I think of social networking sites in a whole new way after today's discussion. I was just amazed at all the things that can be done with social networks. When I think of social networks, I think of Facebook. But Denise showed us it can be successfully done. I was surprised what results Denise got the children. At the beginning of the presentation, I was leery of what the children could actually do. I really liked the results she got from the student who had difficulty reading and writing. I would never thing blogging or instant messager would make a difference. Again, thinking back on my sped student teaching I would be interested to see if social networking would have made a difference with a few students. I think often feel students do not express themselves fully in the classroom, especially the older we get. This is the same with this class, I know, doing this blog has made me really think of compelling/thoughtful ideas to share with each other. Denise L. also showed examples of how 5th graders expressed their thoughts on global warming. This was very interesting to me. The biggest downfall, and we discussed this in class, was the time it took. I honestly don't care about the time. Once it gets set up, I don't know if the social network would take more time than prepping for any other lesson. I think with time and practice, it can be very successful. We have an advantage because we have been introduced to this and I feel we are flexible and quick learners.
I really enjoyed TodaysMeet. I found it difficult to concentrate on the presentation and follow the conversation. But I did like it when I liked a point Denise made or had a quick question, I quickly added a comment. I know in many presentations, questions will come up and by the end of it, I've forgotten. I would really enjoy to do this on a presentation I gave to see feedback from my audience. The one concern I have is stopping the kids from searching the web. I didn't have the problem because I was interested in what Denise had to say, but I do know if the presentation was boring, I would be tempted to explore the web. How could we prevent our students from doing this?
The one point I really enjoyed from Denise was all the parent involvement. I really believe that is key. The pot luck was a great way to answer any questions parents may have. It was great that no parent had said no to letting their child use the network. I think that just proves the community believe in what they're doing and supports them.
I am exciting to try to implement social networking into my future classroom!
I hadn't thought about the possibility of students searching the web during a presentation. I have seen many college students do it during classes so I am sure elementary students would try to do it too. To try to prevent this from happening we could tell students that we are going to check their computer's internet history at the end of class. I also believe that the key to the social networking sites success is parent involvement. If parents are involved positively in any area of education it will be more likely to be successful because the students know that they have support at school and at home.
ReplyDeleteI think that social networking could be so beneficial. I know one child with autism who connects so much better with a computer than with people, but it's amazing how much he'll come out of his shell, so to speak, when he is on his Facebook or chatting on Google, or blogging about something on his family's blog. He TALKS to PEOPLE and it's so exciting to see him start to make these connections when he is face-to-face with another person! It's so exciting for him, too, in terms of what more he can accomplish because he's been given an opportunity to social network.
ReplyDeleteI think TodaysMeet is really neat. :) I know that we didn't have a lot of time today, but I thought it would be have been interesting if we used TodaysMeet today and talked about the elements that the creator did well with their digital story.
ReplyDeleteI like your attitude about time --- for the most part, we'll make time for what we want to do, no matter what. If you think this will make a difference for children, you will do it! I am that way and wish more teachers would think that way too!
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