|
|
June 9, 2011
by Miranda Paul
Miranda Paul teaches both English and Spanish in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She holds a BA in English and Education from St. Mary’s College of Maryland where she helped launch a student-teacher exchange program in Gambia, West Africa. In her spare time, Miranda is a freelance writer for the University of Southern California’s Masters in Teaching online degree program.
When I began student teaching eight years ago, I didn’t belong to any social media sites. But in less than a year I learned an important lesson: Social media saves students. That first year I had one particularly challenging class among my 9th and 11th graders. The class was difficult because many students were too shy or intimidated to share their opinions. I did my best to encourage them, offering prizes for speaking up, etc., but by the end of my student teaching, only a handful of the most outgoing students had expressed how much they enjoyed my unit on poetry.
I felt I really hadn’t reached all of my students and that I had failed. Then one day, the following summer, I opened a heartfelt three-page email from a former student who rarely spoke in class. She described how, during the school year she had contemplated suicide, but poetry helped her through tough times. She was grateful for a handout I’d given in class, listing poetry forums where kids could post their words online. On those social media sites, she found friends and the confidence to discuss many issues. Her last line summed it up: Poetry saved her life and I had introduced her to poetry. That was powerful. A student who seemed afraid to talk in class wasn’t scared of publishing her words for all to see. Social media had saved a student’s life.
When I landed my first teaching position, I tried to include every technology available to me that would help me reach all of my students academically and developmentally. Student work was scanned and written about on blogs. Both parents and students had my e-mail address on the first day of school. By the next year, I had several students writing their own blogs. Several parents were skeptical – but others were enthusiastic about their child’s increased participation.
Social media is the new language of kids. If we want to reach them, we need to speak their language. But it’s equally important to make ourselves available on their platform so that they are able to reach us. Last week, I spoke to a group of 7th and 8th grade girls about some charity work I do in a small African country. After the presentation, the girls were eager to help with the project. “Are you on Twitter?” one girl asked, pulling out a phone, ready to type. The school day was technically over and parents were ready to leave, but the girls wanted to continue learning and social media would help them do it. I directed her to Facebook (I’m not yet on the Twitter bandwagon…). Because they had a way to reach me, within a few days, my charity more than doubled its Facebook fans.
I’m not the only teacher, student or parent who believes in the power of social media to connect and empower us all. Recent articles in The New York Times provide more convincing evidence of the growing educational and emotional power of social media. I loved reading about how Iowa English teacher Erin Olson used technology like Twitter to increase classroom discussion participation by more than 25%. In another story, retired history teacher Bill Chemerka discovered his impact on students when he found a Facebook fan page called the “Mr. Chemerka Fan Club,” with more than 450 members. Alye Pollack’s YouTube video is yet another example of how social media was the only way Alye felt confident enough to speak up about the issue of being bullied.
Based on my experiences and that of others, I’ll keep social media in mind as I prepare to teach summer courses (I’ve actually requested to teach one of my courses in a computer lab). Of course, as the traditional English teacher I am, I’ll also be bringing plenty of pencils and paper.
May 6, 2011
 "Be Confident" on sale for $.99 (May 6, 2011 only) Fridays are inherently cool. App Fridays are especially welcome because that’s when Moms With Apps* features their weekly link exchange of family-friendly apps. And guess who’s featured today? That would be me and David (aka Electric Eggplant). Which is why, for today, Friday, May 6th 2011, our Middle School Confidential app (aka Be Confident) is on sale for 99 cents. Got a 4th-8th grader? Got access to an iPad. For $.99 you can give that kid you love something (s)he wants more than anything… the gift of confidence to be who they really are.
 MWA: seeking to promote quality apps for kids and families *Never heard of Moms With Apps!? Let me tell you, for newbie app developers like me and David, this wonderfully supportive consortium that’s committed to quality kid and family content, has been the difference between stumbling and bumbling on all-fours vs. having a lighted path to walk on. We’re grateful for their friendship and ongoing support, so here’s a plug for them. They’ve launched their own app the Moms With Apps App Catalogue (of apps, of course!) Check ’em out.
Update (May 7th, 2011): Our app has now returned to its normal price of $3.99. Download our Be Confident iPad app.
