Module 1 - Parent Connections
Overview
You may have noticed that ClassDojo allows you to easily connect with parents by enabling the program to automatically send updates to smartphones whenever feedback is provided for their children. Similarly, private messages can be sent to parents' email or smart phones through the program as well, and parents can respond back to the teacher's phone if such settings are enabled. These features turn ClassDojo into a social media experience, and this use of technology can have a profound impact on the type of community you establish in your classroom.
But you are likely well-aware of other social media platforms that can help connect people within communities. Facebook, Twitter, Remind and Instagram are common tools that can be used to cultivate a sense of community among and between students, teachers, parents, and other community members. The following Prezi presentation communicates specific ways in which one first-grade teacher uses Facebook to keep parents and students connected throughout the school day:
But you are likely well-aware of other social media platforms that can help connect people within communities. Facebook, Twitter, Remind and Instagram are common tools that can be used to cultivate a sense of community among and between students, teachers, parents, and other community members. The following Prezi presentation communicates specific ways in which one first-grade teacher uses Facebook to keep parents and students connected throughout the school day:
You might be surprised to learn there are teachers using Facebook and other common social media in the classroom, but teachers who choose to incorporate such tools into their practice get the benefit of excellent technology that is used effortlessly by many people to stay connected to friends and family.
For this assignment you must search online for specific examples of ways in which teachers can use social media to establish, cultivate, and maintain a sense of community among parents, teachers and students. Once you locate good examples of ways in which teachers might use common social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Remind or Instagram in their practice, you must analyze how the tool might be used specifically to help support a sense of community. A sense of community can be defined by the following factors (McMillan & Chavis, 1986):
- Membership (Affiliation): The feeling of belonging or sharing a sense of personal relatedness. Social presence of self and of others in the group is established.
- Influence: A sense of mattering. Making a difference to a group and feeling as if the group matters to its members.
- Integration and fulfillment of needs: Feeling that members’ needs will be met by the resources available to and within the group.
- Shared experiences and emotional connections: Commitment and believe that members have shared and will share history, common places, time together, and similar experiences.
To Do
Step 1:
Search online for a specific example of how a specific social media platform such as Facebook groups, Twitter feeds, Instagram accounts, or Remind Accounts is used by a specific type teacher or school to help build community in the classroom. Try to find an example that could support a teacher or school offering the same grade level and/or subject area you are interested in pursuing. Create a page titled “Parent Connections” under the Parent Resources Menu that includes a link to the social media example.
Step 2:
Consider how the example you select can be used to build community. Describe how it might support a feeling of membership, influence, integration/fulfillment of needs, and/or shared emotional connections. Include specific examples if possible.
Search online for a specific example of how a specific social media platform such as Facebook groups, Twitter feeds, Instagram accounts, or Remind Accounts is used by a specific type teacher or school to help build community in the classroom. Try to find an example that could support a teacher or school offering the same grade level and/or subject area you are interested in pursuing. Create a page titled “Parent Connections” under the Parent Resources Menu that includes a link to the social media example.
Step 2:
Consider how the example you select can be used to build community. Describe how it might support a feeling of membership, influence, integration/fulfillment of needs, and/or shared emotional connections. Include specific examples if possible.