I could probably write a book about how much of a positive impact social media has been in my classroom. It’s opened the door to amazing experiences, provided endless sources of inspiration, and connected me with educators and other professionals around the globe. I could relay story after story from meeting astronauts and seeing shuttle launches because of NASA #tweetups to forming incredible relationships with other educators that have led to meetings in real life and some amazing friendships.
But instead of relaying a long list, I thought I would share just one recent example. Yesterday, I joined in the #BFC530 chat (Breakfast Club 5:30). The topic of the day was poetry uses in the classroom. I shared how much I love to use haiku as a summarizing strategy. Which got me thinking as I started the school day that I hadn’t used haiku in a while. So we summarized our lesson yesterday on the basic role of heat and energy in chemical reactions using haiku. At the end of the day, I typed up everyone’s haiku and posted them around the room. At the start of class today, I gave students eight sticker votes and asked them read the haiku to review from yesterday. It was a really fun way to initially summarize the end of the lesson yesterday and then to review today. Here are a few of my favorites.
Calories are lies;
Kilocalories are real.
Read the food labels.
Energy is work.
It is not created
Nor is it destroyed.
Define energy?
The ability to work
Or can produce heat.
Thermal energy:
Form warm to cool objects, in
Degrees Celsius.
So why do I love social media? It makes me a better teacher with new ideas and reminders of old favorites and in doing so makes my classroom better.