My county is a county that is social media light.  We are allowed to use it, as long as someone at Central  Office approves the use first. And, then that use has to be just for out-going messages.  We are not allowed to “friend” or follow any students on any type of social media.  I believe that part of the problem in our county with being afraid of Social Media has to do with a few people within the county abusing these types of media and getting fired from their positions for absolutely inappropriate behavior with students. Therefore, the few people that have made horrible choices ruined Social Media for the majority of the hardworking and caring teachers.

I believe that the counties that are embracing Social Media and using it to interact with their students and their family’s lives have not had any issues with a teacher or staff member abusing the system.  I believe that counties that have not had issues and still are not using Social Media are scared to step into that realm of being completely open to the public.  They are scared that someone will post something or do something inappropriate and they are scared of litigation.

On the other side of the coin, the counties that are using the Social Media are probably able to connect with their students much easier than those that do not use it.  Today is a digital age, our students are digital natives, and this is how they interact with the world.  Counties that are using Social Media can reach out to their students and communities much quicker and easier.

I came back to school this year and reflected on my A-ha moments.  One of the biggest moments that I had was realizing how important it was to me that I worked with my team to build our curriculum. We were able to bounce ideas off of one another, help one another when we did not understand something, and make our curriculum better.

With this in mind I rearranged my classroom. I use to teach in a U shape and I did not have the students work with more than one partner, except in labs.  Now I have my students set up in pods.  This will allow the students easier access to being able to work with one another.  It is also a reminder to me to make sure to build in those moments to my lessons.   It is also helping me to allow students to take even more ownership on their learning, instead of being spoonfed the answers, they will be working out the answers in groups and figuring out the whys.  I truly look forward to seeing my students bloom this year.