As of lately, I started something new. I have made a new Twitter account and am using it as a professional account for education.   

Main Purpose:

So far the main purpose of my Twitter has been to connect with professional educators from all over the world.

Thoughts so far?

I’ve been finding this platform very interesting. I’ve had my own personal Twitter for years but it has been interesting using it now for a different purpose.

New Purpose:

Using Twitter in this way has effected the way I see the platform. Now I see it as a way to connect with people in my field from all over the world. Before using this Twitter I saw myself as if I was inside a little bubble. This bubble was trapping me from expanding outside of my thinking because of geography. Using Twitter has burst that bubbled and has allowed me to learn from people from all over the world. It’s nice getting to collaborate and hear ideas from all sorts of different professionals.

Twitter Chats:

For me so far the most interesting part has been participating in Twitter chats. This was something I did not even know existed until recently. A Twitter chat is when a hashtag is used to answer questions regarding a certain topic. Participating in Twitter chats has connected me to people I would have never gotten to learn from otherwise. They’re an excellent way to share ideas and participate in intelligent conversation with other people in your field.

Thanks for reading! Follow my Twitter to keep up on content!

@Katiiestella6

 

Making a difference with technology.

The technological age we live in has granted us with a special opportunity. We are able to reach anyone with the simple power of the internet.

Here is another blog post talking about something similar!

https://medium.com/remote-symfony-team/let-s-make-the-world-a-better-place-through-technology-are-you-in-f4a32591f5ee

The book used in our class, “The Global Educator”, covers all aspects of global education but one specifically covered this week is how you can make a difference and effect change.

My goal as an educator is to make change. We as educators are given the opportunity to effect the younger generations. This is the push that drove me toward education. I love the idea of being able to be responsible for helping children and making them better people.

Specifically, I want to teach theatre and literature. With these topics I can draw upon the world. Theatre is something that first originated in other parts of the world. As a teacher I can use technology to access those parts of the world. Literature is also something that exists in all parts of the world. Technology can put us in connect with people from all over. I love the idea of being able to use programs like Flipgrid or Skype to make connects and I look forward to using them in my future classroom.

Using Pinterest in the classroom.

The phrase commonly attached to the website Pinterest is labeling someone as a “Pinterest mom”. I personally have been told by many close friends they see me growing up to be one of those. While I agree, right now I think I could more accurately be labeled as a “Pinterest teacher”

Pinterest is labeled as a communication and social media tool. There are many ways Pinterest can be incorporated in the classroom. Here are two main uses…

1. Use it to find lesson plans

You can use the search bar on Pinterest to look up anything when it comes to lesson planning. You can expect to find anything from templates to organize your lesson planning to a full planned out lessons. Personally, I have used this for inspiration for theatre lessons.

2. classroom decorating

Pinterest is great for decoration inspiration. Whether you are looking for a whole new classroom set up or your next bulletin board they will have plenty of ideas for you.

Here is a short clip on how to use pinterest

Here is a short link to describe ways to use Pinterest in the classroom

https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/teacher-resources/pinterest-education/

 

Thanks for reading!

 

In this day and age it is much easier to get fired from using technology than you may think. To a lot of people their biggest social media concern is tweeting every update of their life or documenting every moment on Instagram. If you are heading into the work force there are some things to consider when using social media so you don’t get yourself in trouble.

Things to avoid…

1. Be careful what pictures you post

There have been numerous cases of teachers getting in trouble for what pictures they post. In this clip, a teacher was asked to resign over a parent complaint over a picture from her vacation. Even though she thought the picture of her drinking a beer was harmless a parent found it not be. From this example we can learn to watch out for what pictures you’re posting on Facebook because you never know who is seeing them and to remain professional.

2. Sharing Political Opinions

It can also be dangerous to share your political opinions on social media. A lot of people share articles or political cartoons regarding their opinions and schools do have problems with that. As a teacher you should not be putting your opinions on your students. In an example here a teacher was fired for secretly hosting a podcast that the school found.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-school-removes-teacher-who-hosted-white-nationalist-podcast-n853096

3. Posting tweets

In this article a Colorado teacher was dismissed from her job after posting racy tweets. On your social media page you should steer clear of talking about drinking, partying, or smoking, as it is seen as inappropriate action for a teacher.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/colo-teacher-dismissed-over-racy-tweets/

Take Away…

After all these examples we can see that on social media the things to avoid are anything that might be deemed inappropriate and unprofessional or might make a parent uncomfortable. A thing to think about is you never know who is going to be seeing your posts as there isn’t much privacy to the internet.

 

Thanks for tuning into my second blog post! Check back next week for more updates!

Check out my twitter @Katiestella6 for more content!