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Social Media Resources for Literature and Writing

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This curated collection presents useful, topical resources for implementing social media in a Literature/Language Arts classroom.

100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom. Social media may have started out as a fun way to connect with friends, but it has evolved to become a powerful tool for education and business. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter and tools such as Skype are connecting students to learning opportunities in new and exciting ways. Whether you teach an elementary class, a traditional college class, or at an online university, you will find inspirational ways to incorporate social media in your classroom with this list.

Ideas for K-12 Classrooms Implement these great ideas in your K-12 classroom to have students learning in a dynamic new way. Make literature real. Ideas for College Classrooms Integrate these suggestions into college classrooms for engaging learning opportunities. Window to daily life at school. Ways Students Can Use Social Media From practicing a foreign language to finding scientific research, these tips will have students using social media to enhance their education.

Find scientific research papers. Offer a class. TweetDeck. Social Media in the English Classroom: Part 1. ©. (2012). 24767204. Used under licence with Kozzi®. All rights reserved. If you’re like me, your initial reaction to Twitter is, “why would I want to use a tool to check up on useless celebrity thoughts?” But once I learned the educational power of Twitter, especially for the English classroom, I was convinced. In a recent study, McWilliams, Hickey, Hines, Conner and Bishop (2011) had high school students use Twitter to respond, in character, to issues and events in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. Students tweeted in real-time while reading the play as a class. In addition to using Twitter, this study also looked at Crucible fan fiction, so it is difficult to pinpoint which method—Twitter or fan fiction—contributed to increased literacy and comprehension of the text. This sort of activity could easily be adapted for an online class. As an instructor, I am always looking for new ways to capture my students’ interests.

Reference: 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom. Many critics of Twitter believe that the 140-character microblog offered by the ubiquitous social network can do little for the education industry. They are wrong. K-12 teachers have taken advantage of Twitter’s format to keep their classes engaged and up-to-date on the latest technologies. The following projects provide you and your students with 50 ways to Twitter in the classroom to create important and lasting lessons. 1. One of the simplest ways that teachers can use Twitter in the classroom involves setting up a feed dedicated exclusively to due dates, tests or quizzes. 2.

Subscribe to different mainstream and independent news feeds with different biases as a way to compare and contrast how different perspectives interpret current events and issues. 3. Set up an interesting assignment requesting that students set up Twitter for education lists following feeds relevant to their career goals and keep a daily journal on any trends that crop up along the way. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. The Promise and the Peril: Social networking in the English Langu. 3 Tips for High School Teachers to Use Social Media Responsibly In Class | Primary Education | US News. Social media is popular among teens, but not among their teachers. Eighty-seven percent of K-12 teachers have not integrated social media into classroom learning, according to a new survey from the University of Phoenix College of Education.

North Carolina educator Ike Smith says high school teachers may be grappling with how to take social media, which is relatively new, and integrate it into their existing practice. "In high school, another layer to that anxiety can be that my students are also on the social media platform that I may want to use," says Smith, a former high school teacher, who is now director of instructional support services for Watauga County Schools.

Teachers may not know if or how to interact with their students professionally online​, he says. Many teachers are worried about conflicts that could arise from using social media with ​their students and students'​ parents, according to the new survey. Educators on Twitter shared with U.S. 2. 3. Your Students Love Social Media ... and So Can You | Teaching Tolerance - Diversity, Equity and Justice. Connecting a Classroom: Reflections on Using Social Media With My Students. Mark Brumley: "Seven Social Media Lesson Ideas for the Classroom" Social media meets students on their own turf and provides an engaging avenue to learning. In this guest article, take a look at using social networks and microblogging.

Let’s jump in and take a look at several lesson ideas. 1. Frontloading Frontloading, also known as the reverse classroom, is when the bulk of your lessons are taught as homework through student interaction. When students arrive for class, they are ready to apply their knowledge. Social media works perfectly for frontloading. 2.

