The Hour of Code

 Imagine in the year 2020, that all students would be doing school work in their homes on their computers. Would you have believed that statement when you were five? I know I wouldn't have. Of course, being 39, I wouldn't have even known what a computer was at five years old. I don't think I learned about computers (think Oregon Trail on a Commodore 64) until I was at least 11. I think I immediately fell in love with computers, though. I'm not the only one. We order food with computers, we talk to friends (face to face in real time), we even take classes with them (such as this one). One of the hottest career choices a person can make is to learn (and implement) what goes into making the programs that we are using to order food and talk to our teachers. Welcome to the wonderful world of Coding!! It would be a big mistake to not at least touch base, in your classroom, with what coding is and how it is used.

In this video, we learn what code, or computer speak is, and then after the video, you and your students can make a bracelet with code. Let's watch:

After we see an overview of what code is, we can now venture over to a site called The Hour of Code, where your students can play games while learning coding. It will be so fun, that they will not know they are learning how to code programs. I know I didn't. My favorite on this site is the Minecraft game, and it is sure to be a hit as most students have at least casually heard of Minecraft. Do not think that the fun stops there, though. Students can also make up their own games, go on a space adventure, and learn how to program for meditation.

Here is the site: 

https://hourofcode.com/us/learn

Digital Citizenship

 Oh technology, it seems like today it is everywhere. I bet it is even in your class already. Students have phones, school issued chromebooks, they may even live in a "smart" home. I'm still studying to be an educator and I have used technology in major ways during lessons. When it comes to students being on a device a good percentage of their time, we have to think about what the consequences of that may be. 

Students need to know how to use technology, and specifically computers and the internet, in a responsible way. This is where Common Sense Media comes into play. 

As educators, it is increasingly our responsibility to ensure that our students are educated in good digital citizenship. If you navigate to  Digital Citizenship Curriculum, you will find a comprehensive curriculum that will you help you do just that. It was created in partnership with Harvard and will get your students thinking about the ways media impacts us all around. There are lesson plans, games, and resources to use in the classroom for digital citizenship training. Common Sense Media has created 6 different lesson areas with modules for each grades to increase knowledge in good digital citizenship.

The first lesson modules are on media balance and well-being:

This is not just ensuring that students don't spend inordinate amounts of time online, but also how that time affects what they do offline. These lessons helps students see that they can impact their real selves by what they do with their online selves.

The next lesson set has to do with privacy and security:

This set of lessons deal with what is safe and not safe to share online. It also covers when you can share, and when you cannot share certain pieces of information.

The third group of lessons is Digital Footprint and Identity:

These modules should help your students understand that the person they create online can affect the person they are offline.

The fourth set of modules deals with communication and keeping relationships online:

These modules lead students in understanding where the boundaries are with online relationships.

The fifth lesson set is on cyberbulling: 

To me, this may be one of the most important sections of learning. Children and teenagers have taken their own lives over the effects of cyberbulling. This is an area that all students need to know what is right and how to combat what is wrong. If this was all I had time to teach, I would do it.

The last lesson set is on media:

This seems to be rather important in today's environment, given the state of things. These modules help students understand how to research and determining what is fake versus what is real in terms of news.

As you can see this curriculum is very thorough. There is no more important time than now to ensure our students are good digital citizens for the years to come.

ISTE

 Technology is everywhere now. Kids are capable now of passing a note to their friends in the other room and teachers not even know they’re doing it

(although I’m sure they have a hunch). We were lucky to hit the right person in the head with the origami we made with our notes. It’s an incredible tool we now have in our hands. Teachers can use this power to ensure students graduate with the skills that will make them marketable to their future employers. The ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education. 

This organization helps teachers have standards to shoot for when planning instruction. The standards not only deal with how teachers should be using technology but also how students should be using technology. For instance, the ISTE standards state that students should be knowledge curators and use critical thinking to use technology in a way to create resources for their peers. Critical thinking is a skill actively sought after by companies and employers. Also employers seek out leaders and one of ISTE standards for teachers is to use technology to help students to become leaders. The ISTE standards are the how in using technology in your classroom. If you would like more information and what the standards are and using them for your student’s betterment visit 

https://www.iste.org/standards

Blog Overload and using The Old Reader

 I've never been completely blog savvy. I'll follow someone for a while and then they will overwhelm me with too much information and that will be the end of my following. I've always thought you had to follow someone the old fashioned way by subscribing through e-mail. This has always been the way I've done it. Then you come into your e-mail and have 237 unread messages when you just wanted to check whether your teacher had sent any news about your classes. You can also use social media, but then you may not see everyone and facebook decides that you would be more interested in the company selling the label makers than the mom who makes her own soap. Enter the RSS aggregator:

This is a snapshot of what the homepage of my aggregator looks like. It is called The Old Reader. It is handy because you can pick which blogs you would like to focus on. This makes seeing blogs that you might be trying to get ideas for lesson plan ideas from a lot easier. You can create a folder for all those bloggers and voila, you have all your lesson planning pages in one spot. I also like to find out how to make homemade body care products. This allows me to put all of those bloggers in one place as well and not have to cruise through 5 or 6 different blogs on 5 or 6 different tabs. This is the first time that I have came across an RSS aggregator, but I certainly think I'll be using one from now on.

Winning the War With Writing

Have you ever started a lesson on writing and hear a collective groan through the classroom? Is this the look on your student's face when they are told they have a writing assignment:

Then it may be time to consider blogging. Blogging is not a new idea, but it is an idea that has been giving classrooms a fresh wind when it comes to writing. When student's blog, they are able to have a personal say in what is presented in their writing. They take ownership and have a personal stake in their writing. Blogging allows them to get their own thoughts on paper (ahem: computer) and share it with the world🌍, their friends 👊, and their family 👪.. It brings excitement and personalization to writing in a way a graphic organizer never could. It can be used for any subject, it can showcase work, and it can be used to assess where children are in the subject matter.  Give blogging a try, you just might like it.

If you would like more information here is a link to many videos that can explain what they are and how to start one for your class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDxg5ODEXEQ&list=PLq4p3q2fmMYW_Ix1OR6tFT1iFdwiMkf42

Happy Blogging!!