This past Monday, we got the opportunity to have a guest speaker zoom into our class and chat about his viewpoints on social media and technology within the classroom. Jesse Miller, the guest speaker, works in the social media industry around making sure people are posting images and videos as they should be. He had many great points in which helped me think deeper about how we use social media, and how we should perceive it.

One main point brought up was the idea of professional boundaries, and how they should and shouldn’t be crossed. He questioned us to think about how we will use social media in the future, as well as how we are using it right now. He was right in stating that our personal lives are for us and those we want to see, however, we are still going to be professionals working with youth. I agree that the main way to allow this freedom of personal life, while still being professional, is having a private social media, or two separate accounts. Almost everyone uses social media, and teachers should be allowed to have a social media. I believe having a private and separate social media page is a great way to build your network while being mindful of your career and the outcomes of that. Schools will also have policies and procedures which are important to be aware of when posting on social medias. Everything on the internet is there forever and can be accessed and shared by many people, which is a good thing we should all keep in mind when posting – even today.

Another point that stayed on my mind after Jesse Miller spoke, was the fact that so many young children are using social media younger and younger, without knowledge of how to use it morally. As well as, they don’t understand the short term or long term affects. I liked how Jesse Miller pointed out not only the negatives in the social media world, but mostly how the positives can be achieved. It was also interesting to hear, as a teacher candidate, how engaging in extra curricular activities lessen the amount of screen time intake a child gets. Comparison was also mentioned as a negative of screen time and social media, as it is a huge factor in today’s youth. Knowing things like this can be insanely important when we are in the future trying to support our students.

Overall, it was a great experience being able to hear information from Jesse Miller, and I learned a lot about the ways social media influences our personal and professional lives.