Lesson Planning Advice

Lesson planning takes practice, and for those who have done very little, if any, what worries you the most about the process? Those of you who have done some lesson planning, what advice can you give to others?

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Advice for lesson planning :

1. Start with the end in mind. Know what you want your students to know. Use backwards by design.

2. Think about a strong hook to capture your students' interest. What provocation can you use?

3. Be prepared to change your plan on the fly - be flexible.

4. Choose assessment tools that make sense with your lessons.

5. Have opportunities to extend and support the lesson.

6. Prepare all your materials in advance.

7. Only integrate technology if it makes sense and enhances the learning.

8. Think about your questioning strategies.

9. Be aware of timing, including transitions.

10. Think about the set up of the classroom, groups, physical layout.

11. Don't plan too far ahead - let your students' inquiries guide you. 

Issue: Illegal Downloads and Software Piracy

Choose one of these issues, relevant to the level you will be teaching, to investigate further. While you will have already investigated acceptable use policies there may be other issues related to safety you wish to explore further.

Use the links listed in the text as a starting point for your research.

Post a brief summary of your findings to your blog.

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As an educational institution, our schools are responsible for leading the way as digital citizens. This includes providing staff and students with legal software. Piracy and illegal downloads are not uncommon. According to one article, 1 in 10 Europeans admit to illegally downloading, with the number likely to have been higher (Debating Europe). 

Image from: http://www.debatingeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/15-Illegal-downloading-3.png

There are two organisations whose roll is to police the illegal downloads of music and video. These organisations are: Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Doug Chappell said that people need to "understand that digital theft does not only hurt the artist or the record label but also every one who works for them or is a supplier to them ie: couriers, recording studios, graphic artists, office workers, accountants, press and promotion people. The list goes very deep of those that will lose jobs or income due to the theft" (Wolfe-Wylie, 2012).

It is also important to know that copyright laws vary from country to country. While living in China, the copyright laws were very loose and didn't really exist. One of the main search sites in China, Baidu, actually supported and to some extent encouraged illegal downloading. It always boggled my mind that Google was blocked, VPNs were blocked but yet downloading music was so easily accessible in such a country. 

Nowadays, options such as Netflix and Spotify provide users with a wide range of songs and videos for a minimal monthly fee for unlimited views. Using these options also moves people toward a legal option of paid streaming with Spotify paying royalties (Spotify Artists, 2015). This ensures that these industries are properly being supported. 

We should continue to educate our students about illegal downloads, the impacts on industries and the impact on us if it is continued. Our students need to know that while one song downloaded may not seem to be an issue, one song multiplied by many times and many individuals definitely does add up. As educators, we should be the role models for our students and teach the alternatives to illegally downloading with legal options. 

References 

Debating Europe (2015). What would save the music industry from piracy? http://www.debatingeurope.eu/2015/06/26/what-would-save-the-music-industry-from-digital-piracy/#.Vp4LcVN97RQ

Spotify Artists. (2015). How spotify is contributing to the music industry. http://www.spotifyartists.com/spotify-explained/

Wolfe-Wylie, W. (2012). Music piracy hurts. Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/12/music-piracy-hurts

Web-Based Resources

Record in your blog some of the web-based resources that you may be able to use and how you will integrate them into your teaching.

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Piktochart

Piktochart is a great way to create digital infographics. Students can use these to represent primary or secondary data that they find. This can link to mathematics and data handling as a way to show the results of surveys.

Available at: http://piktochart.com/

Image from: https://d3pl14o4ufnhvd.cloudfront.net/v2/uploads/edf629fa-0527-424c-b069-1fd2353acbb9/0236e8d72de0b3ebb73ede360491ae484e88b061_original.png

Padlet 

Padlet is a digital cork board where post-its of ideas, videos or images can be posted. In a class setting, this is a great place to brainstorm ideas, generate questions, create a plan, or even share some of the learning that has been happening in the classroom. 

Available at: https://padlet.com/

Image from: http://region6pd.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/padlet.PNG/437353690/padlet.PNG

Wordle 

Wordle create a word cloud based on a list of words you provide the programme. This is a great way for students to generate a list of word related to a unit or topic. Students can also create a word cloud for a given piece of text to see what the most prominent words are in it. 

Available from: http://www.wordle.net/

Image from: http://tedteachersnetwork.pbworks.com/f/1285607143/wordle%20wordle!.PNG

QR Code Generator 

QR Code Generator generates a QR code for any digital resource. These QR codes can be used in class as part of a scavenger hunt, instructions for an activity or even on the back of a book to create an audio book. 

