Checkout this student created video on YouTube. “Bookloose” Very clever and obviously a team effort with support from the admin and staff at the Middle School.
This might spark a few ideas for upcoming assignments. Not to mention spark support for your school library. 
OK, I admit it, I am in the midst of work avoidance. Not that the work is sitting here, staring me in the face – but ……
As I was reading some of the cohort blogs I noticed the cool tag cloud thing going on. Hmmm, maybe I could do that. Bet it will take HOURS, thus avoiding this heap of work on my left. Rats, it took about 45 seconds. Still it does look cool. I like the idea that the e biggest fonts come from three librarians. May they lead the way!!!!
OK, back to this heap that is beginning to look dangerously like it may tip over. If you don’t hear from me in the next few days, I am on the floor with the heap on top. (Does that sound like a case for CSI:Tunisia?
“Are you suffering from FOMO?” I insist. Read this blog now. Share it with your friends. If you are suffering from FOMO, it is not too late. Put down that cell phone. Step away from the computer. Smile at the next two people you see. Actually talk to someone face to face. Go through an entire meal without connecting to any technological device.
Have heart, it is not too late. Do this immediately after reading this post.
Tech Babes at Work
Julie Bredy and I collaborated on this project and asked Kristi Lonheim to contribute ideas to our work. We also met with Rick Park, our IT Director, and Paul Welsh, the secondary tech integrationist, to look over the document and get input from them. Rick explained that our AUP is part of our Student Handbook, which covers school policies, thus it ia separate, signed document is not created. Since the handbook for the next school year is currently at the printers, our document will not be used for a revision soon. Both Rick and Paul suggested we look at using our document as a basis for review next year. We will have a new IT Director to bring on board as well.
When Julie and I first met, we discussed who we wanted our “audience” to be for this document. Both of us, as elementary teachers, felt we needed a document written in language the children could understand. We didn’t want it to be overly long or wordy.
We gathered several AUP’s from around the world: Singapore American School (where Paul Welsh worked until this year), International School of Bangkok, and International School of Aberdeen (where our new IT Director currently works). Kristi sent us copies of AUPs from YIS, Woodbury School District, and South Brunswick School District. After looking at each document, we compared what was common to all the versions, and what each offered that others didn’t. Then we built a “skeleton” and met to discuss how to flesh it out and what to discard. We invited Kristi to have a look at this point. She made a brilliant suggestion. Our first – er second draft still contained statements starting with “Don’t ….”. Kristi suggested to make them more positive in nature. This was consistent with ISB’s version. I think it works well.
The hardest part of this project, for me, will come next school year. Julie and I agree that we want to start the year with discussions on being Digital Citizens. Though she is moving to Middle School, I think that we can work together to make lively discussions happen. I want to work with my students, teachers, and parents on this. Making each group aware of the AUP and making them a part of Digital Citizenship responsibilities will give us much more success.
Rick and Paul agree that it would be a good idea to pull together both librarians, the tech group, and admin to put together a focus on Digital Citizenship for the entire year. Bringing teachers on board by showing them how to model for their students, as well as giving them resources to use with their own work and that of their students. I also hope to work with parents on this as well.
I appreciate that the nature of this assignment was to devise a workable document, one that could become our school’s policy in some form at some time. Just as we strive to find “real world problems” for our students to tackle, having one of mine own felt good. Not just another task to finish to get to the goal line.
Below is our finished product. I am looking forward to seeing what is posted from all of you. Thanks again to Kristi who gave us some great food for thoughts. And I would like to thank Julie who was gracious with her time, right in the midst of preparing for student led conferences (and having them) and all the other time consuming chores a 5th grade teacher has. She is a pleasure to work with and I am so fortunate that she wanted to take these courses with me!
ACST Elementary School
Acceptable Use Policy – Course Two Final
The school provides computers and other technology services for you to use and they are a powerful tool to help you learn and communicate your learning. They are for everyone to share so we have to take proper care of them so they are available all of the time. Also, because they are school property, we must use them in educational ways and with the same respect we give to books, equipment, and the school building. Using computers at school is a privilege, not a right. These are the school rules and also the laws, both Tunisian and international, we expect all patrons to follow.
Equipment
Security and Privacy
Internet
License Some rights reserved by tvol
The more I read about copyright, citation, attribution, and the struggle to what is legally correct and an acceptable loophole, the more I find myself in a fog. There seems to be great latitude under the “fair use” phrase especially when using material for an educational purpose. I take great solace in Doug Johnson’s compilation of copyright posts. He seems to be guided by a common sense theme, often missing from other discussions. The idea that as long as it is non-commercial, for an educational use, and attribution given one is most likely safe appeals to me. I have never heard of any school or child being given a take down order or taken to court.
Perhaps by encouraging students and teachers to license their images and other materials via Creative Commons each group will have a better feel for the ownership issue. Putting the shoe on the other foot so to speak.
