I really liked Jesse’s presentation on Monday. I think it was very insightful and interesting. He was quite engaging and brought up some amazing points. One point that stood out to me was “what does it mean to cross professional boundaries?” As I am becoming a teacher and going into practicum, I think it is vastly important to reflect on my social media and what is appropriate. I know I cannot post photos of my students online, which I completely understand. However, I also think about my social media as for EVERYONE to see, any information I post about myself can be found. I obviously need to look professional and make a good impression as employers, school districts, students and more can see my posts.

Another point that stood out to me was how teachers need to educate and regulate students on social media. I think children see the world as a safe place, when in reality it can be absolutely terrifying. I think educating and reminding students about social media use, lying about your age on social media, sharing personal information and more is very dangerous. When Jesse told the story about how a teacher saw a student on Grindr, I was thinking “what would I do if I saw a student on a dating platform?” I think the teacher made the right decision and told to the school about the situation because it could have turned dangerous very fast.

After his presentation, social media kinda scares me now. However, looking forward, we as future teachers need to think about our own social media use and our students social media use.

Image by Marvin Meyer on Upsplash