Facebook and Twitter

I keep circling back to the very media that I most enjoy using and that have captured my personal attention. Facebook, in particular, is just a captivating media. Its amazing how my brain has been programmed to automatically click the facebook icon on my favorites bar. In fact, oftentimes I'll be getting on to check the score of a football game or something and I automatically navigate my way to facebook. Luckily, its not just some misguided obsession. Facebook is useful in so many different ways. I am able to keep up with old friends, update organization events I'm involved in, and its the BEST way to continually keep in contact with high school guys from Riverside that I mentor. In fact, without facebook there would be a large gap between myself and them. A member of my YoungLife team tells me over and over that he "needs" to use facebook more. Why? Because he feels like he doesn't keep up well enough with the guys and especially feels this when I relay great conversations I've had with him on facebook. So what do you do in the classroom with these technologies? I loved the idea at the start of the year of using twitter as a way for students to check homework and to follow a class. I mean, just brilliant. Your students can't ever really complain about not knowing what the hw is, especially if they link twitter to their cell phones. If they have neither a computer or cell phone, at the very least they can still know what the hw is because you told them in class. If there had been a twitter account for my work in high school, I would have never forgotten assignment. You feel grown up and advanced when you use a cool technology outlet for something that matters. I can't wait to see how I might implement a facebook group when I begin teaching.