So today’s story takes us back in time to 2012. I was teaching a 4th grade bilingual class. It was my third year teaching the same group of students. I had been their second grade teacher of everything. I had been their third grade reading teacher. Now, I was their 4th grade teacher of everything. They knew me and all my little buttons. I knew them. Their likes and dislikes. Their hopes and dreams. We also had a new student that year and a student who had been gone for two years and was now back. They were both 12. In fourth grade.
The same year, we got Kindles! A Kindle for every student. We downloaded free books. We also figured out how to use the web on the Kindles. This was a school in West Dallas. West Dallas is historically one of the poorest areas in Dallas, in Texas, and in the United States. The majority of prisoners in the local jail are apparently from West Dallas.
So these two boys figured out how to use Twitter on their Kindles and got several other students involved in using Twitter. I fortunately would check the Kindles and usage weekly so quickly figured out what was going on. At first, I thought cool. We can use Twitter for discussions (after I get parent permission and figure out how to deal with the students lying about their age and the implications of that.) But then I began to read the Tweets and personal messages these two boys were sending to each other.
It is not repeatable and needless to say these two boys were given two days of suspension.
I write about this here and now because I am taking a creative writing class and the topic is blogging. I think blogging can be a great tool for classrooms. The biggest and most important aspect would be in the social nature of blogging. We teach students how to give positive feedback and the hope is when they venture on their own into the wide world of social media, they will have the tools to respond appropriately. But as my story shows, students need to have clear boundaries set. Mine came across Twitter on their own as a way to virtually pass notes.
But it could be a great tool for students to have real and in-depth conversations. It allows ALL students to have a voice. It forces students to think through their ideas before talking. I remember well the class discussions we had in honors English. They sucked. It was a lot of awkward silence. Then it was everyone trying to make sure they shared because part of our grade was based on it. It was intimidating to work up the courage and to have this statement/idea that you felt was so deep and intellectual and then was met with complete silence. It was in part because of those awkward discussions that I think is why I loved completing my Masters Online.
So the question is – how do we have blogs in our classrooms and “police” them without stifling creativity while also teaching/encouraging responsible use of the internet?