Hashtags in the Classroom

I have recently been toying with ideas on how to incorporate social media in the classroom. My students spend a enormous amount of time using social media. My dilemma is how to use that to my advantage.

A couple of this week's readings dealt with the practical side of using tagging in the classroom. Before reading this article, I didn't think about "teaching" learners how to use tags. I also never really thought about teaching students the rules for tagging. I didn't even think about the fact that there are dictionaries dedicated to hashtags.

As I continue to craft a social media plan for my class this week's readings left me with a few topics to ponder.

What social media skills/ideas do I need to teach explicitly?
How will I communicate shared ideas like commonly used hashtags?
How will I control the chaos?
How will I make sure my kids are practicing good online etiquette?
What are some common mistakes/pitfalls that I need address? (The article discussed misspelled hashtags which will definitely be an issue in middle school)

Help me out. What are some other ideas that you think I need to ponder?

Comments

Three Is More Than One

Umm, excuse me Governor Desantis but last year you said that you had a issue with standardized testing. I was like okay, this is a cause that I can get behind. The way we are currently using standardized test in the education system is abhorrent. In many cases these tests are the only measure of student and teacher success. Standardized tests don't allow us to celebrate the small wins. If a student read 2 books last year and 15 books this year, that's a win. If you learned to write your name in cursive, that's a win. If you know how to divide or understand fractions that's a win. I don't care what the test says. When did kids become standardized. My oldest daughter could read before she went to kindergarten. Her sister learned to read in kindergarten. My son could read when he was four. They all turned out just fine. Kids are not standardized. I was excited to hear that we were doing away with the FSA. As an educator, I felt like someone was finally paying attent...

But I Want It Now!!

I have been struggling with our upcoming knowledge sharing assignment. I think the problem is that I have too many big ideas. I want my students to all have access to the internet. I want my kids to all be fluent. I want them to know how to do all the things. In an ideal world, I would be able to go into my classroom on day one and incorporate every tool that we learned about in this class. I want all of these thing and I want them right now! Here's the problem. I have to do the work. If I want my big ideas to work, I have to start small. The problem is that small sometimes feels too small. I always want to put my spin on it, to try and make it my own. For me, curating and sharing the content of other people feels a little dishonest. Even when you give credit, someone is getting the idea from you and they might attribute it to you. I am much more comfortable sharing something verbally, than I am sharing something in a online space. I am starting to understand that sharing c...

Crowdsourcing Woes

I decided to post my example for my produsage assignment on Facebook. I made the post in my ELA Middle School Facebook Group. I posted it in several other spaces, but here it is in case you missed it. I wanted some feedback and to see if anyone had suggestions or thoughts. Now I know we know that crowdsourcing is hit or miss. There's always that person. But I was surprised by the really strong adverse reactions that a few people had it terms of this assignment. Their issue was that students would be teased or stereotyped based on their song choices. I have to be honest, I am a music chameleon. I like all kinds of music and I don't pay much attention to genre (my real spotify playlist is a hot mess of awesome.) Also, I am also a firm believer in providing a safe space in the classroom. We don't tease each other or make fun of one another for our choices. Now I wonder if I need to reevaluate. The suggestion was made to come up with an alternative assignment for th...

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