Twitter Tuesday: Students Finding Their Voice

In case you don’t know this already, today is Tuesday.  Twitter Tuesday, that is.

In our AP United States Government and Politics class, also known as #arapgov12, every Tuesday is Twitter Tuesday.

Every Tuesday, at the beginning of class, the students Tweet in response to a prompt.  It’s the warm up assignment, but really it’s much more than that.

It’s about students finding their voice online.  Students who find a voice that is public and transparent.  Students who grow in confidence to us that voice again and again and again.

At times, I hear people lament about the “youth of today.”  Apathetic. Lazy.  Selfish.  Inappropriate. Self-interested.  I hear that lament, but I respectfully disagree.   To those who worry about the youth of today, I invite them to follow the conversations generated by #arapgov12.

In these conversations, I see students who are finding their voice.  I see students who care.  I see students who get involved in the conversation.  I see students who are far from perfect but who are eager to contribute.  I see students who have a sense of humor and know how to use it (most of the time).  I see students who are Tweeting seven days a week, not just on Tuesday.  I see hope.

In an age where social media use by our young is pervasive and growing, why not use a medium like Twitter to grow positive student involvement online?  Why not help our students build their digital footprint?  Instead of blasting the web as a cultural wasteland, why not direct students in a way that provides genuine and real contributions to the conversation?   If this where our students are anyway, let’s show the way.

It’s Twitter Tuesday, after all.