"Mrs. Munoz, Kevin is calling me cupcake and I really don't like it."
"I will talk to him about it"
(After class is over)
"Kevin will you please see me for a second?"
"Yes Mrs. Munoz."
"Kevin, have you been calling Madison "cupcake", lately?"
"I was hungry."
"OK, well she doesn't appreciate that name, please refer to her as Madison from now on."
As I stifled the laughter that threatened to erupt from my chest, I shook my head in dismay as the little 6th grade boy rushed out of my class and headed to his next period. Later on while mentioning this anecdote to my peer teacher, she mentioned that he seems to call her lots of names, all terms of endearment that seem to make her uncomfortable. I was unaware of the "name-calling", yet in intrigued to know if this was something that I should explore deeper and go to my Dean of Conduct with. What seemingly is innocent can sometimes be bothersome to another.
You might ask how this correlates to our class, but it definitely connects to social norms in real life and the social norms in the digital world. How are we as educators supposed to know what is acceptable for out students to share online and how are supposed to filter them in appropriateness? More importantly, how do the kids know?
Since we do not know what their parents are teaching them, I propose that all students take an online module or complete a lesson similar to the one that UCF makes its students complete when taking online classes.
I am using this idea an opportunity to create a learning objectives for the students that will help them learn what is right and what is potentially wrong in a digital social environment. Here are some of my ideas for the learning objectives for middle schoolers:
1.Cyber Bullying - What is it ? How to prevent it. What to do if you are a victim?
2. Social Media- What is it? Review of popular apps and what they are used for.
3. Online Blogging- What are posts of substance? What is response of substance?
Giving students the basic overview on social media and how to be digitally appropriate will definitely be beneficial.
Please comment on your ideas or perhaps suggestions. This is a simple outline but I think a whole lesson could be applied and assessed. What do you think ?
Bellmarie,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the same social norms we teach students apply even more so in the digital world. I like the idea of having students complete a digital module exploring these ideas. In my classroom I have adopted a "common sense" model. Students must be respectful, courteous, and professional. I have found with my 8th graders this works well with most students and they even self monitor. I have caught many a kid telling another student digitally, to stop playing around.
What is nice about the computers is there is a lovely authentic consequence. If they misbehaved after being warned, I simply pull them off the computers.
Computers bring with them a whole new world with a whole new set of rules and regulations. I love how thoughtfully you are considering teaching your students to engage in this world. Thanks for sharing!
Bellmarie,
ReplyDeleteYou creatively connected your classroom experience with our EME5050 curriculum. You are correct that it is our responsibility to step in and teach our students about Digital Citizenship and all that it involves.
I teach at a private school that has created a technology vision statement for our entire campus, PreK3-12th grade. We have created posters that are in each classroom that easily explain what is expected of the students when it comes to technology use at school. This of course does not happen over night. We started by involving faculty and staff and formed a technology group that met after school.
You could start one for your school and discuss what you think would be important for the students of your school to learn about based on the outline you have started. There are also many resources online that have videos and presentations available that you could pull together for your module. For example, I used Nearpod with my classroom of 4th graders. It would be perfect to use with your 6th graders. If you have access to iPads, Nearpod is a free app that has free presentations on all sorts of different subjects. There is a Nearpod presentation for Social Media Responsibility that is great! Check out www.nearpod.com to use the web-based portion.
It is great knowing there are teachers out there like you that are coming up with such great modules for your students. These are important items and subjects to be thinking about as technology continues to be implemented into our curricula.
Kelly K.
Thank You for the advice Kelly K! I will definitely look up your ideas for a technology vision statement. It would be great to have the whole school on board for it.
DeleteOnce again thanks for your comments! Have a great winter break.
Bellmarie,
ReplyDeleteI truly have enjoyed reading your posts. I agree that teaching our students how to interact with others is very important, especially, digitally! I hope that you continue blogging for the benefit of all!