Meeting Strangers Online

In my Digital Citizenship classes I have been holding in our 7th and 8th grade classes, I talk about the dynamic of meeting strangers on the street and meeting strangers online.  When we grow up, we are taught not to talk to strangers.  Parents know that there are malicious people out there and they want to protect their children.  My daughter is very much a social butterfly, and we have to instill in her not to talk to strangers.

In my classes, we discuss how the rules change when meeting strangers online.  The average part of an online lifestyle is meeting strangers.  It is one of the best parts of being online.  Sharing, collaborating, strategizing, meeting, communicating, learning - many careers require the ability to do this with strangers online; and students can learn a lot from strangers online.

The main element I try to capture with the students is that meeting strangers online can be a great opportunity, however we have to learn when the relationship (and I do not mean romantic relationship, but any kind of communication or transaction with a stranger is referred to as a relationship in the class) gets uncomfortable, or private information is being asked for, then red flags should go up and we should reconsider the value of the relationship.  I teach students how to deal with situations like this - logging off, leaving the conversation, changing the subject, not revealing your real name, and especially not giving out personal information.

How To Set-Up and use iCloud Drive On The iPad

Remarkable Aerial Footage Shows What Auschwitz Looks Like Today

Gmail Labels to Organize Email

Great example of how you can make the most of Gmail labels to organize your email.

Digital Citizenship Classes in 7th and 8th Grades

It have been a rather busy two months for me at the Middle School.  I have been in the 7th and 8th grade classrooms teaching students about Digital Citizenship and making right choices online.

We, the PIMS administration and myself, decided last year that we need to teach our students about the impact they make online as well as on themselves as digital citizens; ways that they can be more street-smart with their activity online and when dealing with strangers.

I teach three 8th grade classes, and five 7th grade classes.  Each student has to pass each assessment of each class in order for them to take home their 1to1 iPad device.

The material I have chosen to use as my curriculum is from Common Sense Media.  These guys are fantastic with their thorough approach to dealing and helping parents, teachers, and students understand what is safe and not-so-safe in our media.  From reviews on apps, movies, games, websites, and books, to educating parents on what is trending for kids.  Common Sense Media has also created a rather extensive curriculum for teaching digital citizenship.  Look through their curriculum here.

In December I taught the 8th grade.  The lessons included:

• What's The Big Deal About Internet Privacy?
• A Creator's Rights
• Identifying High-Quality Websites

In 7th grade, I am currently teaching:

• Scams & Schemes
• Safe Online Talk
• Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line
• Trillion-Dollar Footprint
• Risky Online Relationships

All of these classes I have found to be effective for helping students understand how they can impact the internet as well as how the internet can impact their lives, positively and negatively.

Student Note-taking Using Infopics

In case you missed it on my Twitter or Google+ profiles, this is a great post from Tony Vincent.  He sharing a "newer" concept for student note-taking.  He shares several app suggestions and how each app works.  He also gives some great tips and design suggestions that are very helpful for students.  This video is so well put together, that you could have students preview it for themselves and watch them takeoff with creativity, meanwhile making meaning of your classroom content.

Review his blog article regarding Infopics here.

Learning Workshop Idea for PIMS

I realize that lessons and plans for learning workshops have been already planned for the rest of this school year.  However, thinking ahead, for next year, SimCity has recently released an iOS app, FREE.

If you are not familiar with SimCity, it is a simulation gaming franchise that has been out since the late 80s and the premise of the game is that you are the mayor of a potential city.  As mayor, you have to build and improve your city to help it grow and make your city residents happy.  As a learning tool, students will learn how to manage the cities finances and resources, make critical thinking decisions and learn to work efficiently with the resources they have to develop a successful running city.  Not only is the game fun and clean, it is a great way to develop strategic thinking and problem solving and planning.

Perhaps consider this for your next Learning Workshop in the 2015-16 school year.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

The SimCity gaming community in education is so large, there is a site devoted to creating lesson plans and collaborating lesson ideas when using SimCity in the classroom.  Check out GlassLab's SimCityEdu.