8th Grade Teacher Reflects on Cyberbullying Lesson With Her Students

By Maggie Kilgore

"Turn Down the Dial on Cyberbullying and Online Cruelty” - CommonSenseMedia.org

Setting the Stage

Despite the fact that this lesson was identified as being targeted towards 9-12 graders, the topics discussed in "Turn Down the Dial on Cyberbullying and Online Cruelty" are highly relevant to our middle school population. In the lesson, students learn about how cyberbullying and online cruelty can either escalate or de-escalate quickly, identify factors that contribute to a situation’s escalating or de-escalating, and discuss ways that they can contribute to the escalating or de-escalating of cyberbullying and online cruelty.

Conversation and Debate

The videos in the lesson provoked meaningful and intense conversation and debate regarding the "definition of an offender", the options for de-escalating a situation, and the impacts cyberbullying and online cruelty can have on the target.  In the video, “Ricardo's Story”, Ricardo discusses how he and his friends post criticizing comments on both friends’ and foes’ social media sites. I found it interesting that a few of my students didn't consider the comments cyberbullying when they were made towards a friend. There was great debate over this that led to students to identify the intention, tone, and context of the criticism.  For example, one student stated that when the comments are made to a friend, they are meant in a joking manner.  We then discussed how a person can tell if a comment is a joke and how typing a thought versus speaking a thought can impair the true meaning of the message due to the lack of tone and emotion when commenting digitally.  Of course, now there are emojis for that! (I think Ricardo's video was filmed pre-emojis.)

Bystander or Upstander?

We talked about a bystander’s options for de-escalating cyberbullying and online cruelty.  Of course one can always ignore, block, flag, or tell an adult about an offender.  However, many students also suggested that bystanders "defend the victim" and stand up to the offender as a means to de-escalate.  I found one student’s comments regarding this very honest and brave.  She said that more often than not, when a person stands up for or defends a victim, they then become the target of the cyberbullying and online cruelty.  This is sadly true, especially in middle school, when students are still learning how to be secure enough with themselves to stand out in a crowd.  Students recognized that the positive impact of being an upstander for a target should outweigh the opinions of a few of their "cruel and immature" peers.

The most fascinating discussion we had was in regards to the impacts that cyberbullying and online cruelty can have on the target. ALL of my students KNEW the impacts.  However, as I pointed out to them, when our team was recently presented with a case of severe online cruelty, only one person out of the hundreds who viewed, posted, reposted, and/or commented stood up to the offender.  In fact, many of the very students sitting in my class contributed to the online cruelty and its ability to quickly spread, rather than helping to de-escalate.  I shared with them that the main offender, not a student at our school, when asked by the one upstander, not in this class, to please stop replied, "I will not stop until she kills herself."  We talked about

1)why none of them was an upstander,

2)how their views on their involvement changed over time,

3)how they may have contributed to the stress felt by the target, and

4)what they could/should have done differently. 

I was impressed with how many of my students participated and contributed to this conversation.

I shared with my students that I was impressed with the way that they all participated in such a positive way to our digital citizenship lesson.  I appreciated their openness and honesty and the respect they showed each other when sharing differing views.

Student Reflection

We closed our lesson with a reflection on two things:

1.  In regards to our own incident of cyberbullying and online cruelty, what did you learn about yourself, your contribution to the escalating and

2. Now that we have had this lesson and discussion, what do you hope to do differently if you are ever faced with a situation of cyberbullying and online cruelty? (Specifically as you enter high school and the adult world)

I truly feel that this lesson, combined with our open and honest discussion and debate, changed some of my students in a positive way. I think being able to refer to a recent situation that the majority of them had involvement in or at least were aware of helped them to really relate to the topic - because they personally know the characters (target, offender, bystanders, and upstanders).

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/turn-down-dial-cyberbullying-and-online-cruelty-9-10

Common Core:

grades 9-10: RL.1, RL.2, RL.4, RL.7, RL.8, RL.10, RI.1, RI.2, RI.4, W.2a-f, W.4-6, W.7-10, SL.1a-d, SL.2, SL.3, SL.5, L.4a, L.6

grades 11-12: RL.1, RL.2, RL.4, RL.7, RL.8, RL.10, RI.1, RI.2, RI.4, W.2a-f, W.4-6, W.7-10, SL.1a-d, SL.2, L.3, SL.5, L.4a, L.6

NETS•S: 1a, 1d, 2a, 2d, 3b, 3d, 4a, 4b, 4d, 5a, 5b"

Reinforcing Shape Characteristics With Keynote

By Summer Pettigrew, Tech IC

Things are taking shape in Mrs. Emma Armstrong's first grade class and the iPads are being used as a true learning tool.  Today, students were reviewing the characteristics of two dimensional shapes.  To help reinforce these characteristics, Mrs. Armstrong walked students through a few examples of how to create Keynote slides that show a picture of the shape and a brief description.  Students were thinking critically as they chose which slide would best support the information they wanted to relay and also deciding which classroom object best represents their shape to use as a picture.  It was quite impressive to see these young scholars create a useful study tool to help "shape" their understanding of the characteristics they learned about.

