PPS Instructional Technology

Digital Citizenship is not something that can be tackled by schools on their own.  It needs to be a partnership with families and the community.  Just like the schools, parents don't always know where to start in regards to talking about digital citizenship with their kids.  In order to open the door to some great conversation, here are some resources that we can send home in order to create the bridge between what we are teaching in the classroom, and what is expected at home. Common Sense Media Family Activity Worksheets These worksheets by the amazing Common Sense Media are developed to go along with the K-12 scope and sequence curriculum.  There is a worksheet for each lesson.  Each worksheet contain the following sections: Did you know? What do you think? Family Activity Tech it Up Common Sense Says... This is a quick and easy way to continue the conversations started at school and bring the parents into the equation. DigitalED Anothe...

Sometimes you need a tool as a refresher or as a way for students to independently walk through some short lessons on Digital Citizenship.  Thankfully, Common Sense Media also has some wonderful programs for this very purpose.  My favorite one is Digital Passport , which is a self-paced, 5 "mission" activity that allows 3rd-5th graders the opportunity to explore topics like: Multi-tasking What to share and what not to share Cyberbullying Copyright Search Check out this great video from Common Sense. During these missions, students watch a video and play a game as they go through the activity.  If you can have a conversation about the videos and topic as you go along, that enhances the impact of the activity even more. If you are looking for activities for older students, check out the following activities: Digital Compass (Middle School) Digital Bytes (High School)

I have yet to meet a teacher who does not want their students to be responsible digital citizens.  Teachers inherently want to keep their students safe and help them to make smart choices.  Fitting "One more thing" in the curriculum, however, can be overwhelming at best in this age of constantly changing curriculum and standardized testing.  So, how can we make sure that we are teaching our kids to be responsible citizens, both of the digital and face-to-face worlds of which they inhabit? This was the conundrum one of our fifth grade teachers, Wendy Plew, from Moorsbridge Elementary in Portage presented me with about two months ago.  She was deeply concerned, both as a teacher and a parent, that her fifth grade kids had constant access to technology, at school and at home, but didn't really understand the power and responsibility that these devices put upon them.  She wanted help, and I was only too happy to jump in.  My wheels started turning and we sa...

For all those Remind users out there... read this article ! (Formerly, Remind 101) So perhaps you have heard that Remind  will soon begin offering a chat feature for teachers to stay in better contact with students and parents. When I first heard of this new tool I will be honest, I thought it was a horrible idea! My reasons for that thought are that communication between staff and students should always be of the utmost professional quality and, well, with chat I could see professional and informal lines becoming blurred as well as potential for putting educators and students at risk. Sorry, I'm just a very protective person and if I can help someone avoid a pitfall, I am compelled to do so. However! Remind really impressed me by partnering with CommonSense.org , a respected non-profit that works tirelessly to protect children in this new digital age. What did CommonSense do for Remind? They developed a week long introduction to Remind Chat with daily subject material about ...

Teaching digital citizenship is not something that we, as educators, can do alone.  We need to partner with parents and the community to help guide our students as they navigate their digital world.  With this knowledge in the front of our minds, last year we launched DigitalED .  DigitalED is a partnership with Portage Public Schools, parents, and the community to foster digital citizenship.  The DigitalED website offers resources like family contracts, family tip sheets, information on Internet filtering and lists of top social media applications and what you need to know about them.  DigitalED also offers workshops for parents and community members to help start conversations about digital citizenship with our students/children.  Our next workshop is coming up on November 18th at 7pm at Lake Center Elementary.  We topic will be: The Holiday Shoppers Guide - What you should know before you buy!  Check out the DigitalED website today to learn ...

Video, Poster and Teacher Resources: Oversharing - Think Before you Post! Brought to you by the fabulous people at Flocabulary and Common Sense Media , this great video/song teaches our students the 10 things to think about before they post something on social media or the Internet in general.  They include: Remember the Golden Rule Don't Brag Avoid TMI Think about the reader Keep relationship details to yourself Don't be cryptic Quit complaining Curate your photos Change your settings Post smart Check out the video (3:35 min), download the posters and learn more at:  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/oversharing-think-before-you-post Oversharing Lyrics Poster Top Ten Things to Think About Before you Post Poster

It's time for Digital Citizenship Week! October 19-25, 2014 Every day, your students are tested with each post, search, chat, text message, file download, and profile update. Do they connect with like minds or spill too much information? Do they behave creatively or borrow ideas recklessly? Do they respect relationships or inadvertently damage reputations? Let's all get on board for Digital Citizenship Week and engage students, our fellow teachers, and families in our community in thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. Dive into the suggested activities and these helpful resources provided by Common Sense Media  and start helping your students become digital citizens you and their family will be proud of. Get connected: Be sure to post what you’re doing to the Connected Educator Month calendar and tag your plans as “DigitalCitizenshipWeek” to inspire others to get involved.

Are you looking for a new tool or resource to help teach your students the Common Core State Standards?  If so, then Graphite is a great tool for you.   Graphite , a division of Common Sense Media, reviews apps, websites and games for their educational value.  It also provides teacher reviews of the products to give you a idea of how others are using the tool.   Read the article about how Graphite is making it easier for teachers to find Common Core resources here.

Many of you may not know, but this week is Digital Citizenship week.  A week highlighted on the calendar to promote the increasingly important topic of Digital Citizenship with our students.  Digital Citizenship can no longer be a topic taught solely in the computer lab by a keyboarding teacher.  As students live and share more of their lives online, Digital Citizenship and creating a positive Digital Footprint becomes an imperative topic of discussion.  As you can probably tell, this is a topic I am very passionate about.  In that vein, I will be sharing some wonderful resources with you all this week on Digital Citizenship.  Many of these resources will come from one of my favorite resources, Common Sense Media . Today's resource is a wonderful self guided curriculum for third through fifth graders called Digital Passport . Here is a screen-shot of the site: Summary of Tool: This program provides five engaging lessons to hep students become bette...