Available from: http://www.qrstuff.com/

Image from: http://www.qrstuff.com/images/default_qrcode.png

Digital Citizenship and Cyber Safety Links

Post to the Wiki and your blog any useful links you have found digital citizenry and cyber safety.
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CommonSense Media  - https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
 - Scope and Sequence - https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence
 - Graphite - https://www.graphite.org/

Digital Passport (Grades 3-5) - https://www.digitalpassport.org

Digital Compass (Grade 6-8) - https://www.digitalcompass.org

Digital Bytes (Grade 9-12) - http://digitalbytes.commonsensemedia.org/

MediaSmarts  - http://mediasmarts.ca/tag/categories/digital-citizenship

Google Digital Citizenship - http://www.google.com.au/edu/tools-and-solutions/index.html#

Cyberbully - http://cyberbully.org/

SchoolAtoZ: Raising Good Citizens - http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/technology/using-technology/raising-good-digital-citizens

Australian Government - Digital Citizenship - https://esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources/digital-citizenship?from=cybersmart

Digital Citizenship NSW - http://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/

Edmodo Digital Citizenship Starter Kit - https://blog.edmodo.com/2012/09/19/download-the-digital-citizenship-starter-kit-from-edmodo-common-sense-media/

NetSmartzKids - http://www.netsmartzkids.org/

5 Minute Film Festival - Teaching Digital Citizenship - http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-digital-citizenship

Resource Roundup - Digital Citizenship Edutopia - http://www.edutopia.org/article/digital-citizenship-resources

Discovery Education - Digital Safety Resources - http://www.discoveryeducation.com/DigitalSafety/

iKeepSafe - Google Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum - http://ikeepsafe.org/educators_old/more/google/

Digizen - http://www.digizen.org/

TeachInCTRL - http://www.teachinctrl.org/

Alberta Digital Citizenship Resources - http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/sssm/html/udt_digitalcitizenship_sm.html

Digital Citizenship resources - http://carmenl.weebly.com/

Digital Literacy Day - Resource RoundUp - http://www.edutopia.org/digital-learning-technology-resources

Social Media Education Resources - http://www.edutopia.org/social-media-education-resources

Good Digital Citizens

Post to your blog your ideas for ensuring your students are "good digital citizens" and "safe" users of technology in your classroom. This is much easier said than done, however there are a range of strategies you will have found recommended.

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Image from: http://blog.parentpaperwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CDNxzbcXIAATOCV.jpg 

Like any behaviours that teachers want to instill in their students, the expectations for behaviours need to be laid out at the beginning of the year. Within the first week of school, students engage in a lesson about the acceptable use policy. They are then expected to take a copy home, sign it and review it with their parents before returning it. All students in the Primary school begin with this routine. From there, it is easy to reference back to as the students begin to do activities. Teachers must be fully versed in the acceptable use policy as well and hold their students to this standard. Our acceptable use policy is quite thorough for students and focuses on the following topics: respectful, responsibility, care for devices, privacy, accessing appropriate information, referencing, discipline and social media (Chatsworth, 2015).

Image from: http://www.prn.bc.ca/ss/k5DL/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/I-am-a-digital-citizen-poster.png

Another important aspect of teaching students about digital citizenship is actually modelling it as a teacher. It is extremely frustrating as a education technology coach when teachers ask me how to do things that are illegal, not aligned with our acceptable use policy or incorrectly. If teachers do not model how to be a good digital citizen, how can we expect our students to? As teachers, we should be showing students how to engage appropriately with emails, citing our work and referencing images in presentations. We need to be leading the way when our students turn to use for the standard. One way I have done this is set up an email writing programme in the past where students email me each week and I respond with an email. From this, students understand the format of an email, appropriate email communication all while building their written communication skills and rapport with the teacher.

Digital citizenship should be embedded into the curriculum and not taught in isolation. Students need to make meaning of it by connecting it to real life experiences inside and outside of the classroom. The Year 6 students are currently doing their puberty unit and learning about body image. This also translate into their online image and how they see themselves.  The teachers and students are having conversations about the impact of media and social media on their views of themselves and the images they also share. They are also discussing how to communicate appropriately on social media platforms. These topics are completely integrated, giving students context for the topics. 

Image from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNUQToPRQPwkLcXJGYiGBFvU4joPMOH3xJpg7n2DUzK8-sQFym3ZbtqxNzfcBhPKgsOFu43i1bEiN3iL4A67QdWQrtXfW956TSxns5KSCT-HUtjFijd_LcqrGJW-YNsIg9rb5hsppd0n3/s1600/Think247pbis.png

There are also those times when teachable moments arise. Perhaps someone posts something inappropriately online or you see another student properly reference images. These are great conversations to have in the moment even though they weren't planned. When questions come up from students about something online, you shouldn't shy away from it but rather support the student's inquiry and help build their digital citizenship schema.

