Exercise Caution: Your Reputation and Facebook Promoted Posts

Scenario: During the 2012 election, you found a page that was supporting a candidate you supported. You hit "Like" on their page to comment on posts and share their funny info-graphics. Then in February, this page decides to post pro-marijuana images. They promote a post and suddenly your friends are getting a pro-drug post in their feed that is attributed to you. Congratulations! You've taken a dent to your squeaky clean teacher reputation.

Shocked?

This is a reality thanks to Facebook promoted posts. It seems harmless enough when you like Oreo or The Hunger Games, but comedy pages, political pages, and other less predictable Facebook pages can put your reputation at risk. 

You can't predict the stances of pages you like down the road, but the choices of their admins could put your good name on the line.

My advice? Don't friends parents or untrusted coworkers, and every few months go through your "Likes" and clean them out!

Good luck!

The Most Exhausting/Rewarding Discussion I've Ever Lead

Art by Bernie Wrightson

Last week I introduced Frankenstein to five consecutive classes of 12th grade AP students. I used a list of provided anticipation guide questions that delved into sticky issues like parental responsibility, genetic modification, the nature of good and evil, and the treatment of disabilities in America. I've run discussions where three students talk and the rest stare you down until you squirm and someone else shouts out, and I knew that I did not want this to be a three person discussion for an audience.

What I did, which worked beautifully, was I made a line down the classroom. The trick with an anticipation guide is to make everything an agree or disagree statement and to NOT allow anyone to rest somewhere in the middle. You have to pick sides, there is no abstaining from the vote.

The result was awesome. Every student had to pick a side, so when I pointed and called on someone to explain, they had already stated a position with their physical location; all they had to do was give a reason. The debate got intense and I had to be on 100% of the time. Some classes were more congenial than others. I had to moderate every moment, negotiating whose turn it was to speak and making sure that nobody got hurt feelings. When the discussion got too one-sided I had to think on my feet to play the devil's advocate.

I went home and I poured myself into pajama pants before collapsing on the couch for a two hour nap, but the intense exhaustion was worth it. By being on my feet and taking an active role in moderating each discussion, I was rewarded with a fully-engaged class that connected to the themes of the material we were about to start.

I encourage you to think outside the box when you lead discussions. How can you make it physical? How can you pull the quiet students out of hiding? Draw the line and force your students to have opinions. You'll be tired, sure, but it's pays off.