What is Cyberbullying?
Check out the presentations on cyberbullying for grades three and four and grade six:
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying: Crossing the Line
Keeping Kids Safe Online
The presentation below was given to parents during the Primary ‘Parent-Teacher Conferences’ in October. Please see the presentation below for some tips on how to keep your child safe online.
Keeping Private Information Private with Edmodo!
Students in Grade 2 are starting to use Edmodo so we thought this would be a great time to discuss what information is private and how to keep safe online. Please view the presentation below:
Going Online Safely with Grade 2
Students in Grade 2 learned about what they need to do to stay safe online. Please watch the Google Presentation below:
Cyber-bullying Followup
1. Please make sure you have signed your Student Acceptable Use Policy / Responsible Use Agreement and handed it back to your Homeroom Teacher.
2.
3. Please watch the below video and discuss the questions with your classmates. Here are some vocabulary terms related to cyber-bullying that you may need to know.
Vocabulary Terms:
harassing: bombarding someone with messages over digital media, or repeated contact when it is least expected
deceiving: using fake names, posing as someone else, or creating a fake profile about someone else
flaming: saying mean things, usually in ALL CAPS, and often in a public forum with the intention to humiliate
hate speech: a verbal attack targeting someone because of their race, gender, religion, ability, or sexual orientation
Stacey’s Story
Questions for discussion:
- Why did the girls start to harass and threaten Stacey online in the first place?
- When do you think the girls’ behavior “crossed the line”?
- Stacey says, “People talk really big, when there’s, like, miles between you.” What do you think she means by this statement?
- In what ways might the online context make the situation worse than if the bully had harassed Stacey offline?
- Stacey’s mom says that Stacey should call the school and report the incidents. Stacey responds that it would “just make it worse.” Do you think this is true? Why or why not?
Case Study #1: Attacked from all sides
Eric gets a lot of pressure from his parents to do well in school. Other kids in school tease him
because he works so hard but still gets poor test scores. He gets instant messages and text messages
during the day and at night about his poor grades. The word “loser” is in most of them, and the
language becomes stronger every day. Today he received a text from a number he did not recognize,
with a photo of his body with a turkey’s head. A thought bubble above the picture reads: “Why am
I so STUPID? What a *!*#&** I am.” Eric thinks Alexis, the most popular girl in the eighth grade, is
behind the message.
Questions for discussion:
- What forms of cyberbullying did the students use on Eric? What is your evidence?
- How do you think Eric feels? What elements of this situation make him feel this way?
- Do you think Eric should tell his parents about the cyberbullying?
- What qualities do you think a “trusted adult” should have? Who are these people in your life? In what ways can a trusted adult actually be effective?
- If Alexis was the bully, what could school personnel, such as the principal, do or say to Alexis to make her realize that her behavior is wrong?
- Have you ever been part of, or heard of, a situation similar to this? If so, share the story with the group without using names or details.
Case Study #2: Election Sabotage
Tanya is pretty popular. She is running for class president. The election is a week away, and Tanya is neck and neck with Sara. Sara’s friends decide to sabotage Tanya. They create a fake social network page for Tanya. They use a photo of Tanya for her profile picture, and for her interests, they write: “partying, making fun of anything ASIAN, loving myself.” Most of the students at the school are Asian, and rumors start to spread that Tanya is a racist. As election day nears, Sara’s friends start to flame Tanya with texts that say things like “racist” almost every hour.
Questions for discussion:
1. What forms of cyberbullying did Sara’s friends use on Tanya? What is your evidence?
2. Do you think there is ever a good reason for impersonating someone else online or creating a profile about them?
3. Do you think Sara knew what her friends were doing? What is Sara’s responsibility in this?
4. What do you think the consequences should be for Sara and her friends if the school finds out?
5. If you found out about what happened, would this be a reason not to vote for Sara?
6. Have you ever been part of, or heard of, a situation similar to this? If so, share the story with the group without using names or details.
