Social Media in The Classroom: Part 1

Social interactions are an important part of one´s life and determinant to our development as social beings.  In our modern society, these interactions have been replaced by virtual social interactions, at least in our teenage and youth generations. Most of these virtual interactions are void of value and rarely make a positive impact on the development of our kids.

Social interaction is what drives us into an environment of opportunity and success.  This success is determined by how effective our social interactions have been.  As a High School teacher, I have taken social media online pretty serious when it comes to my students and their digital footprint. This is the reason why I have been using social media and have been promoting responsible digital citizenship among them.  I am a Physics teacher, and I strongly believe that teaching them about responsible social media use, along with my subject, will take them a lot further when they become professionals.

One Month Away From an Exciting Journey

I do remember a couple of years ago when I heard about scholarships for further studies in the United States.  I went to this educational center and sat there with this very nice lady to talk about it.  During the conversation, she led me to the TEA program. After testing and interviews, I was one of the two people selected from my country to participate in this six-week program.

I was obviously very excited and also felt privileged of being awarded such grant. It has been over a year since I applied and I am scheduled for traveling in a month from now-September 15.  I still remember when I received the email of approval.  I was sitting on the school yard´s benches when I got the notification on my phone.  I did not scream out of not scaring students that were sitting by. The first person to hear about it was a lady janitor friend sitting right next to me.  Then of course I forwarded the message to my wife.