Pardon my cliche, but "when I was a kid", celebrities were unknowable. We grew up watching from a distance. Fan mail and nosebleed seats were as close as we'd ever get. Sure, there were some local heroes; Scott Stevens brought the Stanley Cup home with him, but who really knows the goon?
Twitter has changed all of this. We now follow (and declare) our allegience to celebrities, corporations, and BFFs. I'm following a couple of my favourite stars, and occasionally "tag" them when talking about them. It's exciting getting a retweet from them, validating your input in their opinion. So when I was teaching a bookclub online yesterday, I thought, wouldn't it be cool to meet the author and ask him some questions with the students? I posed the question on Twitter (I'll admit it, I felt like I was a teenager again), and here's the response:
Twitter has changed all of this. We now follow (and declare) our allegience to celebrities, corporations, and BFFs. I'm following a couple of my favourite stars, and occasionally "tag" them when talking about them. It's exciting getting a retweet from them, validating your input in their opinion. So when I was teaching a bookclub online yesterday, I thought, wouldn't it be cool to meet the author and ask him some questions with the students? I posed the question on Twitter (I'll admit it, I felt like I was a teenager again), and here's the response:
That's right, Hugo Award winning Sci-Fi author Robert J. Sawyer has agreed to have a video conference Q & A session with my students reading his novel, Hominids! I'm not sure who is more excited, me or my students. Either way, we're all preparing questions to ask Mr. Sawyer.
I know a lot of my colleagues are cautious of technology they're unfamiliar with; so, teacher, lets keep pace with our students. Instead of writing "Letters to the Editor" or "News Articles" to creatively test comprehension, update that assignment to make it an email. Then, participate in society and send it. Social media has made these celebrities so unbelievably accessible, you don't even have to pay 52 cents for the stamp! I realize, major celebs like Ashton Kutcher have publicists for their tweets, but this doesn't mean the good ones don't get through.
Lets use social media to open up our classrooms, you may find an amazing author walking in.
I know a lot of my colleagues are cautious of technology they're unfamiliar with; so, teacher, lets keep pace with our students. Instead of writing "Letters to the Editor" or "News Articles" to creatively test comprehension, update that assignment to make it an email. Then, participate in society and send it. Social media has made these celebrities so unbelievably accessible, you don't even have to pay 52 cents for the stamp! I realize, major celebs like Ashton Kutcher have publicists for their tweets, but this doesn't mean the good ones don't get through.
Lets use social media to open up our classrooms, you may find an amazing author walking in.