Thing #18

I know I am going to sound like a stick in the mud here, but I do not think that it is a good idea to have the children in my middle school classroom using facebook or twitter. I think it is a great way to stay in touch with other educators inside of the school system, though. You can stay up to date on all the things going on inside of the school, and gain many new opportunities a teacher might miss out on with it, like conferences being held, or learning or team-building exercises that may be taking place on the weekend. I think it is a way to stay in touch with the community as well. Knowing what is going on in your community, can only strengthen your understanding of what students may be going through in their school lives.
Now, as to the children. When I was a child, I got grounded. I got grounded a great deal. Facebook and myspace were off limits at all costs. In fact, myspace was one of the things that would get me into trouble. Do I want to put my children in a compromising position because of my actions? No. Do I override the parents saying they cannot access a social webpage? No. There are too many risks that could hinder the education of my students. I would not take that risk. Instead, I would prefer to sign them onto a blog where I could post all manner of entertaining things having to do with our class sessions, and not be at fault for anything that occurs on a social site like facebook. Also, they would not have an excuse as to why they could not do their work, unlike with facebook where they could say their father or mother would not allow them to access it.