Thing #5 (11.5 Things)

I have mixed feelings about this thing..... Initially Facebook is a comfortable application that I use daily, and Twitter takes me out of that comfort zone!

I have two Facebook accounts, one is for my friends, and one is for my students. Not all of my students have a Facebook, so the account that I use with my students is definitely not required in my classroom, and I only accept friend requests from students, I do not ever request to be their friend. As for pictures, there is only a profile picture, and the only information the students can see about me is my current employment.

As far as using Facebook, it was wonderful this year, as I would add information about tests/quizzes/vocabulary to my webpage from the district, would then post on Facebook (as my status) that the info was available. The first time it shocked me that within a couple of minutes, my status was "liked" by numerous students. If mentioned in class students would tell me that a friend read it on Facebook, and then texted them - over 80% of my kids would know from Facebook or text from someone who read it on Facebook!

And for Twitter - different story... this is not a tool that I have used, or see myself using - for personal or profession use. The benefits that of twitter are the real time feeds, and we are such a society of needing information instantly. I have been watching Lois the Corpse Flower at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and on their webpage, you can view the webcam and the twitter comments. I have read through them occasionally, but honestly they aren't that interesting. My students so far are not into twitter, and I would rather focus on what they are into - Facebook, StudentTales videos, and a Classroom Wiki.

I have used back-channeling once, and found it to be very beneficial in large professional development settings. We all had our laptops, and were able to ask questions, and the presenter actually had her computer with the back-channeling displayed on the wall during her entire presentation. She would comment occasionally, but it also allowed others in the room to comment to a question, not just the presenter. In my classroom I would chose not to use this because I want my kids to have verbal conversations, but for adults I think it was great!