Social Media for Teens

 Happy May

Wow! My first-year teaching has flown by! I have so many great memories and will miss having my first classroom of students. It is such a bitter/sweet feeling, but I've also started the countdown for summer! My last day with students is on May 21st! We have lots of this too look forward to as our year winds down.  If you are a fellow educator, how many days do you have until summer?  Do you have anything you are looking forward to this summer? I am mostly excited because I will not be teaching summer school this year AND this will be my first summer WITHOUT classes. I will earn my master's this weekend and will be so relieved to not have anymore classes. I have already been thinking about potential programs in the upcoming years such as leadership or administration. 

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Social Media for Teens

This week I will be sharing some positives and negatives for teenagers using social media. Today, I was actually sent a post regarding cellphones in schools by a fellow 3rd grade teacher. Here is the Instagram post made by @washingtonpost. This post shares that a middle school in Connecticut banned cellphone usage in their school day. Although, there are some positive and negatives comments about this banning I think it sounds beneficial for the learning environment! Most schools like mine have rules set in place that students cannot use devices during school hours. This doesn't always work because kids will sneak their phones and use it as a distraction. Illing Middle School has already had significant results from banning phones. The post shares a statement by the assistant principal, "Dolphin compared banning cellphones to limiting consumption of sugary foods. In a matter of months, you start feeling better." The school uses a company called Yondr to store devices in magnetic locking pouches. Many concerts, theatrical events and professional exams uses these as well, but now the sales have an uprise in schools. The post also shares a few positive student perspectives of these implications. They share that the banning of cellphones creates an old fashion idea and more students actually have to connect with each other on a more social way in person. 

In today's world, most cellphones are smart phones. This allows kids 13 and up to make their own social media accounts. However, these guidelines are a lot of times misused as kids will sometimes lie about their age. I know I was one of those kids being 12 and creating a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Vine account. I had older friends using the platforms and I wanted to also be on these sites to fit in. PBS Learning Media shared a video on how teens what to fit in on social media. I enjoyed listening to this video as it had kids sharing their ideas how their are trends on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok and it affects they way they fit in or express their individuality. There is a lot of pressure on teens while interacting on social media. Kids will sort of hide their true selves and want to be just like everyone else. In the video it shares research on how children develop relationships with each other. Research has proven that people will like posts if their friends and others are liking the content. Many teens are being influenced by creators that have a lot of followers. This can led to echo chambers that have a lot of biases on views. Teenagers are comparing themselves to others through social media and seeing who is more "popular" based on followers and likes. This video expresses teenagers and all social media users to be more authentic in their media posts and overall just be their own person. Most of the time you see a conformity on media and this takes away from an individuals creativity. 

Skills Kids need to Succeed

After reading the article "What Skills Do Google, Pinterest, and Twitter Employees Think Kids Need To Succeed?" I have learned lots of valuable insights from employees of some of the largest employers here in the United States. The employees share some of their background in their careers, but answer honestly what specific skills kids need to succeed in their future. First, they share ideas of just being familiar with all the different technology aspects. As technology continues to advance, people need to become more educated on all the "new".  The article expresses that public speaking and writing content is a must for kids to be successful. Drea Alphonso said, "I think it's just making content and providing opportunities that are important to the culture and community-- understanding what that is and bringing that to the forefront for students." Personally, I think culture and community is a huge skill for everyone to be educated on. As a teacher, I am always trying to include the backgrounds of each of my students and not only am I learning about their culture and interests, but so are their friends and classmates. Another skill mentioned in the article was growth mindset. I loved reading about this because I am always trying to ensure students have a growth mindset in and out of the classroom. This is great skill to have because mistakes are going to happen, but it is proof they are trying. When these mistakes happen they also needs skills like problem-solving and critical thinking. These are also skills the employees touch on! Lastly, I love how this article shares tips for educators to use in the classroom and giving access to different resources, courses, and extracurriculars for students to find their passions.