Image from: http://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/668091580397125633/1024/10/scaletowidth

One of the other things as an educator I need to be cognizant about is that educating a child is a partnership between the school and home. This is why we also need to educate our parent community. When I was a homeroom teacher, I made sure that my class parents were informed regularly about what we were doing in our classroom, the technologies we were using and conversation starters they could have with their children. As an education technology coach, I work with members of our leadership team to develop and conduct parent sessions related to their child's technology use. We also have an open door policy for parents to drop in and ask questions whenever they need to.

 

Image from: https://caponigrocommunique.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/parent-teacher-student1.jpg?w=271&h=253

Educating our students to become good digital citizens is not an easy task and not a task that can be accomplished in a year. It requires the whole school to approach digital citizenship as the way of moving forward. Currently our school is looking to build a digital citizenship curriculum that is integrated into various units from kindergarten to Year 13. Together with a whole school approach, we can work to support and model good digital etiquette for our students to follow.

References

Chatsworth International School. (2015). Acceptable Use Policy - Chatsworth Group of Schools [internal document]. 

Web 2.0 Tools Considering For Assignment

Post to the Wiki if you haven't already done so, links to the Web 2.0 tools you are considering using in your assignment or classroom.

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Please find a few of the resources I am currently considering for Assignment 2 below:

Applying social and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT
- CommonSense Media - https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ 

- MediaSmart  - http://mediasmart.es/en/home/

Investigating with ICT
- Kiddle - http://www.kiddle.co/ 

- Encyclopedia Britannica for Kids - http://www.britannica.asia/britannica-kids/

Communicating with ICT
- Google Sites - https://apps.google.com/products/sites/ 
- Blogger - http://www.blogger.com
- Weebly - http://www.weebly.com/

Creating with ICT
- Piktochart - http://piktochart.com/

- iMovie - http://www.apple.com/sg/mac/imovie/
- GarageBand  - http://www.apple.com/sg/mac/garageband/

Managing and operating ICT
- Google Drive - https://www.google.com/drive/
- Diigo - https://www.diigo.com/

Web 2.0 and Social Media in Lessons

Post to your blog the ways are you considering using Web 2.0 or social media in your lesson plans. If you are not planning to, how could you utilise it’s potential in the future if you were teaching your assignment topic?

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As we aim to broaden our students knowledge of the world, connections and communication becomes more important. Teaching through Web 2.0 allows students to communicate with others, instead of just a one directionally path with no authentic audience input (Hew & Cheung, 2012, p.48). Collaborative approaches to learning are key to helping students construct knowledge together.

In my classroom, I have used a number of Web 2.0 and social media tools to support learning:

Edmodo

Edmodo is like Facebook for education but fits the needs of my students who are under age 13 (age requirement of Facebook). It can be used a general discussion board to ask questions and share resources both during the school day and after hours. As a teacher, I can post polls and also reward students with badges for their efforts. It also provides a great platform for some important digital citizenship conversations such as appropriate online communication, what to reveal about yourself, the difference between professional and personal communication, who to connect with, avatars and profiles and online image.

Available at: https://www.edmodo.com

Image from: http://www.cnyric.org/tfiles/folder1037/Edmodo%20new.png

Skype
Skype is often an under used resource. Skype allows you to make video calls to another around the world. Last year, our class did a number of Mystery Skype calls with other classrooms to develop our geography and problem solving skills. We also sang Chinese songs with another school for Chinese New Year, wrote poems together and played math games against other classes.

Available at: http://www.skype.com/

Image from: http://www.skypeassets.com/i/common/images/icons/skype-logo-open-graph.png

Blogger
In Year 4, students create cultural blogs to explore their identities. As an international school, the students can find this task challenges with many being third-culture children. The blogs allows them the experiences of writing different posts to explore aspects of their identities and follow the journeys of their classmates and interacting with each other through the commenting features.

Available from: www.blogger.com

Image from: http://www.bloggerwidgetgenerators.com/p/what-is-google-blogger.html

e-Portfolios (Google Sites)
All students at our school have e-Portfolios from K1- Year 6. This is a great way for students to reflect on their learning and select pieces of work they wish to share. Students share these portfolios with parents, teachers and other students. Together it opens the lines of communication in person and through the comments. It really helps students to know we are all working to help them grow and learning with constructive feedback and encouragement.

Available at: https://www.google.com/sites/overview.html

Image from: http://fitsmallbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/GoogSitesFeat.jpg

Twitter
As a teacher, I use Twitter to connect globally with other educators. It is a great way to have short discussions while also getting ideas and resources. With the options of both private and public messages, I can easily communicate with the many educators I have met online.

Available at: https://www.twitter.com

Image from: https://g.twimg.com/Twitter_logo_blue.png

Here are 2 articles related to introducing social media to your classroom in the Primary school:
Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students 
A Guidebook for Social Media in the Classroom

References

Hew, K.F. & Cheung, W.S. (2012). Use of Web 2.0 Technologies in K-12 and Higher Education: The Search for Evidence-based Practice, Educational Research Review.  doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2012.08.001