This New Journey Has Begun…

Photo Credit: Chris Swift via Compfight cc

I was very excited that I received approval from my school division again to continue blogging with my students this year.  Last year I was introduced to Edblogs when Sue Waters talked to our class when I took EC&I 831.  I am really happy that I chose to use Edublogs because all of the guidance you get through their website and their Support Team is incredible.  As I mentioned in my previous blog post I have been busy changing my blog over to my married name.  The support team responded back to my e-mail very quickly and answered all of my questions.  They also gave me guidance in how to create a new account, change my account information onto my new account, and helped me transfer my old Miss Stephanson classroom blog posts onto my new Mrs. Kyle classroom blog.  I am currently now figuring out what to do with my last years student’s individual blogs so I can create new individual blogs for my 2015-2016 secret agent students.  If you have any good tips in what you do with your previous students individual blogs please let me know!

This week I was able to send home a parent letter to my student’s families when I got approval from my school division.  The letter explains what a blog is, why I believe blogging is beneficial, what our classroom blog guidelines/rules are, and what blogging in our classroom is going to look like.  At the bottom of the letter is a parent permission form that my student’s parents must fill out before their child can begin to blog in my class.  (Permission Letter to Parents About Using A Blog 2015-2016).  I attached the letter onto this post so you are welcome to use it or edit the parent letter for your own classroom.  Last year I searched the Internet and followed Jonah Salsich’s format.  I used a lot of his ideas and sentences when I created my letter.  I was so grateful that Jonah shared his parent letter onto his blog.  Thanks Jonah!

 Last week my grade two students along with their grade six were introduced to the term digital footprint.  Together with their partners or groups of three they brainstormed what they thought the term digital footprint meant.  Students wrote down their ideas onto a piece of paper that was in the shape of a footprint.  After students shared their ideas with the rest of the class and we  had a group discussion.  Later in the year students will get an opportunity to look back at their predictions and get to create new footprint explaining what they have learned from all of the lessons.  This will allow students to compare their ideas and see their growth.  When our class discussion was over I showed everyone a video from the Common Sense Education website called My Online Neighborhood.  Then I showed them another video called Your Digital Footprint.  The videos allowed students to get a snapshot of what they will be learning about in the coming weeks and months.

After we watched the two videos it led to a lot of great questions and discussion.  After our discussion I finally I explained to both classes that they will be learning about the Internet, safety, digital citizenship, and what a digital footprint is.  I am hoping that my students and the grade six students continue to ask good questions.  I am looking forward to learning more about digital citizenship so I can educate both classes in how they can be digital citizens.  If you know of any good resources, videos, picture books, or other websites to educate elementary students about digital citizenship please let me know!  I am busy working on piecing my unit together!  Please check back to read my next post about our online field trip that my students went on Thursday!!!