To Use or Not to Use?

As I dive into this blogging endeavor (and Twitter, Diigo, etc…), I’m still trying to figure out how to make it all work for my classroom.  With so many social media outlets, how do I make it all connect?  How do I make it all meaningful?  What impact is all of this really going to have on my classroom?

We live in a world where people are connected ALL THE TIME!  My students are no different.  They are probably much more connected than I am!  That’s pretty scary considering my students are elementary-aged!  My students are on Twitter, Facebook, SnapChat, and so many more.  All the time!  Since my students aren’t technically old enough (according to many social media policies that state you must be at least 13 years old to use their services), I can’t really use those things with my students in my classroom.  Here’s an interesting article on why age restrictions exist on social media sites but how poorly they are policed.

So how does social media affect the elementary classroom?  We can connect with the parents!  I love taking videos of the activities we do in class and sending the links out to the parents.  We made a ton of video clips last year and put them together into a presentation video for our school board to share our new curriculum.

We use facebook to keep our parents informed.  Everybody knows the students that NEVER manage to get a note home.  This gives parents another avenue to find out the information they might not have otherwise seen.  It’s also a great way to send out reminders as events get closer or post links for parents to sign up as volunteers.

I’ll use my blog to keep all of the amazing resources I find in one place.  GoNoodle was a lifesaver yesterday.  Anyone in teaching (or healthcare) can tell you that a full moon definitely has an impact!  My kids needed that extra movement!

Here’s a great blog post with amazing ideas for using social media at the elementary level!

So how do you use social media either in your classroom (if you’re an educator) or to connect with your child’s school/teacher (if you’re a parent)??

Are you ready to GoNoodle?!

Fidgeting through a meeting that you’ve lost interest in?  Maybe it’s because the topic doesn’t seem relevant to you.  Maybe it’s because you can’t stop running through your to-do list in your head.  Maybe it’s because you simply can’t sit still for that long.

We’ve all been there!  Working in an elementary school, I know my students reach that point, too!

I follow an amazing music teacher’s blog (http://kristinlukow.blogspot.com/) and stumbled across this brain break idea.  What kid (or adult) doesn’t need to get up and move every once in awhile??!

I teach music, a subject that typically has my students up and moving for a good portion of the time.  Not every class or subject has that luxury.  Instead, the original post Ms. Lukow linked to (http://blog.gonoodle.com/2015/02/10-ways-to-gonoodle-for-beginners/) suggests having kids take mini brain breaks to help get them refocused for the day!

So how does it work?  You simply create a free account at http://www.gonoodle.com - you can sign up as a parent/kid or as a teacher - and play away!  They have a wide range of activities that get kids dancing, stretching, and wiggling away!  I was excited to see all of the mega mixes for indoor recess!  Bring on the rain and the freezing temperatures!

What other ideas do you have to get kids up and moving and keep them focused in the classroom??