The Internet is an important tool that is becoming a vital part of a student’s education, but it can be used for many other things; sometimes the wrong things. As more and more of our students have access to this tool, it is our responsibility that they are acting responsibly on the Internet. Teaching students about Digital Citizenship and the appropriate use of the Internet needs to begin sooner than later. This year, I was invited by the Walton Elementary School Fourth Grade Teachers to speak to some students about Digital Citizenship, and the importance of using devices appropriately. The fourth graders were taught to take care of their online resources and respect each other’s online work. Together, the fourth graders and I had a discussion about how different phrases can be interpreted in several ways, and to be careful how they say things on the internet. Students were shown several different phrases, and asked how they could be interpreted. Through this activity, students realized that words can be read differently and sometimes misunderstood. Here are some phrases the students were shown: Following this activity, students were reminded about how they should think about what they say on the internet. Below is an image students were shown regarding this: After going through all this in detail, students made a social contract. Each student added a statement about how they will interact and behave in their online classroom. Students used their Chromebooks and Google Documents to do this. Click here to view the 4th Grader’s Social Contract.
Digital Citizenship is an important skill to have, especially when technology is being used a lot in our district. The Internet is an instrument that we can use to enhance our education, but using it appropriately is important. All students should learn the importance of the internet and should learn to treat their online resources with care. Senila Yasmin is a senior at Wakefield Memorial High School. She was a founding member of WHSConnect, the student-led technology team at WMHS. She manages the WHSConnect Twitter... follow her at @whsconnect.
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1 Books & Magazines
There are many books available in the WMHS Library. All books have been donated or purchased by the school. You can take out as many books as you want, and there are no overdue fines. The library also has a ton of new magazine subscriptions, including Thrasher, Vogue, The Nation, Bon Appetit, Time, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Wired, The Economist, Road and Track, Runners, Forbes, Seventeen, and many more. 2 Online Research Center Aside from books, the library offers digital information via databases. It offers you all the information you could possibly need for research, for quick homework questions, study tips, as well as recreational information. You can find the library databases at whslibr.weebly.com/databases. 3 Exceptional Instructional Support Teachers The library is staffed by a group of wonderful instructional support teachers. Each of them help students in the space with projects, papers, math assignments, etc. They are willing to drop everything and help you get that “A” on that quiz! 4 Discovery & Recreational Space The library is also a really good space to consult a trustworthy adult (see #5), a place to relax and listen to music, study, take a test or quiz in a separate setting, or to learn something new. There are coloring pages, pictures books, craft materials, and such to take your mind off of school stress. 5 Our Librarian Ms. Kelly is one of the most reliable resources in the entire school. She is trustworthy and is a really nice person to talk to. She is helpful when writing essays. She has degrees in Comparative Literature, Creative Writing, and Classics, as well as a Masters of Library and Information Science (which means she can help you find information on almost any topic). She is also freakishly good at typing. I always feel comfortable going to the library. The library hasn’t always been used correctly. Often students do not take full advantage of all the resources offered to them by the school and by Ms. Kelly. You can reach her at [email protected]. Hello everyone! It’s Nina and Hannah from your E block Technology Integration class! Last week, we had the opportunity to speak to other classrooms around the world during #digcitathon! It helped both us and the other classrooms grow and learn together. We discussed everything from BYOD to your personal privacy when you are online. We talked about our use of technology and how we have incorporated it into our daily life in school in comparison to how they use technology. We provided each other with tech tips on how to better our technology usage. We had the opportunity to talk with multiple classrooms from places ranging from Canada to Georgia and everywhere in between. We discussed at lengths with a class of seventh and eighth graders from Georgia about what it means to be digital citizens. The kids that spoke to us are very involved with technology in their school and are looking for any ideas to make it better, the two classes had a very unstructured conversation about our their personal ideas for improvement. Digital citizenship was a big topic of conversation. How can the student body best use technology? We discussed how we both can improve our digital citizenship in our schools and work to spread it to other schools as well. It was privilege to have this opportunity to discuss our digital footprint with others of different backgrounds. The very unique opportunity was given to hear the Canadian National Anthem and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance, that just goes to show you the different cultures that took place in #digcitathon. It was great to reach out to these different classrooms from all these different states, countries, and time zones who all share the same love of technology that we do! |
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