Liberty Hill students are Learning about Plate Tectonics

By Lacy Bryant, Tech IC

Ms. McGing's middle school students are learning about the extinction of trilobites and exploring continental drift with plate tectonics. Daytrell earned several OMG points today for knowing about the inventor of the theory of continental drift and being awesome (polite and respectful) in class today. I asked Daytrell about using the Chromebooks in class and he said that he likes using them in class and that he is "very good with technology." I am sure that if Daytrell likes using computers and continues working with them, one day he could have a lucrative career in the tech field!

Daytrell using his Chromebook

School of the Arts is rolling out iPads!

By Lacy Bryant, Tech IC

Sarah Fitzgerald, the multi-talented teacher from Charleston County School of the Arts, rolled out iPads with her Film Design class. Students were given the task of "Exploring with the iPads" to find out the capabilities of iMovie and iMovie trailers. Students learn about camera angles and other film techniques in this class and their skills are evident in their practice videos. Some of her students are also responsible for presenting the SOA News Show (LIVE!) on Fridays. These students will use the iPads to collect content for the news show so it is important that they know how to use iMovie and are familiar with what iMovie can do! Great job SOA students and Ms. Fitzgerald!

QR Codes for All!

Many teachers in Digital Learning Cohorts across the district have been utilizing QR codes to direct students to websites, directions for scavenger hunts, and even math problems!  This is such a great way to introduce students to iPads while incorporating various content and even digital citizenship!

Third grade students at Dunston Primary in Anna Getsinger's and Kandis Townsend's classes used QR codes to complete multiplication story problems. 

Fourth grade students in Erin Tarpley's class at North Charleston Creative Arts Elementary used QR codes to link to various reading selections in order to answer reading comprehension questions. 

High school students in Abby Duncan's class at Lincoln Middle High used QR codes to link to statistics word problems.

Digital Learning on Edisto Island

By Emily Elliott, Ed Tech Specialist

2nd grade students at Jane Edwards School use their iPads in a variety of ways. Working together in class allows students to push each other to be more creative when working on Keynote presentations and inspire each other in ways to present their work. Students are charged with troubleshooting problems on their own and asking designated iHelpers before coming to the teacher with their issues. 

Living on Edisto Island has its perks when you can take your iPad outside. Sunny days mean soaking up vitamin D and improving our math fluency! 

Nearpod is a Big Hit!

"I've never seen my students so excited about working with context clues before."  This is a quote from Early Elementary Montessori teacher Maria Meyers from Murray-LaSaine Elementary.  She has been using Nearpod to help differentiate for her multi-age classroom.  This fantastic tool has allowed her to use technology to teach small groups without having to use the SMART Board.  Having the presentation and interactive components on the student iPads prevents the whole room from being distracted by the small group presentation.  Today I saw her working with a first grade group on graphing skills as well as a third grade group who were working with equivalent fractions.  Students were engaged and eager to progress to the "quiz" component to see how they did with the lesson.  Nearpod is a great tool for any classroom, but today I really saw the benefits of it for a Montessori classroom.

Four Year Old Students Flex Their Tech Muscles!

Today I had the pleasure of being proven wrong!  I knew that working with 4 year old students was challenging in and of itself, but to add a 1:1 iPad component seemed like one of the biggest challenges of my day.   As I walked into Mrs. Diane Mann-Yaldaparast's blended CD classroom (Stono Park Elementary) to assist her in implementing the devices, I saw students who were just as eager as any fifth grader I've ever worked with.  They were excited to learn and wonder about the opportunities that the devices would give them.  Because today was day one, we decided to use a program that they were all familiar with: Tumblebooks.  Luckily, our public library has a subscription and even more luckily, there is a mobile version of the site.  These four year olds (with assistance of course) were adding the public library website to their home screen and accessing the downloadable materials.  From here, students chose an audio book to listen to.  They were so happy to have voice and choice in which books they read and were such responsible digital citizens.  The ease with which they learned and the excitement and pride I saw on their faces as they accomplished directive after directive truly made my day.

Substitution on Steroids

When faced with the use of iPads or Chromebooks in a workbook-completion setting, the teacher might feel defeated or even disheartened, but this does not have to be.  With a little ingenuity and some tech savvy, teachers can utilize the workbook activity on the 1:1 device using a PDF annotator.  

