Social media can be used in all
classrooms, and can definitely be used to enhance English lessons. The best
teachers are the relatable ones who understand what students are interested in,
and incorporate that into their lessons. Different Social Medias such as
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (and many others) can make a lesson more
interesting and heighten the experience for the student.
There
is website, Fakebook.com, that has the same Facebook template, but is temporary
and used for teaching purposes. One way to make this apply to a classroom would
be to have the students make fake profiles for characters. For example, if you
are reading The Great Gatsby, you
could have the students make a fake profile for Jay Gatsby and create what they
think he would be like. The students could put quotes he says in the book,
pictures, a friend list and posts in his voice. To further the assignment, they
could write a paper to back up why they thought he would say these things.
Another
Social Media students could use would be twitter. Like Fakebook, they could
come up with fake accounts for different characters and tweet things they would
say. Since some students do not know how to use Twitter, you could print out a
template and have them write out the assignment.
Activities
like these are simple ways to make a lesson more exciting for you and the
students. Social Media is a great way to parallel many books and create
activities. Because so many students use Social Media, it is imperative that
teachers can figure out ways to incorporate it into their lessons. Of course
there are countless others we as teachers could use. Most of the books students
read in school are outdated and sometimes do not make sense to students, but
with these activities the students will be more engaged and willing to read and
learn.
I agree that it is crucial for students to be able to relate to their assignments in order to succeed. Through social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, students don't even notice that they are learning because they are so used to going on these websites on a daily basis, that they do not make the connection of social media with school.
ReplyDeleteYou said in your blog that most books students read are outdated and that they may not make sense to students. If we are placed in a district that allows us to select the books that we teach, there are so many that we can choose. In elementary school, several of my classmates would not read the assigned material; however, they could read a Harry Potter book in two days. It is up to the teachers to select book that students will enjoy, or have them chose their own. In elementary school, I was required to read for 30 minutes\s a day; however, I could select the book of my preference. This provided me with the freedom to pick and chose; if I did not like a book, I could close it and select another.
I have never heard of Fakebook. I immediately was intrigued as I continued to read how Fakebook could be used in an English classroom. I agree that classrooms need to stay current with social media in order to continue gaining children’s interests. As a prospective math educator, I hope to have time to implement research and writing of historical mathematicians or math related current events. I could use this teaching tool versus a normal written report. However, I do have a question. How effective is the Fakebook among students? I have a younger sister in high school now and only ask because although she has a Facebook, twitter, vine, Instagram account, I am not sure she would find Fakebook more interesting than a conventional report. How are the out comes with this integration? Do students respond better to Fakebook than they would normal? Although a great initiative, I would like to know more about its successes in a classroom.
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