Digital Citizens!

Good thing I don't believe in making New Year's Resolutions.  I might have made one to blog more... and I'd be epically failing!!! I KNOW all 50 (I mean 40, since at least 10 of those views were probably me!) of my readers have been anxiously waiting for a computer lab update! 

Picture this:

You are at the mall in the food court. Someone stands up with a poster size picture of the pizza they are about to eat and yell: "Best pizza ever!" #mallfood #greasy #lunchdate #shopping

You are in the audience at a school assembly; a girl is introduced and brought to the stage. She begins her speech by identifying the grungy girl sitting next to you. For the next 3 minutes she talks about how nasty, stupid, poor, dirty, and friendless the girl is! Everyone hears it. Everyone sees it. No one stops it! 

Both of the above scenarios seem a little extreme and a little silly. But in reality, both things happen daily on social media! Let's be honest, at some point, you have posted a picture of food you've eaten! I know I have.  As a society we crave "likes", "favorites", etc.  We crave the high we get from comments or responses (both negative and positive).  Social media such as Kik, Vine, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and Snapchat consume our society.  

With the mass influx of social media, one might think our students should "know how to use it." The problem is, students know "how" to use it but they don't know etiquette for using it.  Due to the social media craze, I feel it is important to include digital citizenship into my curriculum! Our school counselor is required and finds it important to include digital citizenship  as well.  We decided to join together and co-teach digital citizenship. It has been a blast and we have done something a little different with each grade level. 

5th grade Digital citizenship lesson plans:

     OBJECTIVE:  When using social media, I can use online etiquette all the time.  I can define and recognize cyberbullying.

Students were questioned about the social media they use daily and engaged through a discussion all the different ones they use.  (I learned a few new ones)

We moved from the discussion into three different videos.  The first video is a rap song about ten online rules.  (Commonsense media.org is a great website for digital citizenship curriculum.  If you haven't checked it out, you need to do so!!) - Over sharing rap

After they listened to the a funny video about how to behave online, we moved into a video that defined cyberbullying.  It was very informative and told the kids how to respond to cyberbullying.  

The final video we showed...well you just need to watch it: Talent Show - Lesson on cyberbullying.  Between each video we had a discussion about the video and answered any questions the students might have.  

The activity that followed the videos was fantastic!  (Our counselor came up with it and made the cool items posted in the pictures below!)  Students were divided into groups of 2-3 and given a card with one of the ten rules for online behavior.  The kids had to come up with a skit explaining one of  the different rules.  Kids in the audience were required to identify which rule the skit represented.  The goal was to make sure eight of the ten were correctly guessed on the first time.  Not only did the kids have a good time, they practiced behaving properly online!  We wrapped up the lesson with summaries of what they learned.  

                  

4th grade lesson plans:

    OBJECTIVE:  When using social media, I can use online etiquette all the time.  I can define and recognize cyberbullying.

I'm sure you noticed the objective was the same for both fourth and fifth grade.  In fact, the beginning of the lesson looked exactly the same...okay fine, I never do any two lessons EXACTLY the same, but you get the gist!  We showed the same 3 videos and had the same general conversation.  

However, we did change the activity.  

The fourth graders were asked to use Kidpix to illustrate how to stay safe online.  The pictures turned out really good.  Here is my example for the class:

3rd grade lesson plans:

     OBJECTIVE:  When using social media, I can stay safe online and keep my computer protected from viruses.  I can define and recognize cyberbullying.

We decided our third graders needed something a little different.  Ginger found resources at Brainpopjr.  We used their free online Internet safety curriculum to guide our lesson.  Together we watched the online safety video.  Following the video, we had a discussion of the different things the kids could do to stay safe online.  As a class we took the quiz over the video.  The follow-up activity was letting students write about how they stayed safe online.  

At the end of class, the students watched the last video shown with the upper grades (Talent show: cyberbullying) and had a discussion comparing the video to cyberbullying.  Some of our third grade classes were really moved by the video and what they saw.

2nd grade lesson plans:

     OBJECTIVE:  When using social media, I can use online etiquette all the time. 

Really our 2nd grade lesson plans mocked the third grade lesson plans.  We used the Brainpopjr and watched the same video.  The activity at the end was also from the website but instead of writing, the students were asked to draw a safe website they like to visit.  

At this time, we are not exactly sure what we will do with first grade or kindergarten, but their digital citizenship lessons will be coming up soon.  

I've really enjoyed the digital citizenship units over the past month and have been left thinking about my online etiquette.  I challenge you; watch the rap again and really think about the information you post online.  Think about the next picture of someone else you post...did you get permission?  If it were you, would you want it up? Before you post every 30 minutes, stop and think about the reader.  Be wise when online and remember, you are an example for your students and kids.  Social media can be great, but it can also rob us of human interaction causing us to crave more and more "likes!"

Code Much?

