Social media is here to stay. I recently asked my fifth-grade class if they have a social media account and about 80% of them raised there hand. It seems children are beginning earlier and earlier, making a strong focus on Digital Citizenship so important. Over the years, I have done a fair job of teaching my students about the internet but I believe that I can do more. Making class discussions personal and relateable is the key.
3 Examples of Personal, Digital Citizenship Opportunities 1. Last year, my District suggested that we use the grade-level lessons from Common Sense Media. One issue that I encountered is how to fit another curriculum into the school year. I decided to focus on social media, apps, websites and the internet at the beginning and end of the year because there seems to be the most available class time, so far this has worked well. Common Sense Media does a great job of focusing on topics such as media balance, gender stereotypes, digital friendships, cyber bullying and online news. I have found that students really like discussing media because it is unique from the typical school content, they think it is cool. I will continue to use Common Sense Media as part of my fifth-grade teaching curriculum. 2. I have a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism with a Focus on Public Relations and Marketing. I tell my students this because I previously worked in Public Relations in San Francisco where my job was to create excitement and exposure. This experience has led me to frequently discuss persuasive advertising techniques in hopes that students will be able to see through product efforts to skew their judgment. They have even created their own persuasive advertisements which I have shared in this session's lesson plan. 3. Dialogue makes things personal. I sometime allow my students to play 20 questions in which they can ask me any (school appropriate) question that they like. The kids love it and I love that they get to know me better. In the future, I think simply talking with students about social media including their excitement and concerns will give me the opportunity to connect with them and hopefully give them a healthy perspective regarding Digital Citizenship. I plan to open that door more frequently, it is so important.
4 Comments
Evrim Çakir
2/9/2020 11:10:13 am
My minor in college was Advertising, it was amazing then how the object was to target little kids, and now its even worse. I want a whole class subject to be digital citizenship. They need to learn. NOW!
Reply
Joel
2/11/2020 11:25:02 am
Agreed, students are exposed to so many things that I never had to think about. Exposure is the key.
Reply
Kirsten Fouquet
2/9/2020 01:41:41 pm
I love what you are doing. While students need to be taught digital citizenship all year, I think the end of the year is a great time to really focus on digital citizenship for fifth grade because it will be fresh in their minds for middle school.
Reply
Joel
2/11/2020 11:25:55 am
Good point, middle school seems to be where social media really increases. Education is the key. Thanks.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2020
Categories |