Social Media To Dos

 School’s Out for Summer (Almost)

Thinking about my sixth graders leaving me for the summer to be left to their own devices (literally), I decided to create an infographic with some social media to dos that they can reference and discuss with parents this summer.  Often at the end of the year we are preparing ways to send books or math games home with students.  In this age where not only in classrooms are we one to one with technology, but students often have their own devices at home.  

What info is gained?

In order to find the most important positive strategies for students to use when engaging with social media, I looked into some different articles.  Commonsense.org, Safe Search Kids, and Kidshealth.org all helped me decide what I felt was most important for my students to hear.  I narrowed down the ideas from these articles to the top 5 to dos on social media you can see in the image.  I wanted to focus on safety, but also touch on the mental health and cyber bullying side of social media as well.  

Why Positive?

Social media is an inevitable part of our society, whether we have professional or personal accounts.  Our students are absorbing content from YouTube and TikTok at a rapid pace, and as I complete my masters with this emphasis in technology I have found there can be value in these sites.  When we read articles and do digital citizenship lessons with our students they are often framed in the negative, don’t do this, or beware of that.  This type of language can be overwhelming and cause students and adults  alike to tune out.  My hope is that flipping the script and giving students a few positive steps will help them remember how to stay safe and be their own positive influences on social media.