All content courtesy of Common Sense Media
Rings of Responsibility
What is a good digital citizen? Please check out the slide show below to see what grades 3 through 5 are working on this week:
Resources and tech reflection for parents
Today I was invited for my first “Parent Coffee” at Toscana. We talked about the IICS class sites, resources for parents to use with their children, and also management programs and apps for Macs and iPads. One of the main recommendations we had for parents was to ask their children to use devices in common areas. Another recommendation was for all devices and computers to be turned off and put in a place for safekeeping throughout the night outside of the bedrooms.
However, throughout the talk we listed a bunch of great websites and resources. I thought I would reiterate some of them here and give some explanations about them:
IICS Websites and Resources
- Primary Years Programme – One of the first documents that we talked about was the PYP program that is available online through the school directory and through the IICS website.
- Primary School Parent and Student Handbook – Although we didn’t talk about this in the meeting, I thought I would add this document here because it is good to know that it exists and how to fetch it.
- Primary Weekly News – An often updated blog that details when the next Parent Coffees will be, newsletters, and other pertinent information for parents and the school community.
Math Sites
- Mathletics – IICS belongs to and pays for subscriptions to this excellent resource for students to learn about leveled and differentiated math. Student can even challenge others from around the world to math games. They love the competition.
- Khan Academy – This is another great FREE website that enables students and parents to create programs and goals for themselves to learn such concepts as algebra, chemistry, calculus, physics. It presents videos and lessons at many low and high levels and generates excellent statistics to use in guiding practice. Parents – Please note there is a login specifically for you to track and help your son or daughter.
Language Sites
- Vocabulary.com – Similar to Khan Academy, vocabulary.com builds students language abilities. The site uses analytics to determine levels and terminology that is appropriate for each specific student. One can also search for books that he or she is going to read in order to learn the difficult jargon they will encounter.
- Starfall – This site caters to younger children learning vocabulary. It has bright colourful pictures that accompany many games and lessons.
Kid-safe and Parent-safe Browsers
- Kidzui – When using a Mac or PC, this is a great browser that display vetted websites and Youtube videos. It is a must-have for parents who would like to be able to know kids are surfing the web safely.
- Sandbox Browser App – For the iPad, this app performs a similar task. However, parents define whitelisted sites that kids are allowed to use. At the day of writing, this app was free on the US and Canadian iTunes store.
- Self-Control – For parents out there who want to block themselves or their kids from sites or even email for a set duration, this is the trick. It is also free.
Life Management
- Netvibes – In order to have everything consolidate and come to you (RSS feed), this site should be set as your homepage. Users can add widgets that feed class sites, multiple emails, other blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google Calendar, LinkedIn, Delicio.us, and times and weather around the world. Other widgets can act as “to-do” lists, notes, and so many other things that can be personalised with a drag and drop.
Typing
- BBC Dancemat Typing – A simple, free website that can get kids (and adults) started with proper finger placement and practice for typing. No need to login or create an account. Just get started!
Setting Times for Internet Browsing
- When students have moved beyond the common areas and are using internet to large degrees, it is time to cut of their connection. This post explains how to do this through the router. With this said, it was noted that a son or daughter could hook their computer up to use their or their friend’s personal hotspot, so parents be wary. It is best to sit and talk with them about digital citizenship and trying to lead a balanced life. A sad video that accentuates what life has come to for many people is shown below:
We were also concerned with turning off Gmail Chat. Here’s how:
- Click the gear icon and choose Settings.
- Click the Chat tab.
- Choose “Chat off.”
- Click Save changes.
Blogging at IICS
The reviews are in
Here’s what people are saying about the blogging document:
“Breathe-taking, Astonishing, Stupifying!!” – Tom
“Blogging at IICS is an excellent resource. Thank you for the analysis and synthesis of the research and for putting it together. I am sure it will be a valuable resource for our team and community. It looks hefty and daunting, there is clearly a lot of work here, but it is actually an easy read. It has a lot of practical ideas supported by relevant research. ” – John D’Arcy
Download your copy of – Blogging IICS Final
Resisting the temptation of the web
This is an important report that reiterates the need for both parents and teachers to ensure that students are not “trying” to multitask while studying. It also points out that students who are not on task in a classroom with their screens showing something like Facebook or another distraction are likely affecting students around them negatively. It is worth the read. Find the article here: http://hechingerreport.org/content/the-new-marshmallow-test-resisting-the-temptations-of-the-web_11941/