April 12, 2011
 Our iPad app, "Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential™ Graphic Novel" UPDATE: 4/13 Thank you to all who entered the Be Confident app Give-Away! Congratulations to our 2 winners: Himabindu Tummuru and Jeanne Demers!
____
For today only, in honor of my birthday and my 10,000th tweet I’m giving away 2 FREE copies of our new iPad app for 4th-8th graders: Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential™ Graphic Novel.
NOTE: This give-away is for iPad only. If you’ve got an iPhone (but no iPad) and long for the Be Confident app, hold that thought! In a few weeks we’ll be releasing a universal version that will work on iPad and iPhone/iPod.
SIMPLE CONTEST RULES: Recall a time when you crossed over from self-doubt to CONFIDENT. Use 140 characters or less to describe when you became AWESOME even if only for a moment. Tweet* it to @Annie_Fox Contest ends at 10 AM PDT on April 13th.
*If you don’t have a twitter account send your 140 character (or less) entry to me
Thanks and good luck!
April 10, 2011
Our iPad app for 8- 14-year-olds, "Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential™ Graphic Novel" April 1st was a pretty exciting day around here. Our first kids’ story app for iPad went live in the iTune App Store. Note: If my parents were alive they’d have no idea what that last sentence meant but they’d be enormously proud anyway which is what we all need from Mom and Dad, right?
The app’s based on Book 1 of my Middle School Confidential series. It’s called Be Confident in Who You Are: A Middle School Confidential™ Graphic Novel. If you’ve got a 4th-8th grader in your life buy it for him/her. They’ll really like. The art is stellar. The story’s totally engaging. And most important, this app is actually about something — like figuring out how to fit in with other kids and still feel good about yourself. It’s also about dealing with bullies, self-doubt, friendship issues and choices that reflect who you really are vs. who you pretend to be. In other words, this awesome, full-color comic book app (with wall-to-wall sound effects and music) is about life as our 21st century kids are living it right now.
I haven’t been a tween for a century and I’m not even the parent of one any more. And yet I know what our kids struggle with every day because over the past 14 years thousands of them have emailed me asking for help.
I often wonder how people get their big creative ideas. Maybe you’re wondering where my idea for Middle School Confidential came from. Maybe you’re not. I’ll tell you anyway. It came to me in June 2002 as I sat in a San Francisco theater watching a performance of Wicked. In case you don’t know this Tony award-winning musical by the brilliant Stephen Schwartz, it’s about friendship and popularity, hanging on to personal integrity in the face of ugly rumors and smear tactics. Sounds like politics or…middle school! During the 1st act finale Elphaba (aka The Wicked Witch of the West) sings “Defying Gravity.” The lyrics are worth reading carefully:
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m tired of playing by the rules of someone else’s game
Too late for second guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes… and leap
I’d sooner try defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye I’m defying gravity
And you can’t pull me down.
I’m through accepting limits
Cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try I’ll never know
Too long I’ve been afraid of
Losing love – I guess I’ve lost
Well, if that’s love
It comes at much too high a cost…
So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky
As someone told me lately –
Everyone deserves the chance to fly
And if I’m flying solo
At least I’m flying free
To those who’d ground me
Take a message back from me…
Tell them how I
Am defying gravity!
I’m flying high’
Defying gravity!
And soon I’ll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!
 Defying Gravity At that moment this incredibly radiant, powerful, totally misunderstood young woman literally rises above her tormentors… and flies away. I sit there, thunderstruck… weeping, awed by this display of courage and self-respect. A bolt of insight explodes within my head and heart and I know something I didn’t know when I walked in the theater – I need to encourage middle school kids to fly. I know that they, more than any other age group, hold themselves back by “accepting limits cause someone says they’re so.” As the lights come up signaling intermission I stay seated, fully aware that I will write a book encouraging kids to defy gravity because without some serious help it can be too painful and difficult for them to grow up healthy and loving.
Of course many tweens stumble through 6th, 7th and 8th grade without special help. They survive then promptly try to forget the pain of those years. But so many others need an anti-gravity boost now. My books can provide that. So can this spanking new app. It can help a kid become her own best friend. Teach him about self-respect so he can learn to respect others. Give them more confidence to grow up to be thoughtful, compassionate young adults. If you don’t have an iPad, don’t worry! The iPhone/iPod version of “Be Confident” is coming soon.
— Older Posts »
| |
Facebook
Twitter
