What Social Media Offers
“Merely signing on and posting a series of messages isn’t tapping the possibilities of
this socially networked digital writing practice.”
-Troy Hicks (2013, p. 137)
this socially networked digital writing practice.”
-Troy Hicks (2013, p. 137)
It’s summer and instead of taking a break and focusing on self, family, vacation and relaxation, so many of us teachers are planning for next year. One hot topic that keeps resurfacing in a Facebook group I am a member of is flexible seating. The teachers of 2ndaryELA are plotting out their room arrangements for next year, getting rid of their traditional desks, and stocking up on thrift store finds to add for possibilities of grouping, priority seating, areas for students who have a harder time sitting still, and more. A search within the group brings up 16 results for “flexible seating” in this month alone. The implementation of this topic in the classroom intrigues me.
The posts and comments in the group that specifically discuss flexible seating vary in content and depth, so for this post I chose to analyze one that spurs more thought than others merely showing off their swag (image of the original post to the left and the comments below).Both the original post and the comments are worth examining, as well as the research behind the idea of flexible seating.
Using the MAPS heuristic (Hicks, 2013, p. 20) to examine the post and comments demands more insight into the conversation and intention of the authors. Many of the elements of MAPS are the same for the original poster and those that commented; although some differ. The mode, media, audience and situation are similar for all members of the conversation, The mode is informational, with the comments influenced by narrative as well. The media used is the social network, Facebook. The audience includes teachers of high school and middle school English, as well as prospective teachers. The situation is a brief statement by the author, all of relatively low demand. The post and comments all spark brainstorming. The purpose of the original post was to share ideas with the group on this popular topic, she introduces and shares a website to help conceptualization of seating in a classroom. The purpose of the "commenters" is to collaborate on personal struggles with implementation and problem-solving.
The quotation at the opening of this post exposes the critical question about the quality of writing done digitally. Even though there are no glaring problems with the writing of the poster and "commenters", it does not delve deeper into the efficacy of the practice of flexible seating. This could be due to the norms associated with the purpose of the group; although, I have read threads here that discuss theory and reference research. There is some collaboration present here, and the comments commiserate issues and offer solutions, but I would argue that there is a depth of understanding that is not approached.
Belonging to online groups of concurrent professionals offers the influx of ideas. I am personally interested in flexible seating; it appeals to my aesthetic. This generated further thought; is this simply something I would like to try because I like it or would it impact my students’ learning? Because of the posts and online conversation of the topic, I engaged in my own professional development. I discovered a preponderance of research on subject of seating. Falout (2014) describes seating arrangements with the terms social and anti-social, and posits that students benefit from a non-restrictive layout. Seifert and Metz (2017) examine the correlation between seating and engagement in young children whereas Burgoyne and Ketchum (2015) evaluate the use of therapy balls. These researchers are all proponents of non-traditional seating. Although the original post did not delve into the research behind the trend of flexible seating, it did spur my own quest for justification. The strength of social media is not just what is present in writing, but also in what that writing can incite.
References
Burgoyne, M. E., Ketcham, C. J.(2015). Observation of Classroom Performance Using Therapy Balls as a
Substitute for Chairs in Elementary School Children. Journal of Education and Training Studies,
3(4), 43-48.
Falout, J. (2014). Circular Seating Arrangements: Approaching the Social Crux in Language Classrooms.
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching Department of English Studies, 4(2), 275-300.
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Lynette, R. (2014, November 27). New classroom set up: encouraging self-directed learning and
collaboration. Retrieved from http://minds-in-bloom.com/new-classroom-set-up-encouraging-self/
Seifert, A. M., & Metz, A. E. (2017). The Effects of Inflated Seating Cushions on Engagement in Preschool
Circle, Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(3), 411–418.
We have several teachers at our school that have delved into the subject of flexible seating in the classroom. I think it is an interesting topic to explore and would like to look into it a bit further in relation to it in the library setting.
ReplyDeleteManca and Ranieri (2017) discussed a previous study that showed how professionals were using social media sites as a form of professional development and collaboration with its ability to have open discussions in a "public format" (p. 124). I have commonly thought of professional social media collaboration taking place on Twitter, including following certain people who relate to you professionally or topic focused chats using hashtags. I love how you are part of a group on FB where you can share ideas with area specific teachers outside of your school. This is such a great way to network with those all over the country in an easy format! I am currently not a part of any professional group on FB, but after reading your post, I am going to search for groups. I prefer the FB setting more than Twitter, so I see getting much more out of a group on FB.
Manca, S. & Ranieri, M. (2017). Networked scholarship and motivations for social media use in scholarly communication. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(2). Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?q=collaboration+in+social+media&ft=on&id=EJ1138916
"The strength of social media is not just what is present in writing, but also in what that writing can incite." This quote from you is so good and so true. Just by what people say and read on social media can start snowball effects in positive and negative directions. It can get many thinking and wheels turning just by reading something that they view online. Thats a pretty powerful tool which can end up in anyones hands. However, like Hicks (2013) says "MAPS still matters, even if the writing comes quickly" (p. 139), which means to me to take your time and thing about what you are writing and who you are writing to and how you are wanting to represent yourself. On the topic of flexible seating; I actually tried that this year for the whole year. It wasn't as cool as it sounds. Just like students lose interest easily in academic thing often, they did so with flexible seating as well. The tables that were on the floor the kids got tired of sitting on the floor. The tables that I had tires and cushions at; by the end of the year they were pushed off to the side and they preferred to sit on the cold floor. The most wanted seats were the ones that were closest to normal seats or just a little short than the upright position. They wanted the fun or comfy ones too but that was more because they could relax/fall asleep or bounce up and down and swirl and just play on them. It was just an interesting observation. I will still have flexible seating next year but it will me more of a seat that is still close to normal but maybe with a modern twist, like a little bounce bubble on it. Plus I have a couch they can use too.
ReplyDeleteHicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Thank you for sharing your experience with flexible seating! I am hashing out the logistics and appreciate the real information!
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