Digital Citizenship

Getting Started Again…

There is so much swirling around in my head that I am having trouble getting started again.  The great thing about working with your peers is that you get so much insight and so many good ideas into your work.  The hard part is then coming back to your own head and synthesizing.  Between my meetings with Lower School Resource Teachers, my meeting with Catalina and my meeting with fifth grade I am already looking with new eyes at my work.

Yesterday’s conversation with fifth grade resurfaced the need to teach digital citizenship and Internet safety.  With new tools come new responsibilities. As I review the information I have in the maps I created and the skeletons I have for the upcoming grades I can see this glaring omission. Although these skills need to be reinforced throughout the year a formal introduction in every grade needs to happen in the beginning of the year. This will naturally change the content of the maps.  I have spent most of the day finding resources for and creating a rough outline of a digital safety, citizenship and footprint unit. It is not complete.  Questions that I need to consider are:

• When is the best time to introduce this in each grade?  Obviously for 3^rd to 8^th it should be in the beginning of the year but what about K-2?
•  What is my venue for Middle School? Lower School I can get into class rooms, where does this fit best in the Middle School curriculum?
•  Ongoing assessment? Ongoing reinforcement?

Any thoughts?