Community Relations, Facebook and EdTech

By Anonymous -
I am enrolled in the James Madison Ed. Leadership program to obtain my administrative license and this semester I am taking the Community Relations class. I interviewed my administration to discuss a potential community relations projects. From that conversation, I volunteered to take on the school Facebook page to create a better social media presence. My principal liked the idea and believes that Facebook is heavily used as a source of news and information in the Staunton River zone of Bedford County.

I put into place three main ideas.

  1. I will post a Thought for the Day which will include famous inspirational quotes, thoughts on volunteering for the school, as well as local announcements. 
  2. I will use FlipGrid to record prompts from both teachers and students.
  3. I will infuse technology either by embedding it into the site or promoting all the wonderful technology infused/inspired lessons that are happening in classes. 


 How is it so far?
I am about one month in and the FlipGrid has some growing pains. Teachers needed a nudge (free donuts) to start recording themselves. But, I have a few now and the list will grow (hopefully). See some fantastic FlipGrid answers here:

I was not a Facebook person, so I had to figure out how to schedule a post, promote a post (if needed), as well as keep the message positive and on point. It was also really interesting to see the backside of an organization's page. Click here and "like" our page. 

Lastly, I went around the school and took pictures of students doing fantastic work on personalized learning projects, working on BreakOutEdu boxes, 1:1 Chromebook usage, Flipgrid, and more. It was very exciting to get into teachers classrooms and see all the wonderful lessons they were doing.

 
Closing thoughts:

  • Its common sense, but I immediately obtained a complete school list of all students whose faces could and could not appear on social media. I also realized that even though a student has permission, to let the parent know with a quick phone call if you are in doubt.
  • I also tend to take pictures of students from the side or back to minimize face recognition. 
  • Also, if you have done this longer - I am OPEN to any and all suggestions on how to improve our social media presence. 

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