For our last EDCI 336 class, we had a guest speaker, Jesse Miller, presenting a fascinating talk regarding social media in education. I found the entire talk to be interesting, in terms of what we put out in to the world with our social media accounts, and what our kids and students are seeing and doing on the internet.

My Social Media Footprint

Thankfully, my social media footprint doesn’t seem to be a big one. As teachers, we are role models in our community, and therefore we need to be mindful of what we are putting out into the world. When I searched all variations of my name (last name, maiden name, middle name, full name, nickname, etc), most of the time I didn’t find much of anything on google, and certainly nothing of concern. I generally don’t post much on Facebook (just flowers, usually :D) and my Instagram account is private and doesn’t have my name attached to it. I think prior to even starting this program, knowing that I would be entering in to education, I made a decision to keep myself more private on the internet. I think it is a shame that we need to be so concerned as teachers about what we are putting out there (so long as what we are putting out there isn’t hurting anyone, it shouldn’t threaten our careers), but unfortunately, that’s the way it is.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

What Kinds of Things Can Teachers Get Fired For?

During the talk, Jesse suggested we do some google searches for “teacher gets fired social media” and see what kind of results we get. Unfortunately, the things we as teachers post on our social media can come back to haunt us. In fact, even things we don’t post on social media, such as a risque photo we sent to an ex, can make their way to social media and jeopardize our career. While searching on google, I found one case just like that, in which a math teacher lost her job because her ex spread a three year old photo of her topless. This goes to show that we need to be mindful, as educators, not only of what we post, but of what we put out there. This makes me think about how we also need to be cautious of what we say over text or email to anyone, as screenshots can be taken and can make their way to social media as well. Another article I read states that an elementary school teacher lost his job for inappropriate contact with a student over Instagram. As a teacher, I would make a rule to not have contact with any students on a social media platform (with the exception of adult students which I have added on Facebook in the past at the end of my semester with them). I think this really brings Jesse’s point home that we need to be very mindful and careful about what we are putting out into the world.

Screen Time for Kids

Something I have wondered about in the past is screen time for kids, and how much to offer them in any given day; as an early childhood educator, we do not offer any screen time whatsoever to the little ones. As a stepmom, I find myself concerned about screen time for the boys and feeling as though it needs to be limited. As a babysitter, I see the kids I babysit having rules at their house that they are allowed as much screen time as they’d like, and yet they frequently choose activities that don’t involve screens. As a future teacher, I feel as though involving some technology and screens in the classroom is necessary, as it is the way of the future. I also feel that, as an adult, no one tells me how much I can be on my phone or laptop in a given day; are we modelling fairness to children as teachers if we take their phones away or tell them that they aren’t allowed to use them at all at school? I reflect on what Jesse said about texting and driving – the cops will fine us, but they wont confiscate our phones for a day. Should we be taking students phones away if we catch them using them in class? I really appreciated Jesse’s suggestion of 20 and 2: 20 minutes of class time without phones, and then a 2 minute phone break, and that gets repeated throughout the day.

Connecting It All Together

I think that, reflecting on what we learned from Jesse’s talk, and bearing in mind that our older students will be using social media (and that our younger students will one day be using social media), that part of what we teach students with regards to screen time, should be mindfulness of what we post.