Our Student's Council has had a Facebook group for a couple years. It is used mainly for and by the students to share information about events. The SC advisor became an administrator on the group so he could remove anything inappropriate. Only one comment has had to be removed and it was because it contained an inappropriate word (while commenting on how F&$*'N awesome an event was).
This year a teacher created a "PSS Class of 2014" to post photos from our Grade 8 fun days. As Student Success teacher I was made an administrator for the group. At first I was highly uncomfortable with this. I was a little paranoid and kept checking my profile as someone who wasn't "friended" to ensure nothing could be seen. It wasn't what I said that worried me, but what my adult friends say! What a turn around! :)
I used the group to promote transition activities and events. We got good turnout. Over 2/3 of our incoming Grade 9 group has joined. We have had nothing but supportive, positive comments on the page. Kids asking students from other elementary schools to "friend them". Or, asking for "Julie, who I met during the tug-of-war game" to friend them.
On the last day of school I got my first FB message from an incoming grade 9. I've had FB messages from a few Student Council students usually about getting help on a project they are doing, but this was the first from a student I didn't know personally yet. The student had questions about their timetable and how to understand part of it. Then came the message about our summer transition program. Then the one about volunteer hours. And lockers. All of a sudden when Grade 8 officially finished these students started thinking about high school as a reality and had questions they didn't ask in front of their 30 peers when I was in class with them. As an administrator on the Facebook page, I was accessible. My principal and I are incredibly impressed with this great use as a transition strategy for our incoming Grade 9's. We are being very careful and keeping a close eye on the page, but are very happy to date.
My one question is - is it better to use my personal FB profile and not "friend" any students (which I don't, I always explain that I can't until they are done school for a bit), or to create a teacher Facebook profile, put a few pictures of my dog and family members on there, update it periodically and friend parents and students. Is this the way to connect with students? Or, do I really want the responsibility of knowing what they put on their profiles? Because, it's not just for my own protection that I ask this question. Even if my Facebook profile was my "teacher" and appropriate personality, I could in theory access the profiles of any student who "friended" me. Seeing the pictures they post from parties would be the downside. On the plus side, I'd certainly know who to support as a Student Success teacher. For example, a few years back we had the unfortunately tragedy of a suicide within our school community. I joined the supporting Facebook group and began to notice who was really struggling. We ensured they were personally invited to counselling services.
Any input? As educators we have three options.
#1 - avoid Facebook
#2 - keep one, personal profile and avoid friending students and parents
#3 - keep two profiles, one personal and one professional
I'm torn between the benefits of connecting with students through this media and how beneficial it has been for me in my Student Success teacher role, and the hazards. With this group of incoming grade 9's we are making a concerted effort to focus on digital literacy and citizenship. I believe that by seeing me on Facebook, modelling appropriate behaviour and communication it helps teach this. In this theory, I should be able to friend them with my personal profile, if I really had nothing to hide. I'm not ready for this, not sure I ever would be. I personally need to maintain my level of professionalism at all times and youngsters at 13 years old often misinterpret adult humor. So, i'm back to my three options above. Your thoughts?
I am planning to have a fb page for my courses this year. Your experiences have confirmed I should move forward. I am planning to use my fb account and only interact with students through the page. I don't think we (teachers) should interact directly with the students and their personal fb profiles.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. Our principal has been amazingly supportive of all this - it certainly helps. I look forward to hearing/reading about your experiences with it this fall!
ReplyDeleteI am a high school student and personally, I feel my peers would get the wrong idea if a teacher created chose option #3 and created both personal and professional accounts. Many may get confused that a teacher's facebook was professional and not personal and possibly start twisting things that were posted on it. I believe profiles should stay as private matters and groups/pages as public. Things that are posted on public pages and groups are a lot less "uncomfortable" than posts on a profile (even if it is intended as a public one). Option #2 would be my choice if I was a teacher. It's easier to maintain and if a student or parent needed to get a hold of you they can very easily inbox. which is just like sending an email :).
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for commenting Anonymous High School Student. I love hearing the perspectives of students. You are the purpose for all this after all... :) I tend to agree with your point that we shouldn't be having fake profiles/personalities. I do however, think we need to make sure we are continuously checking our security/privacy settings. I wouldn't want my students to see something one of my silly friends (who are not teachers and so don't quite understand the need to always be professional) wrote on my wall at 3:00 am :) I also wouldn't want one of my students to see something on another teachers wall who i've friended. Its a tough balance. I agree - public pages is the place to interact. For example, our school has a page for our incoming grade 9s and they ask me questions through there or messaging/inboxing.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your comments. Greatly appreciated! If come back to this page and see this comment - I have one question for you. Do you think we should be teaching how to use social media like facebook and twitter appropriately in schools? When and where is the right place to teach this? Thanks!