Wednesday, September 19, 2012

GAME Plan review

Indicator 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility




Some resources I have found on this subject mostly fall under the online category:

Digitalcitizenship.net promotes 9 themes of digital citizenship, includes contracts for students and parents, and also provides multiple resources for teachers.

Ecitizenship provides a free online course for K-12 educators, and was created by the California School Library Association.  This resource is made up of 6 modules and offers tutorials and other tools for educators.

Edutopia has a fantastic set of articles and videos on the themes of cyber-bullying and "Netiquette" as well as internet safety.  I read a fantastic article on Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom that provides insights on the importance of digital citizenship and its comparisons to simply being polite to people you see face-to-face.  This article itself has links to additional lesson resources.


Indicator 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership



For professional growth, I have been searching for opportunities in our area.  So far I have attended an apple workshop for several days on the use of iPads in the classroom, and worked with our school's tech supervisor to install technology in classrooms as well as train teachers on the devices.  I would like to have more opportunities to learn about tools my teachers can use in their regular education classes to supplement what they are teaching.  Unfortunately, I will need some time during school hours to meet with teachers, as well as time away from school to attend meetings and professional development opportunities.  At this time, I haven't been able to find any new sessions available in the area, but I am planning on working with teachers around the district as we implement our iPad labs in every elementary school.

6 comments:

  1. Awesome plan. Good planning goes a long way. Netiquette is such a new concept that your students will be way ahead of the curve and prepared for future employment and entrepreneurial endeavors. iOS 6 is state of the art technology and Apple is the most valuable company in the world. Apple computers have traditionally been used in education. Right on!

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    1. Thank you David. I'm excited to get to have this opportunity to share technology with my students in new and exciting ways. I think it will also be helpful to my students to know it is a learning process for all of us and that we are working through it together. Apple devices have proved to be a great asset and my students are so excited to be a part of the digital generation.

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  2. I cannot wait to explore the resource you listed “Teaching Digital Citizenship in the Elementary Classroom.” Many students want to use the internet as a resource correctly but just do not know how. I think the comparison to using manners and polite behavior in face-to-face interaction is a comparison that students can relate to. I am very jealous of the ipad labs that you mentioned in your post. This is a type of technology that I would love to have in our school. Apple is amazing about providing workshops to learn necessary features of their products so that is a great resource. Finding the time to provide workshops with teachers during the school day is sometimes a challenge. If you school is one that gets Title I funds you might talk with someone about paying for planning days in which the teachers are given a sub for a portion of the day so that you can train them effectively. Our school uses these types of planning days each nine week grading period so that we can map out our curriculum and have some time to extensively plan for the upcoming weeks.

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    1. Kelly, I hope you find the resources helpful. I have been really impressed with Apple throughout this process as well. We have had professional development on using the labs and have been working closely with our computer techs to ensure a smooth deployment. I hope that we will be an example for other programs in the future. Our iPad lab was purchased instead of a new textbook adoption, and for nearly the same price (that shows how expensive books are). I appreciate the Title I suggestion, I will have to ask my principal if we have funds for such an activity. Until about 3 years ago we used to get in-service days which would have been perfect for workshops, but the state got rid of them, unfortunately.

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  3. One of my goals is digital citizenship as well. So, I am excited that you posted a website that will help me too. Thank you! The technology coordinator at my school is a great resource and support for me but one can never have too many resources. I will have to share this with him to see if he is aware of the site. We do not use contracts with our parents and students so I am looking forward to see if we can implement something similar.
    We are gradually purchasing ipads for our school. Last year kindergarten and first grade all received two for their classrooms and second grade got them this year. I am hoping that means third grade (that would be me) will get them next year. There are a many great educational apps that benefit our diverse classrooms. The Apple workshops I am sure are will worth attending but it would also be beneficial to observe classrooms who are already integrating ipads in their classroom. Many times I find that observing teachers and how they integrate technology is more valuable than listening to presenters that have not even been in a classroom.
    Daneen

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    1. Digital Citizenship is so important, and I want it to be at the core of my online teaching. I am glad you found the resources helpful! If your school is starting out getting iPads, I can recommend this blog:http://teachinglikeits2999.blogspot.com/

      Also, our Apple workshop was actually taught by a second grade teacher. She said Apple wanted to use presenters that had classroom experience with the devices and were passionate about their use. She showed us ways she used the iPads in her own classroom and even gave us some suggestions for free apps to use. I would have found it more helpful if I was a regular classroom teacher, but she touched on many subjects that I don't use in the music and art room, but would be excellent tools for other teachers.

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