Michael Marsico of West Ashley Advanced Studies Magnet is determined to accomplish this goal for multiple reasons: to solve issues he has with missing workbooks and to build his students’ tech skills.  Students who apparently losetheir workbook on purpose to avoid doing work do not have an excuse anymore.  Students who legitimately lose their workbook and don't have the money to replace it don't have to worry about the financial burden on their families.  Now, the PDF version of the workbook is posted on the classroom Edmodo site for easy download. In addition to completing the activity, the students are more comfortable using a PDF annotator, a task which will become more prevalent and important in their personal and professional lives.

The PDF annotator in use is TinyPDF, a free app for download to iPads.  While it is called “tiny,” it functions as a powerhouse.  Students have the ability to use a pencil to free write, type text, and strike through, underline, and highlight text! They can even upload their in-process or completed file to their Edmodo backpack or their Google Drive. Many other popular PDF annotators do not boast this feature.

Just as workbooks and worksheets need to be collected, these PDF files can be handed in to be checked.  One very easy way to check these on an iPad or Chromebook is to have students take a screenshot of the specific page or pages and upload them to Edmodo, Google Classroom, or Google Drive. While this is simply at the substitution level of SAMR, it is so much more than filling out a worksheet.  Try TinyPDF if you are looking for a no-cost solution to annotating.

Garrett Academy Rolls out Chromebooks! 

- Lacy Bryant

This week, students in Ms. Lyles' Biology class got their Google Classrooms and Chromebook profiles set up. Their Digital Citizenship lesson from the day before was about how people represent themselves online. Students took a look at actual photos of people and the photos that they selected to represent them as avatars. After the class had a discussion and reflection, students were directed to take a photo of themselves to use as their Chromebook avatars. No wonder there were a few minutes of hair fixing and retaking of photos! These kids were really interested in representing themselves in a positive and professional manner.

(Students in Ms. Lyles' class getting ready to snap pictures of themselves.)

Students in Ms. Anderson's class started using their Chromebooks for the first time today as well! Their first activity was designed to allow students to get used to using the touchpad on the Chromebook, to learn how to take screenshots of their work, learn how to upload screenshots to Google Classroom, AND practice some of their prior learning. Students in her class played an interactive review game where they had to evaluate slope intercept equations and use the solutions to smash roaches (yes, roaches) dead!

(Students in Ms. Anderson's class smashing math roaches!)

(This is a picture of Ms. Anderson's beautifully organized Chromebook Cart! She had these bright green little stickers that were the perfect size for labeling each compartment. Now, students can easily return their Chromebooks to the cart. When I talked to Ms. Lyles about her cart, she and I realized that to get it organized how she wants it, she will need to take a little trip to one of our favorite places on earth, HOBBY LOBBY, to pick up a paint pen.)

We rolled out our iPads yesterday with a  review of our SOP's and a

fun QR hunt with Amy (still trying to decide whether to call her Ms. T

or Ms. Tech! :)). Kids had a blast as they took selfies, explored

iMovie and keynote and got excited about all the possibilities with

our iPads!   We have a lesson planned next week with our cafeteria

manager, Brian Wilson. We are going to take a taste test, collect

data, take surveys, and compile the data all on our iPads (well - we

won't taste our iPads!) . Then we are going to make commercials to

convince other kids to try our favorites in the lunchroom!

Thanks!

EC Setser

Creativity with Keynote

Today I visited with Mrs. Tatia Williams, and second grade teacher at James Island Elementary School and Mrs. Amanda Cook, a fifth grade teacher at Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary. Both of these teachers have been doing a fantastic job of getting their iPads ready to roll out by taking the time to teach the basics. Digital Citizenship is at the heart of all of their activities.


My first stop was second grade. I was so excited to see all of Mrs. Williams's students with devices in hand as I walked in. Students were taking their original poetry and creating Keynote presentations that displayed their work. Many were looking for appropriate clip art that would compliment their poems, while others were collaborating with a partner about how they could rhyme certain words to create a rhyming pattern. The students were very proud of their work and even shared it via Smartboard with their peers.

As I ventured into fifth grade, Mrs. Cook had her students creating informational Keynote presentations about Pearl Harbor. Students used information that they learned previously and were given guidelines to create a short presentation that summed up the United State's entrance into World War II. As students were summarizing key facts and looking for pictures that complemented their ideas, you could see authentic learning taking place. This activity reinforced what content had already been covered and allowed students to go further in their learning.

Chemistry and Chromebooks!

Students used Google Docs and Google Sheets to write procedures, hypotheses, and record lab results in Ms. Young's 9th grade chemistry class. After boiling and diluting, students had to conclude if the substance had an ionic or covalent bond. Students were careful to keep the Chromebooks away from the science lab table so they would not get wet or charred!