Speaking of Creative Commons, the people at Common Craft have really got a knack of explaining things in a simple, concise way. Their video “Creative Commons Explained” is a perfect example of this. Years ago, I remember seeing one on wikis. I am going to look it up. Makes me wish I could draw.
Now for a confession. I did not read much of the Curator’s Code. I got to this paragraph,
“While we have systems in place for literary citation, image attribution, and scientific reference, we don’t yet have a system that codifies the attribution of discovery in curation as a currency of the information economy, a system that treats discovery as the creative labor that it is.”
and felt my eyes glaze over and my mind drift away to what I might have for dessert later. I sent the quote to friends teaching in Scotland. They have dubbed this an example of “Jargon as Another Language”. It was suggested we had been JALfered. I do understand the need for uniformity. I am after all a librarian who owns a copy of Sears Library Headings and a copy of Dewey Decimal Classification. I just want the argument to be in plain English.
Could we please have some uplifting, positive readings now? I have read all the readings for week 2 of course 2: “RateMyTeacher.com”, “Don’t Overestimate Privacy of Online Information”, “Beware: the Internet Could Own Your Future”, and “Digital Profile Bookmarks”. I have checked to make sure I have the most locked down privacy on Facebook. Considering dropping it altogether. While I won’t be vying for college admission (except for SUNY on-line courses), I don’t want my general life spread across continents. (Mind you, I doubt that deadly dull will be something people are looking for.)
Checked my name and that of several friends and schools that I have worked at on the RateMyTeacher.com site. Can’t decide if it is good or bad that we aren’t there. Seems as if most of the posts are written by students. Several appear to be written by students that probably did not get a good grade. Resembles the ISR site for reviewing administrators and schools. I like the idea, but it seems to be more of a place to whine and complain without little balanced reporting.
After reading these articles it is clear to me that we must make sure that positive things about ourselves and our students appear online. Displaying good work, discussions about community projects, and recommendations that include constructive comments are desperately needed to off-set the ease of negative information. I am also going to be more aware of strangers being in my travel photos. Don’t want to add to their footprint.
Danah Boyd, in her blog article, “Bullying” Has Little Resonance with Teenagers, has stirred up lively discussions. While she is addressing teenagers in her piece, much of what she says speaks to us that work with the younger students. As I have mentioned previously, I am dealing with some cyberbulling issues at my school, with fourth graders. The Common Sense website has been very helpful. However, Danah’s statement in the article, “we need to start by understanding the underlying dynamics”, has caused me to stop and rethink my approach. What do I know about the family life of the “suspects” and the “victims”? What are the external influences upon these students? Am I using terms, such as bullying, when they really don’t relate to it at all.
As a victim of bullying during my middle and high school years, I am not so sure I would have been willing to try to see what was driving my tormentors. If memory serves me, and keep in mind my memory is not 100% accurate any longer, my main feeling was the overwhelming hope that someday I could get revenge. Thankfully, and great number of years later I no longer feel that need. I still don’t really want to know what was driving my tormentors but I have let go of them (mostly).
Conversations with children of all ages is vital. We must listen to what they are saying, watch their interactions with others, and be there to lend a shoulder or hand when they need it.
Some rights reserved by Striking Photography by Bo
There have been a few people that inspired me to be a better teacher, willing to take a risk and step out of my comfort zone. I have seen Doug Johnson present at many conferences and have enjoyed his Blue Skunk Blog for several years. Last year at the ECIS Librarians Conference I attended Joyce Valenza’s sessions. I have followed her blogs for many years but this was the first time I saw her in action. She has amazing energy and conveys her passion for working with children and giving them and educators all the tools they need. Her blog for the School Library Journal is Never Ending Search. Sums her up pretty well, I think. Tara Ethridge is the elementary librarian at International School of Bangkok. She is moving on after this year, and heading back to the classroom for a while. Librarians around the world will miss her. Her blog, Tech, Library, Classroom, is full of innovative ideas that she has done with her students and chock full of sites, books, and contacts that she has used. I was privileged to work with her in Shanghai. While in Shanghai, I was very lucky to share an office (for a time) with a young, hyper, passionate tech kid (I am old remember) that was always willing to help me try something new and fairly patient when he had to show me 3 more times how to do it. He certainly pushed me. You may have heard of him — Jeff Utecht. Guess why I signed up for this program.
Now, I told you all that, to tell you this. Joyce Valenza is attending the ASCD Conference in Philadelphia. She has attended sessions by one of the people that inspires her, Heidi Hayes-Jacobs. She writes about the first sessions on Heidi’s talk on her Never Ending Search blog. Click here. I am very interested in her comments about “differentiated professional development”. She gives examples such as, “new teachers with great tech skills needing help with curriculum development and older teachers needing help with tech skills.” As a good presenter should, she has given us some sites to look at and programs to use.
I have had the good fortune in my life to have people to inspire me. I hope all of you do as well.
