Social Networking

I have encountered students using social media in my classroom on multiple occasions. This is against school policy so I have to boot the students off whenever I see it. I am also suppose to confiscate their computer or phone that they were using at the time... It is because of this that there tends to be a negative association between social media and the classroom drilled into my head.

My personal usage of social media is rather limited for a number of reasons.

1. I find that I do not have the time to keep up with it all.
2. I am an active/interpersonal individual so I prefer being outdoors and/or being in the same room as the people I am working with rather than glued to a computer (this degree will be a challenge for me).
3. I am a young educator so I am still trying to figure out how to have an on-line identity without them being able to access everything (and they try to find out everything!). 
• I have known a few people who thought that they had blocked certain personal information on their facebook pages and it turns out that it was not which caused some issues.

However, I do utilize Blackboard with my students. I am able to post all of my lectures, assignments, syllabus, etc. on the site, along with any important reminders. It is extremely similar to Angel, and my students really like this approach. There are still many features that I do not use often enough, if at all, that could enhance my connection with students. For one thing, I could set up discussion forums but still have not taken that leap. Since I am in an inner-city school I do have a number of students who have limited access to technology at home and so worry about creating an additional burden on them. My school is investing in more laptops that students can check out throughout the school day so hopefully this concern will be non-existent by next year.