Effects of social media on kids.

 Social media is mostly talked about in a negative light when it comes to its impact on children,

but there are certain very strong positive arguments in favor of social media.

Positive effects of social media on kids.

•         Spending time online on social networks is important for the younger generation to pick up on the necessary technical skills.

•          Social media is being used by the youth in positive ways that weren’t thought of before.

•         It has been observed that social media makes people more empathetic, considerate and relationship-oriented.

•          Kids maintain long-term friendships with others.

Negative effects of social media on kids.

•     Lacks Emotional Connection.
•       Gives People a License to be Hurtful.
•        Decreases Face-to-Face Communication Skills.
•       Conveys Inauthentic Expression of Feelings.
•        Diminishes Understanding and Thoughtfulness.
•       Causes Face-to-Face Interactions to Feel Disconnected.
•        Facilitates Laziness.
•       Creates a Skewed Self-Image.
•        Reduces Family Closeness.
•        Causes Distractions.

Real Life experience!

Topic: Numbers less than 5,000.

In a Math classroom of grade 3 students, i divided the class of 21 members into groups of 3 members each, then distributed to each group  some blocks , place value paper and markers.
Each member in the group has a specific role. One student has to form the given 4-digit number using the blocks, the second student should place this number in the place value paper and the third is responsible about writing this number in letters.
The given number was 1353.
It took the students about 10 minutes to finish their work, warm support and joy was dominating the class where all the students  were engaged in the lesson and they were feeling more confident about them selves.
Here are some pictures that show the students work.

Webinar!

Engaging Classroom Debates on sustainable Development Goals.
Hosted by: Bobby MacDonald.
Presented by: Ada McKim.

The purpose of this webinar is to highlight on how teachers can use sustainable development goal to create a meaningful discussion and debates, and to teach students how to be skilled in discussions.
The main goals for sustainable development are:

• No poverty
• Clean water
• Life on land
• No hunger
• Good health
• Gender equality
• Economic growth
• Peace
• Climate action

Teaching students such goals must start from young learners, moreover discussions in teaching citizen ship is a cycle:
Share your point of view ---> consider perceptive s ---> empathize and reflect ---> compromising.
And the cycle continues.

Those discussions inside a classroom teach future skills including: Complex problem solving, critical thinking, people management, emotional intelligence, negotiating, coordinating with others....

Communicating Standards.

How do teachers ensure that students know and understand what is important? There should be no secretes about what is expected and what it will look like when students are meeting those expectations.
Let's begin by examining some behaviors that are common among teachers who create atmospheres of high expectations and get great results with students.

1. Direct communication: The standard of performance is explicitly brought to students attention, verbally, in writing, or through a visual model.
2. Specific communication: The details of the standard for students performance are clearly stated or otherwise spelled out.
3. Repeated communication: The standard is repeated often to make sure students absorb it.
4. Positive expectancy: The standards are explained with an accompanying expression of teacher confidence signaling " You can do this".
5. Modeling: A teacher may clarify for students what is wanted to by performing.
6. Personal contact: There are frequent occasions of face-to-face interaction with students before, during, and after class, even in the hallway.
7. No excuses: Teachers hold students accountable, putting them on the spot when work is not turned in.

Learning Styles.

Learning styles are different methods of learning and understanding new information, the way a person takes in, understand, expresses and remembers information.
There are 4 predominant learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Read/write, and Kinaesthetic.

Visual learners learn through seeing, so tools like diagrams, flowcharts, pictures and symbols can be key to understand new concepts.

Auditory learners learn through listening such as attending lectures, tutorials, group discussions are absolutely essential for these learners.

Read/Write learners learn through- what else? Such as, university style courses suit these types of learners fairly well- plenty of text books and study notes to read.

Kinaesthetic learners learn through doing. This is perhaps the most challenging learning style for university students, as there are not always many opportunities to engage in hands on learning in lectures.

Benefits of cooperative learning.

Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to recognize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences, it is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject.
When cooperative learning is implemented effectively we can expect:

Students working cooperatively.

• Higher self-esteem.
• Higher achievement.
• Increase retention.
• Greater social support.
• More on task behavior.
• Greater collaborative skills.
• Greater Intrinsic motivation.
• Increase perspective taking.
• Better attitudes toward school.
• Greater use of higher level reasoning.
• More positive psychological adjustment.

Positive Classroom climates.

The feelings and beliefs that students have and the cumulative patterns of behavior that result from those feelings and beliefs regarding community and mutual support, risk taking and confidence, influence and control.

• Community and mutual support:

            - Students must know each others and know the teacher.
            - Greeting, listening, responding, acknowledging and affecting students.
            - Group identity, Responsibility and interdependence.
            - Social skills and group dynamics.
            - Problem solving and conflict resolution.

• Risk taking and confidence:

         - Errors.
         - Speed
         - getting help and confidence.
         - Effort and ability.

• Influence and control:

         - Stop the teachers watching
         - Negotiating the rules of the classroom.
         - Teaching students to use principles of learning.
         - Learning styles and choices.
         - using students and their communities as source o knowledge.