#GeniusHour Project

Using Social Media to Promote Digital Citizenship: My #GeniusHour Project

This post will serve as an introduction and overview for my participation in Ms. Yavelak's AP Biology II #20time #geniushour Project.  I will be blogging various posts to coincide with the project requirements assigned to students.



What do I need to know about my topic to be successful?

In December, while relaxing in Michigan for the Holiday's, I came up with the idea of hosting a twitter chat focused solely on Ashbrook High School, where I have served as Assistant Principal for three years.

I am very active in promoting and demonstrating the POSITIVES of social media.  Last year, I used our #AshbrookPride Day as a stepping-stone, hoping to produce an example of how social media can be used effectively to promote a school.

I compiled potential questions/talking-points while the "chat" was fresh on my mind.  After only a few minutes, the brainchild of #ahschat was born.

I sat on the #ahschat idea until Ms. Yavelak told me about how she was implementing #geniushour projects in her instruction.  To keep myself accountable, I committed to participating in the project after visiting her classroom when she in introduced the project to her students.

Reaching out to teachers who are active on twitter, have participated in one of my #ncadmin chats, or utilize twitter within their classrooms, I wanted to see if they were: A) Willing to participate & B) Believe they could encourage students to participate with success.  I included the potential questions included in the chat.  The response was resoundingly positive.

Therefore, my project is "Using Social Media to Promote Digital Citizenship".

What will be easy about my project?

Selecting a date and time will be easy for the inaugural #ahschat will be easy, as will promoting it myself.  My responsibilities with #ncadmin involve a great deal of promoting and connecting, so this skill-set will be transferable to my project.

What will be difficult about my project?

I believe the most challenging aspect of my project will be having a large volume of students to participate in the chat.  Fortunately, I expect most of the AP BIO students to participate, since they will be assisting each other in their respective projects.  For my project to be successful, I will need a diverse group of students to participate.  Therefore, I will be relying on faculty to promote and encourage student to participate.  This will be the basis for promoting digital citizenship through social media.

Will most of this project be in class or out of class?

Almost all of my project time will be out of (Ms. Yavelak's) class.  I will be "pitching" my idea to her class on Feb. 21.

If outside, what will I do during my 20 time?

My 20 time will be shared with the teachers willing to promote #ahschat within their classrooms.  One teacher has already used some class time to discuss how @AshbrookHS keeps parents, students, and community updated and he benefits to following the account on twitter.

Personal note:

My overall project "We can" statement:

We can generate the opportunity for students to utilize Social Media as a learning tool through a twitter chat focusing on collaboration and communication.  The chat will also produce an opportunity for faculty, students, and families to interact on Social Media to discuss their school.

Thanks for reading,

CS