Lately, I’ve been hosting webinars and sharing #Booksnaps at Conferences, and hands-down the most frequently asked question is, “How do you get around the inappropriate emojis, bitmojis, content on the internet, etc.?” Or, “We ban emojis because some students used them inappropriately.” My response is often to share stories about how to Learn Like a Threenager.
Meet Olivia, my three-year-old niece, aka my best friend.
(Need proof? We have the t-shirts!)
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When Olivia and I hang out, I often tell her, “Teach me something new.” Without missing a beat, she shifts to teacher-mode. Sometimes it’s simply her loving spirit that motivates me, but other days she shares something she discovered or tried for the first time. While she enjoys teaching me, she also LOVES learning. When I taught her how to make #BookSnaps, I was blown away how she made meaning of the text with emojis and stickers. Being a digital native, Olivia makes learning with technology look like breathing in and out–effortless. She created this BookSnap (pictured below) with very little guidance. She flipped back a few pages to count all of the fruit and food items to ensure she placed the correct number of emojis on her BookSnap! As I watched her work, I kept thinking–this is powerful! Does this child understand the context? Might three-year-olds create #BookSnaps to make meaning of the text? Oh my goodness, YES!
Just a few days ago, Olivia wanted to “help” me co-host the #IMMOOC Twitter Chat with Katie Martin. (Side note: This chat averages 3000 tweets per hour. Just a little perspective…) We’ve discussed how I learn new ideas from my teacher friends all over the world, and she thinks I have the coolest “school” ever! Of course, I never want to miss an opportunity to show her the power of using social media to learn and grow, so she sat on my lap, and we HOSTED like a boss. Ok…maybe I was a bit slow, but let’s take a look at what happened behind the scenes.
As tweets are flying by like NASA cars on a race track, I’m frantically attempting to like, comment and retweet–with a curious three-year-old on my lap. Apparently, I gasp out loud when I see something that resonates with me, because Olivia would say, “T, did you just get an idea?” I’d answer her by reading the tweet. To which she would reply, “Are you going to use that for kids or teachers? Or, is it for you?” Her interest grew as more tweets raced by, “T, you forgot to like one. Go back. Click the heart. Can I click the heart? Oh, I love that picture? Retweet that one! Is that for kids or teachers? I want to be a teacher on Twitter?” Having Olivia as a co-host gave a whole new meaning to the word multitasking. However, when we were done, she said, “Wet’s send them a video! They WOCKED!” Indeed, “YOU guys ROCKED!”
You can see by the look on her face that she, too, was amazed at the learning that took place during last Wednesday’s #IMMOOC chat. Less than five minutes after I posted her video, she asked, “T, how many likes? Retweets?” And, THAT is one of many reasons Olivia has the title- Threenager!
There are so many lessons to learn from exposing Olivia to the positive power of social media at a young age. If anyone were to ask her, “What’s Twitter?” She would quickly say, “That’s where my Aunt T gets new ideas for kids and teachers. It’s her school where she learns from teachers all over the world.” She wouldn’t hesitate to share that Snapchat is an app to make #BookSnaps or be silly. (We enjoy the silly filters, too.) The point remains if we TEACH children to use social media appropriately, they will. We can’t avoid these powerful learning tools because a small portion of the group MIGHT make a poor choice. Distasteful decisions are simply teachable moments. Honestly, Olivia has never attempted to use any inappropriate emojis or stickers, but if and when she does, I will explain to her WHY that particular decision is not acceptable.
The simple answer to the frequently asked question above is, we can eliminate access to technological tools because students might misuse them, or we can be intentional and teach children the positive influences of social media!
Personally, I want to learn like a threenager!
Olivia’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle #BookSnaps
