According to Kenneth Dixon, a researcher at Stanford, “ Internet users spend three hours online every day. More than half of the time is spent communicating, 8.7 percent playing games, 6.5 percent surfing and 4.3 percent shopping” (http://news.stanford.edu). Social media can be viewed as a limitation that keeps people from being active; however, for many, social media is an outlet from the real world. Social media can also be used as a way that people can retain outside information and meet other people that they would not outside of the web. Throughout our Social Media Unit, I learned about the importance of vaccines along with specific immunity, how characters develop over time, and how to execute a professional presentation along with a social media campaign.
In science, we learned about specific immunity and focused on how vaccines work and what they really do for our bodies.
We are born with innate immunity, which is the first line of defense that includes pH, skin and the mucous membrane. We also have acquired immunity, meaning that our bodies can naturally fight off pathogens using our B-Cells and T-Cells once we have been exposed to the virus. B-Cells try to prevent the pathogens from coming in and also produce antibodies, which circulate and bind to antigens. T-Cells are the killer cells; they fight off the pathogens so they do not harm the immune system. I always knew that our bodies fight off viruses and sicknesses, but I never really knew how they pulled it off. The many different ingredients in vaccines also astonished me because I never thought about what was being put inside of my body. Even though vaccines and antibiotics are used to help fight off illnesses, certain ingredients can be toxic in high quantities.
To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee, was another component of our Social Media Unit. We annotated the novel and made connections between the developing characters and our modern day society as we read it. Scout, the main character, was faced with many challenges alongside her family, as well as her friends. She is the type of character that many young girls can relate to because not all girls want to wear dresses and play with dolls. Scout is the type of girl who wants to play in mud with boys and snoop around town to find out secrets that people are hiding. I, personally, really enjoyed reading this novel in her perspective because I feel we got a fuller understanding of the other characters. Girls Scout’s age are very innocent and curious, so that was definitely expressed well in this novel. I found this book very interesting and hard to put down. There were a few slow spots that I did not enjoy, but the majority of the novel was very intriguing. I really liked how Lee introduced Boo Radley as a mean guy who does not care about anyone, but eventually showed us that he has a heart just like everyone else. This novel was a very good choice to read because the plot’s progression is not only sophisticated, but also fun to follow.
For our unit project, we were told to create our own TED Talk about something that can be related to what we have learned throughout the year. I expanded on the idea that standardized tests limit a student’s ability to grow and explain themselves. Not only do they limit creativity, they also make a student feel restricted and discouraged. I had my classmates take several surveys and they told me how they felt about standardized tests and whether or not school prepares you for the real world. On both surveys, more than 50%, said that they felt standardized tests limit creativity and school does not prepare you for the real world, which shows that our administration is not doing what they need to be doing. My solution to this problem is to implement real life situations into a regular class, so when students are presented with something new, they know how to handle it. For example, writing a check and/or addressing an envelope are two simple jobs, but not everyone can do them. In fact, out of 15 classmates, 60% did not know how to do either. I feel that if teachers use these types of lessons in class, students will go into the real world feeling prepared and confident. In order to publicize my view on this topic, I made a website and a Twitter account to keep people up to date.
My TED Talk was my favorite part about this unit. I have always found interest in the fact that schools do not prepare students for the real world, so I was beyond thrilled to talk to an audience about it. However, my presentation did not go as planned, which was unfortunate, but good to know because that means I know what not to do next time around. My main goal for this project was to raise awareness of the fact that schools are not giving students enough room to breath and are simply loading up work on us because they feel busy work is more important than real life lessons somehow. I want students to feel confident and prepared for the real world, not scared and reluctant to enter it.
Our Social Media Unit consisted of a variety of lessons and experiences. I was able to learn a lot more about vaccines and how my immune system works, how to annotate properly along with analyzing a character’s development and how to devise a solution for a real-world problem. I am very appreciative that I got the opportunity to present something that I am passionate about, even though it did not go as planned. By designing a social media platform for a wide variety of audiences, I was able to learn more about social media. I learned that it is very easy to reach different kinds of people while creating a project on a very discussed issue. Overall, this unit was very informative and beneficial.
