EDU 790 - Introduction

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Introduction



About Me:
Hello! My name is Katie McBride and I am an 8th grade special education teacher at Mannheim Middle School in Melrose Park. This is my 7th year at Mannheim, but 10th year in teaching all together. Prior to the school I am at now, I taught at a charter high school on the Northwest side of Chicago. This school year, I am co-teaching 8th grade math as well as teaching a section of it to a small group of students in our self-contained program. Math is definitely my favorite subject to teach because there is always a right answer!

In 2010, I graduated from Illinois State University with my degree focusing in Special Education teaching. I went back to school at Dominican University in 2021 to pursue my ESL endorsement. After, receiving my ESL endorsement, I decided to continue on to earn Master's of Arts in Education. This is the last course I need to complete my degree. I am so excited to graduate in May! 

Social Media:
When it comes to social media, I am somewhat on the reserved side. I do not have my profiles public, and I don't share much information about myself on them. I mainly use social media to post pictures and interact with my friends at times. I am very selective about what I choose to share with others. I am not someone who posts or comments daily. I do access social media regularly, but I am more of an observer as to what is going on with others, their lives, and the world. The social media platforms that I access most often are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter.

From this course, I am interested in seeing how social media can positively impact education. As a middle school teacher, I have seen how social media has negatively impacted my students socially. I would love to be able to integrate platforms that they are familiar with to help them grow academically through channels they are both knowledgeable and comfortable navigating. 

Comments

  1. Kelly BarkerMarch 17, 2022 at 6:58 PM

    Hi Katie!

    I definitely can relate to how you approach social media. I rarely post on the accounts that I have (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) because I am a relatively private person. I think my philosophy is that anything I feel that I need to share with the people in my life can be shared directly, rather than with the internet. I do access social media daily and while it is a major source of information for me, I also see where it can negatively impact me. Often, I use social media (Twitter and TikTok) as a way to "turn off" my brain for a little while, but also as a means to procrastinate different tasks I need to accomplish. Sometimes, I go down a rabbit hole and completely lose track of the time I'm spending on my phone when I should have just used that time to do whatever needed to be done!

    I teach 3rd grade and see how social media negatively impacts my students, so I can only imagine the things that you see in regards to your students and social media as a middle school teacher. Do you see that your students act much more mature/are more knowledgeable about "adult" topics as a result of their social media consumption? My colleagues and I have noticed that even at their young age, our students seem to know more about topics that they probably shouldn't, as a result of using TikTok. I feel that parents don't know what they are letting their kids see and/or don't monitor what kids are watching, which is causing issues for them socially and behaviorally at school. While I am hesitant, I'm excited to learn more in this class about platforms I can implement with my students to enrich their learning and teach them about how to use social media positively.

    Best,

    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  2. NMZumpanoMarch 19, 2022 at 2:27 PM

    Congrats on being so close to the finish line, Katie! This course is a great way to finish things up. You are correct in that students can have some pitfalls and negative experiences with social media. Hopefully this spring you'll discover some concepts that can help them navigate and use social media for a positive impact on the world. Looking forward to connecting again (and great comment on why you like to teach math!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. J.MezaMarch 19, 2022 at 7:28 PM

    Hi Katie,

    I am glad you decided to continue with your education. I am also going to graduate in May.

    Like you, I am reserved on social media. Even though I have Instagram, I only use it to follow other educators and learn from them. I am planning to create a Twitter account to share information and resources with my students, parents, and school. I am extremely excited about this class because I want to learn how I can use social media effectively in my classroom. Thanks for sharing your experiences!

    ReplyDelete

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