543 Social Networking Intro...

Greetings and salutations!

When life forces you to have problems, life forces you to learn, and learning forces you to grow [photograph]. (2012, April 28). Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/deeplifequotes/6974672646/

When I first read the syllabus, I realized that I this course was going to take me out of my comfort zone. While I love using technology and see the benefit for social media as a tool, I am not a social media junkie. Fortunately, I joined Twitter during 537, created my blog as part of the M.E.T. program, and have had personal Facebook account for several years, so I am not coming into this class totally blind.

Even though I am in my final semester of the M.E.T. program, I have never really used social media for professional development, except for the blogging and tweeting directly related to classes. However, both personally and professionally, I have a tendency to binge on blogs when I am trying to find information. I haven’t found a balance yet, but I am working on it.

Ten years ago, I attended a workshop on using blogging in the classroom and have been wanting to incorporate blogging ever since. Finally, this year I got the go ahead. In the district where I work all things categorized as social media are blocked, but I found the one exception – Edublogs, probably because it has a “.org” designation. Now that I have an all clear, we began blogging in the classroom 3 weeks ago. It is going much slower than I had anticipated, as the students aren’t all jumping on the blog bandwagon just yet. I do see glimmers of interest in students who are finding an outlet for their creative side. It has been especially helpful for those who don’t normally interact with other students.

My hope for this course is that I will stretch and grow while I learn to use theses platforms to enhance not just my learning and teaching, but the learning of my students as well.