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting at my kitchen counter pondering what I should do with a couple grades in the computer lab! I found myself on Twitter and Pinterest searching for a lesson idea when I found an article about Hour of Code!! December 9-15 was the international hour of code.  (I'm all about supporting curriculum in the computer lab but sometimes you just have to do something fun.) Thankfully, there is freedom in the lab to go in multiple directions. I decided I was going to have Kindergarten-5th grade code.  Kindergarteners coding?  Yes, I AM crazy!!!

Monday I got to school and put a sign on my door. I created an "I can" statement based on one I saw online and I found a coding activity for each grade. 

Fifth, second, and third grade were on Tynker.com.  My fifth graders were given the opportunity to choose any activity from the website. My second graders did "Puppy Adventure" and my third graders did "Candy Quest."  Talk about loving what they were doing.  I had several fifth graders come in during recess just to do more coding.  SCORE!!!  The kindergartners and first graders used botlogic.us.  The kindergartners were on the iPads doing the activity while the first graders logged onto the computer.

Overall, the week went splendid and we had a lot of fun participating in Hour of Code.  I was so impressed with the requests to continue coding or about coding at home.  You know you’ve inspired kids when parents text you pictures of more completed certificates.  Here are just a few of the certificates from the week.  

The delight from so many of my kids really has me thinking about the direction I want to go in the computer lab.  How do you balance creating and making the curriculum fit but at the same time, truly igniting excitement in students? As I prepare for next semester I am truly searching for more engaging tactics and ideas to engage students who find school to be boring.  I want to inspire students and get them hooked on learning.  I love watching kids’ eyes dance with excitement when it comes to learning, new books, or a computer program.  Be looking and watching for the new ideas that come from the computer lab!!  

I also encourage you to try something new in your classroom.  Make the new thing exciting and engaging!  Coming from the classroom I know you can turn most things into something fun and engaging.  (Now long division is another story...seriously haven't ever been able to come up with something fun for that one!)  In one of our regular ed. classes the students participated in a technology activity to learn transformations.  Those kids were so excited to come show me what they were doing and I LOVED IT!  I also heard from their teacher they did significantly better on that particular topic when tested.  I love seeing kids enthusiastic about what they are learning...do something different and fun next semester to appeal to your students!!!

Word….

Remember when you were a kid and all you wanted to do was "grown up" things?  I'm picturing my nephew who wanted to write like us, so he scribbled on a paper.  Or the other nephew pretended to talk on the phone because he saw us on ours.  Over the past few weeks, I introduced my students to something that made them feel like they were learning a "grown up" thing.  In fact, I heard many of them say, "My mom (dad) uses this sometimes."  The excitement (in most of them) was fun to see.

I introduced both the 3rd and 5th graders to Microsoft Word.  In fact, we learned Microsoft Word was one of many word processing programs.  Then, the students were given the opportunity to explore some features and share what they learned.

My fifth graders were introduced to Microsoft Word and explored the font section.  The assignment was to write a short story using figurative language and insert clipart to illustrate the story.  I taught the students how to format the font, indent the paragraph, go to next line with return, and insert clipart.  Over two class periods, we explored the different formatting options in chunks.  Their short stories with figurative language and matching picture were cute.  (Shh…don't tell the boys I said their stories were cute!)

My third graders were just going to learn to format the font this go around, but the enthusiasm to explore all aspects of Word changed my mind during the first 15 minutes of class.  You see, after I introduced Word and showed the students how to format the font; I sent them to their seats to explore.  It took about five minutes before they were running from computer to computer (YES - some were REALLY running in my lab) and yelling at each other to "check this out!" It was at this point, I revamped my plans!  (It really is ALL about flexibility!!)  I decided to give the kids 20ish minutes to explore and play before sharing with everyone (on the big screen) what they learned.  Once everyone shared, they went back to their computer to try new things.  In a couple classes, we had SOOO much to share, we didn't have anytime that day to try the new things out.  The next week they were able to explore the features their friends had taught them.  I think their favorite thing was using the "glow" feature.  Oh and I learned some new tricks too.  Did you know there is a button you can push and it "un-formats" all you have highlighted?  I sure didn't.  Once the kids had time to explore, they were given the task of writing a book summary.  They were allowed to insert clip art that matched their summary!

(Word wall)                                      (Large version of Word for easy explaining)



Although I am sharing more of my lesson plans in this blog, I do want to leave you with a couple of thoughts…

1. Find something that really excites the kids - and once you do…pounce on it!  Let them explore.  I know I have more freedom in my schedule than classroom teachers, but if kids are bored, they won't be engaged!
2. Be flexible in your plans.  Take cues from your students about their needs!  Allow them to share if that is why they are running around your room!
3. Do something fun and engaging in the next 8 days!  You need it! The kids need it!
4. Let your kiddos teach you something!  They LOVE IT!!!
5. Remember what it was like to be a kid…and how you wanted to be grown up!