Characters in a novel Historical figures and the people around them Online debates What if these people met? Try these ideas in your class. 3. Check out this sample fan page for Atticus Finch The collaborative properties of a fan page are a huge factor. 4. Without a doubt the easiest microblogging site to use in the classroom is TodaysMeet. 5. 6. Here’s a quick lesson example. 7. Try out these ideas and discover how social media can positively impact teaching and learning. The Schoenblog: Social Media in the Classroom: Students' Future Resumes? Sunday, July 12, 201511:00 AM This week I began my more scholarly reading and writing by reading the April 2015 issue of the ISTE publication, entrsekt.

I enjoyed many of the articles and found a common theme between a few: students' online lives. One article, "Social Media Presence is Modern Day Resume" by Patrick Larkin, posed the question in the image above: are our students receiving the support they need to put their best digital foot forward? Larkin discussed the role of social media in schools, arguing that "social media presence is modern-day resume. " While I'm not sure that the traditional resume is going away, an individual's online presence is increasingly important. Clearly, students need to learn how to use social media responsibly and develop a positive online presence. Challenge: Google yourself and see what you find. How to Use Social Media in a Low-Tech Classroom. Sarah Varland uses Twitter to show multiple character perspectives from the same play in her 9th grade classroom at Schurz High School, 2014.

No tech? No problem. Even if you’re teaching in a low-tech school, chances are your students know the basics of popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. As an ELA teacher looking to engage struggling and reluctant readers, I have been able to use modified versions of social media in the classroom without any technology at all. 1) Facebook Profile Printouts What they are: Empty graphic organizers in the format of a Facebook profile. Linking to Common Core: Assess understanding of characterization by having students use textual evidence to complete one of these. What to do with them: Though many of my colleagues have created their own, there are many options already available online! 2) Tweet Sheets What they are: Slips of paper with space for a username and 140 characters, meant to simulate a tweet. 3) Instagram Tableaus. Should teachers be using social media in the classroom? Photo by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Editor’s note: About once a month, the NewsHour’s editorial staff huddles in our conference room to brainstorm ideas for “theme weeks” where we explore a single topic from all different — and sometimes surprising — angles.

The idea for an off-the-grid week came up. Stories about energy, geography and even fine arts were pitched. We also talked about the social media “grid” and asked, how long do we keep our children off the grid and is there value in young people engaging with social tools from Instagram to iPad apps? For the latter we turned to two teachers who have competing views about allowing social media in their classrooms.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Yes: Bring social media to all classrooms I have found the quietest students in my class speak the loudest on social media. One day, Nadia, a very quiet and reserved student, walked into class and said, “Mr. “What?” At Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Social Networks for ELA Students and Teachers. Jump to navigation Donate Check out what's new in: Bookmark For Students For Students and Teachers Related Top Picks Displaying 1 - 9 of 9.

Best Apps for Kids with Autism Find tools to help kids build important social and communication skills. Grades Pre-K - 12 English Language Arts Communication & Collaboration, Character & SEL 10 Best ELA Tools for High School Top 10 apps and websites for mastering ELA skills at the high school level. Grades 9 - 12 English Language Arts, English Language Learning Communication & Collaboration, College & Career Prep 10 Best ELA Tools for Middle School 10 top-rated apps and websites for the middle school ELA classroom. Grades 6 - 8 Communication & Collaboration, Tech Skills 10 Best ELA Tools for Elementary Our top 10 picks for teaching kids to be successful readers, writers, and communicators in the elementary years.

Grades Pre-K - 5 Communication & Collaboration Best Common Core ELA Tools for High School Communication & Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking Grades 2 - 12. English Classes Use Facebook, Social Media to Teach Writing. Using social media in language teaching and learning. Social Media Has Changed Our Language | Language Arts Classroom. Social Media Makes for Better Student Writing, Not Worse, Teachers Say. Occasionally, Jennifer Woollven, an English teacher at West Lake High School in Austin, Texas, finds some Twitter speak -- a FWIW or an "ur" -- in a paper. But most of the time she finds that her students are paying a lot more attention when it comes to their writing assignments, especially when they know it might be shared via Twitter itself. "As an English teacher who is trying to improve student writing, one thing I see is that people are seeing greater ownership of their writing when they know it will be seen beyond the class and the teacher," Woollven, 40, said.

