11.5 More Things - Thing 11.5

This has been another exciting technology journey for me. I have enjoyed learning about all the other "things" out there. My favorite by far had to have been the Glog. I am going to use that with my 4th graders next year. I can not wait to share this with the teachers. They are going to be amazed. What a great way for them to do their Texas Region reports.
Through this program and the 23 Things program I have learned so much. I am even facilitating an online technology discovery program within my own district. I will now have to continue to grow so that I can provide for the folks in my district as well as my own campus.
The only part of this journey that was surprising was Second Life. I was excited to try it and then once there I did not like it at all. I felt very uncomfortable using it. Not to mention it crashed my computer several times. I uninstalled that program and will probably never use it again.
I appreciate this program being opened to people from other districts. Your time and talents are to be applauded.

11.5 More Things - Thing 11

Digital Citizenship is an important part of the curriculum for all students. At my school we start with Internet safety at the Kindergarten. I have found many websites with game like activities that teach students about how to be safe, smart digital citizens online. On our intranet, we have different pages for each grade, and the first lessons that each grade does in the beginning of the school year is on Internet safety and digital citizenship. Each grade has a different lesson so that the lessons are not duplicated, and each lesson builds upon the things learned previously. As the students move through the lessons, they start to learn more about cyber safety, personal protection, and authenticity of information. By the time they leave us in 4th grade they have had 5 years of lessons on digital citizenship. At the end of each school year in May, the teachers spend a week with lessons that the district has developed on digital citizenship. I feel that it is important for the students to be reminded before the long days of summer, what their rights and responsibilities are for online use.
During the school year, in the library, I contiune with the lessons in the computer lab by teaching the children about checking resources, looking at the ends of URL's to determine where the sites are from and ways to evaluate what they are reading online.
It takes constant attention from, teachers, parents and peers to help our students become good digital citizens.