The Mount Pleasant primary and elementary DLC schools have been rolling out their iPADS over the last several weeks. I have seen amazing lessons with Keynote, like guess the Dr. Seuss book and some Civil War presentations. Some teachers have done blackout bingo using tinyPDF, and weather websites to start a research project.  Students have been learning to research, airdrop, save photos, and much, much more!  It is amazing to walk into a second grade classroom and see them captivated by a virtual visit to the San Diego Zoo to record research on their own iPAD.  Students have been "over the moon" during each iPAD roll out, and we are so lucky to be a part of this cohort to share in the joy and excitement of using the iPAD as an instructional tool.  Each day I am blown away by the caliber and dedication of the teachers in this cohort!  (And the students aren't too bad themselves!)

 Judith Popowhich's class at Jennie Moore exploring with the QR code scavenger hunt! 

 Cynthia Stelow and Erin Gibbs at Belle Hall Elementary prepare the students for a captivating lesson on Keynote!  They prepared slides with clues to help somebody guess the Dr. Seuss book they chose! 

 Students in Shelley Shuler's class are deep in research at the San Diego Zoo at Whitesides Elementary on their virtual field trip!  

Chromebook Cart Magic

Here are some great tips from Ian Banker at Wando on getting your Chromebook Cart organized.

Big Picture:

I wanted the Chromebook cart organized with the plugs in the front so they can easily be connected and charged.

Step 1) Set up zip tie wiring above each of the Chromebook areas.

Step 2) String the chords through the zip tie wiring so that the cable hangs over the front zip tie.

Step 3) Zip tie the wires together into groups of 5 in the front, such that it is nearly impossible to pull them out of place.

Step 4) Color and number code!

Detailed pictures and for each step:

1. Set up zip ties to hang cables on...

There are basically 3 full rings under each platform, made of 5 zip ties each.

2. Weave chords through zip ties

One side of the plugs will weave through the top chrome books, the other side will weave through the bottom.

Weave each plug over and under the zip ties, such that the plug will hang over the zip tie that is closest to the front.

3. Plug in and minimize slack

Adjust the slack of each chord in the back so that there is no extra “dangle.”

Next, zip tied chords in the back so that is is hard to pull the chords forward.

Finally, zip tie the chords together, in groups of 5, around the front zip tie so that they are in groups of 5.

9th Grade Sovereignty!

A group of 9th Graders at Wando High School were hard at work creating their very own country! From government to industry, students were asked to consider components such as agriculture and trade to create an independent nation! Once all components are in place, students are using WeVideo to create a persuasive, informational video to use as their application to the United Nations.

Students download WeVideo and are exploring the app!

Jason Brisini leads the activity along with Ms. Allegretto.

Students used StoryJumper to create their farms.

Getting Excited About Non-Fiction!

Fifth grade students in Mrs. Jennifer Tillman's class at Harbor View Elementary are getting excited about non-fiction!  I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with this wonderful class as Mrs. Tillman helped to set them up and expose them to Newsela.com.  The students were extremely excited to be reading and completing assignments digitally.  Mrs. Tillman is able to use this site to monitor her students' progress through the articles, and because the students can choose which Lexile the article is written in, the teacher no longer has to  provide differentiated reading passages from numerous resources.  I'm looking forward to getting back to Harbor View as these digital citizens continue to grow!!

Collaboration Gets Students Excited and Engaged!

No more coaxing students to complete their research and writing assignments. Students are begging to do more work on their Chromebooks using Google Apps for Education! Below is Mrs. Leland with her 8th grade Social Studies class. They are using the Research Tool within Google Slides to help them find interesting historical facts! Students are collaborating on one project through the Share feature of Google Slides!

Teachers Getting Started with the Digital Learning Cohorts

Teachers from the Digital Learning Cohort #8 for iPads (West Ashley elementary schools) had their first meeting in February. They began creating Standard Operating Procedures with their cohort partners and explored www.commonsensemedia.org for lessons on Digital Citizenship. Teachers also took time to talk about the "Why" - it's not about the device, it's about why teachers and students are using technology with learning. Teachers were enthusiastic about participating in the Digital Learning Cohort. We look forward to exciting learning activities from these classrooms.

                 

Learning with iPads at Chicora School of Communications

Students in Mrs. Dillahey's classroom at Chicora School of Communications began using iPads with learning this week. They are exploring Digital Citizenship through lessons from commonsensemedia.org and activities in class. Students also signed an iPad contract agreeing to use the devices responsibly. This is the beginning of an exciting journey with 1:1 devices for students in Mrs. Dillahey's classes. We look forward to hearing about future learning activities!