She has many of her 10th-grade students post their essays and creative-writing assignments on blogs. Woollven's students aren't the only ones who have found motivation, thanks to digital tools and social media. And to add to that, 96 percent agree that digital technologies "allow students to share their work with a wider and more varied audience. " Encouraging Collaboration, Creativity Effect on Analysis and Spelling.

Can Social Networking Boost Literacy Skills? The findings of two recent literacy studies in Great Britain will come as no surprise to many parents and may also help to explain why students are reluctant to do homework. These studies reveal that most young people never pick up a book—at least not outside of school. In fact, about one in five reads blogs and magazines only. But these findings shouldn’t be interpreted as meaning that young people don’t read. It’s just that students browse social networking sites, blogs, websites and magazines much more frequently than they read books. Both of these studies on the reading and writing habits of students were undertaken by the National Literacy Trust. Let’s explore these findings in more depth.

But do social networking sites have any educational benefits? According to one of the studies, 49 per cent of young people believe that writing is “boring.” The study also explored why young people who lack confidence in their writing ability perceive themselves to be poor writers. Facebook Has Transformed My Students' Writing—for the Better - Andrew Simmons. The Internet has ruined high-school writing. Write the line on the board five hundred times like Bart Simpson.

Remember and internalize it. Intone it in an Andy Rooney-esque grumble. I've heard the line repeated by dozens of educators and laypeople. I've even said it myself. Thankfully it is untrue. As a high-school English teacher, I read well over a thousand student essays a year. However, while Facebook and Twitter have eroded writing conventions among my students, they have not killed the most important ingredients in personal writing: self-reflection and emotional honesty.

High school is cruel to all genders, an equal-opportunity destroyer of spirit and self-esteem. When I was beginning high school in 1994 boys knew not to reveal weakness and insecurity. I have a Facebook page dedicated solely to my position as an educator. My observations have reaffirmed the widely held notion that the Internet is no refuge from the pains of adolescence.

"Even when there no one else you got me. " How to Use Social Media to Strengthen Student Writing. Rusul Alrubail , Writer on education, teaching and learning. Chief Education Officer at The Writing Project Posted 02/13/2016 7:50PM | Last Commented 03/18/2016 4:24AM When Advanced Placement and The National Writing Project surveyed teachers regarding social media use in the classroom, they found that 78% agree (26% strongly agree) that digital technologies “encourage student creativity and personal expression”. Digital tools of course give access to social media, which is a powerful outlet in and of itself to be able to harness in the classroom as a tool for communication. Many of us know that with practice comes perfection, especially when it comes to writing. Blogging has become one of the primary platforms for teachers to use to help advance student communication. Using Twitter as a mode of communication to improve writing has its benefits.

Instagram as a platform is about the visual aspect. How can these outlets strengthen student writing: Does Texting Harm Students’ Writing Skills? The explosion of social media has completely changed the way we communicate with each other. Whether via laptop computers, advanced mobile devices, Wi-Fi or enhanced 4G wireless networks, we are more connected than ever to everyone we know. While this communications boom has been praised for its educational benefits, some argue that a negative side effect is beginning to take hold in our classrooms. Cyber slang is suspected of damaging students’ writing acumen. Cyber slang is a term used to describe shortcuts, alternative words, or even symbols used to convey thoughts in an electronic document.

Because so many digital media limit the number of characters an author can use at a time, students are becoming more creative to get the most out of their limited space. Common cyber-slang terms that have made their way into popular speech include BFF (best friends forever), LOL (laugh out loud) and WTF (what the ____). “I think that is where we come into play with Dictionary.com,” Goli said. 8 Social Media Must-Follows for ELA Teachers. Since it’s the end of the school year, I am starting to look back over the year and evaluate what went well and what I would like to change or improve upon for next year.

One of the first things I like to do each spring is to take inventory of my social media “follows.” I gather ideas and inspiration from blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and sometimes–especially during a conference–I can get a little follow-happy. I’ve curated a list below of some of the social media outlets that I consider “must-follow” accounts for anyone teaching ELA. Social media Shakespeare: An idea whose time has finally come. Shakespeare and Social Media - O'Neill - 2015 - Literature Compass. Ten Social Networks For Readers. Social media in literacy education: Exploring social reading with pre-service teachers.

Writing, Reading, and Social Media Literacy.