacher Suspended for Posts, and check some of the comments posted.

In another case, a middle school teacher was suspended for some comments she wrote about one of her students on Facebook. Read of that story, Apex Teacher Suspended. Stories of both students and teachers being suspended for Facebook comments are increasing.

How do you feel about the emerging cases of retribution when a member of a school, be it a student or teacher, faces suspension for postings put on Facebook or other social networking venues? Should comments posted on these sites be taken seriously? Need teachers exercise caution? What about comments students post on Facebook, or other public social networking sites, about teachers, school administrators, and other students? As a teacher, what would you do if a student brought to your attention a comment written about her or him by another student that could be interpreted to be mean spirited or threatening? What about the teacher from East Stroudsbury U.? Do you think she should have been suspended? What about the middle school teacher who called her student "Bible boy"?

Decline in Grammar Skills

Do you believe that there has been a decline in students' grammar skills over the last 20 or so years? One study conducted by University of Ontario researchers documents a signigificant decline and suggests that texting, social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook) and the neglect of teaching grammar are the culprits. To read about the study, access this Digital Directions article, "Twitter, Texting Blamed for Students' Bad Grammar." By the way, speaking of grammar, visit this podcast site, Grammar Girls. Did you know about the site? Do you think it can help teach grammar skills?