Facebook Opens WIndows to the World

A few weeks ago I was browsing my Facebook page when I came across a post by commondreams.org on the case of Troy Davis along with a lesson plan exploring resources, both primary and secondary, regarding the case. For those that don't know, Troy Davis was executed on Death Row in Georgia 8 days ago from today. There was no physical evidence and considerable doubt with 7 out of 9 witness' recanting their testimonies.

When teaching about current events, my main goal is to have my students understand that they must derive their own conclusions based on what they learned in class. Their response to the lesson was inspiring. Not only were they engaged in the classroom (my history courses are designed to provide reading support to students, and one of the struggles is engagement and motivation) but they went home and did research on their own. They went home and talked about the case with their families and came back to the classroom with updates on what they heard about the case or what they read about the death penalty and lethal injection.

A big part of the lesson became an introduction into different uses for social media. There seems to be a fear in the world of education about Social Media, as is the case with most things new. I like to take the stand that we can teach our students how to navigate social media in a way that empowers them. In a class of Freshmen, only 2 students do not have a Facebook account, those that do have one engage with Facebook daily...often times on their phones throughout the school day.

What I show my students (incrementally and through example) is the types of information I find by following news pages, public figures and interest groups on Facebook. As a teacher, I often get very relevant news immediately without having to search in multiple locations. I can create a page for my different interests and follow other pages in the same category if I choose, and it all happens on one platform.

A student came to me with a letter she had typed out to Troy Davis' mother, it was thoughtfully written, formatted perfectly and she assured me she had spell checked the whole thing and edited it twice for mistakes. Because of Facebook I was able to deliver the lesson in a timely fashion, allowing my students to follow the case and come to their own conclusions about it, and address a social issue in a meaningful and authentic way. View the online lesson by clicking here.