Now that I am back home after a week spent in Sicily, I see there is much work to be done. Creative Commons licenses, copyright issues, cyberbullying, and on-line footprints will certainly keep me hopping. I read Kim Komando’s “Your online reputation can hurt your job search.” Then I went in search of myself. I found myself on three sites, all of which I expected: Linkedin, Google+, and Coetail. There were two Gwen Martin’s on Facebook but neither was me. Linkedin had 24 other Gwen’s. Some were very impressive. I found nothing starling, but I didn’t dig very deep. After reading Kim’s article and some of the flap in the news about employers demanding passwords, I have decided that my goal of retirement in three years might be better than I thought. Searching for a new job now could be scary.
I am looking forward to course 2 very much. I am in the midst of talking about cyberbullying with the 4th and 5th graders, so hoping for some good tips. We will talk about the good things about the internet and the not so good, as well as how to present yourself well. All of which ties in with this course perfectly. What a deal for me!
Congrats to James and to all of those just starting or looking forward to spring break “enjoy it as much as I did mine”. Rejuvenate and be ready for the push to summer.
My course one final project is a collaboration with a third grade teacher at the American Cooperative School of Tunis. We have just started implementing the plan, which will continue until the end of March. I have embedded the Ubd for the over-arching project and will include my library/tech goals which are part of the project here. They will be attached to Marilyn’s Atlas Rubicon page at a later date.
1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
**Students will produce a Public Service Announcement. They will watch some of the sample PSAs posted on the Roots and Shoots site to give them an idea of what has been done before. (www.rootsandshoots.org/campaigs/hopeforanimls/raiseawareness) As always, they will be asked to not merely “copy” some idea already done, but to put their unique stamp on the project.
A poster, used in the PSA, will be displayed around the school.
**Classroom teacher will be primarily responsible for this project and will oversea the scripting. However, the librarian and computer teacher will help with editing and in any other ways necessary.
2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
**We are working on setting up a Skype call to a sea turtle conservation expert. There are 2 sites here in Tunisia we hope to connect with. If not a site in Tunisia, we will look for another source. This is tricky due to time differences.
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
**Students will work in 3 person teams to produce a PSA. Each will be required to keep a journal of how what their team is doing. Their journals need to be done as a Word document and saved to their server account. (They may also save to a thumbdrive.) This ensures it will be handy to work on each day, not get lost between home and school, and can be accessed by the teacher team at any time. At conferences with the classroom teacher, the teams will discuss how each member is contributing.
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry:
**Students will work in groups of 3 (later to be their production team) to go over the assignment and expectations. They will be encouraged to ask questions to clarify what is expected of them and to suggest possible ideas to move forward.
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
**Classroom teacher, librarian, and computer tech teacher will participate in a lesson where group (including students) will brainstorm possible resources and how to access them. We will include a calendar/agenda of extra library and computer session, times when library is available for individual searching and work, as well as plans for guest speakers, etc.
**Librarian will conduct a session on the use of the databases available through the school. They have used World Book On-line before, but we have recently added two or three new ones that will be good for this project.
**Classroom teacher will discuss note-taking.
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
**Students investigated the website dedicated to the protection of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. The discussion included the visual appealing aspects of the site and the ease of navigating from one area to another. Students used the links to read further information, including The Cephlapod Page. They were asked to evaluate the site for usefulness in a project.
All students thought it was a very good site. They were very interested in this species and thought this site provided good information. Positive comments about the links were made.
All were gobsmacked to learn that there is no such thing as a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. (One student was sure I was wrong as there was a picture on the site.) We then discussed why it is important to find data on more than one site and to use a variety of sources to gather information. They came up with a 3 column form to use for their research, so they will find each fact 3 times to ensure they aren’t being “hoodwinked” again.
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
**Each group will be required to generate an outline, project proposal, or other method of showing how they will proceed. Should include what they hope to show, resources they may or may not use, and what the product will look like – in a general, beginning draft.
**Each group will be required to storyboard their PSA.
**Each group may decide who will be running the camera, who will be on-air talent, and who will be the director. They may choose to take turns doing all jobs. Everyone should be involved in the writing. (This group has done a lot of audio recording and are keen to move up to video.)
5. Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
**Students will be required to create a bibliography/works cited document.
Prior to this unit, all third graders received a user name and password for our Follett Library Management System, Destiny. By logging in as themselves they can create a “Resource List”. This is in essence a bibliography of books and websites available through Destiny.
During the initial library session he students created a “Resource List” labeled Sea Turtles or Endangered Species. As they locate materials (books or websites) they add them to this list. The follow-up lesson showed them how Destiny will create citations for each entry in their list. They then took this information and created a bibliography page in Word. It was saved to their account on our student server. Students will add other entries as they accrue them. They realize that prior to completion they will need to come and edit this page to make sure everything is correct and delete any entries they did not use.
**Students will spend 2 sessions looking for photos. They will use flickrcc.bluemountains.net/flickrCC/index.php to search for royalty free pictures. They will also use the Roots and Shoots site, www.rootsandshoots.org.
