I LOVE my Circus Puppet Theater from Restoration Hardware -- the students have so much fun using the puppets! Earlier in the year, I began using puppets with first graders to help them develop comprehension skills while listening to a story. Each puppet had a job to do -- asking a teacher question, making a prediction, summarizing the story, or acting out an important part of the story. Now, we are moving onto illustrator studies and need new jobs...luckily, I have these great new puppets!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Podcasting
I am finally getting the hang of podcasting! For the first time, I actually have a student/teacher (i.e. me) collaboration that sounds good! So far, I am still doing most of the tech aspects, but I am hoping to get a group of 4th grade tech clubbers to start learning Audacity.
Let me know what you think!
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Let me know what you think!
Subscribe Free Add to my Page
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Internet Safety for Parents
What can you do to ensure that you and your children have a safe, positive Internet experience? As promised, here are some ideas and resources for parents.
1. First, and most importantly, discuss not just rules but guidelines with your children. Develop a household contract for Internet usage.
Rules tend to be of the “because I said so” variety and do not enable children to truly learn why they are necessary. Instead, work with your children to come up with a shared group of guidelines. Talk through the importance of each guideline. Turn them into a contract, with each member of the family signing off on them. Then post them right next to the computer for all to see. Check this website from NetSmartz to find Internet safety pledges your family can use.
The Internet safety pledges on the NetSmartz page are a great jumping off point for discussing protection from strangers, but don’t say much about protecting yourself even when you are talking to known friends. Many children and teens are using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to connect with friends, chat, and develop a sense of self. Social networking sites are great tools, when used appropriately; however, many children (and adults) don't consider or realize all of the effects of having a virtual "self." (If you are unfamiliar with social networking services, sign up for an account yourself, check out this Wikipedia page to learn more, or watch this quick video from Lee LeFever on the Common Craft Show:
2. Establish trust.
All children inevitably defy their parents at some point or another. For whatever reason, they just can’t believe that you have their best interests in mind. But when it comes to Internet safety, the danger becomes even greater if you have not already established a trusting relationship with your children. If their fear of losing their Internet privileges is greater than their fear of a danger they face on the Internet, they may not come to you to discuss it. At the first hint of trouble, your primary inclination will be to lock the computer away, and your child with it. Try to hold back. Remember, these kids are the information age, and no amount of locks and keys will keep them from using the Internet, so help your child solve their problem responsibly and be the adult they need.
From the beginning, let your children know that in order to use MySpace, Facebook, e-mail, instant messaging, Blogger, Twitter, Bebo, YouTube, Second Life, Webkinz, Flickr, or even Amazon, they will need to let you in on it. Set up the profiles together. Talk about password protection together. Let them know from the beginning that you do not want to invade their privacy, but if they don’t want mommy to see it, it isn’t happening. Keep your computer in a high-traffic area of your house, not in your child’s bedroom. As your child gets older, give him/her more privacy to explore personal issues, but develop that privacy slowly, and continue to discuss privacy issues with your child.
3. Really, truly, thoroughly discuss the notion of privacy on the Internet.
Children often post pictures, events, and other personal information to their profile pages, assuming they are private. These pages can be set to private so that only known friends can see the information, but children also need to know that any "friend" can copy and past the information to a public forum or distribute to a wider audience. In addition, children also befriend people they don't really know, thereby eliminating the whole notion of privacy. Be sure you talk to your children about this notion of privacy. Together, work through all of the advantages and disadvantages of posting certain types of information to the Internet. Allow them to work out for themselves exactly why they need to be careful, and guide them toward safe, appropriate behavior. We all know that a child's ability to reason something through to the end is simply not as well-developed as an adult's, and your children will be much more responsive to your guidelines if they understand the reasoning behind them!
4. Become a positive role model for your children. Do what they are doing, but do it better.
If your child is using Facebook, MySpace, IM, Twitter, e-mail, or anything else, you should be doing it too. You don’t need to spend all your free time checking your friends’ status updates, but play around with the tools enough that you feel confident discussing and using them with your child. If you don’t figure out how to use the tools appropriately and responsibly yourself, how can you expect your child to be more responsible than you are? Create a social network of parents and use it to model a positive social network. You will probably be surprised at what you can do with it!
5. Learn from your children.
Face it. Unless you are in the IT business, your kids know more about using the Internet than you will probably ever know. You are the digital immigrant, your children are digital natives, blah blah blah. If it were truly a language barrier, you would never just go about your life speaking a different language than your children and being unable to communicate with them. This is their mode of communication. This is their language. Learn it. Let them teach you what they are doing on the computers. It will help you learn, establish that all-important trust, and help them develop their skills!
6. Do your research. Google yourself. Google your kids. Pay attention.
Regularly keep track of your Internet presence. Go to www.google.com and search for your name in quotes. Add the name of the company you work for, a league you are in, or an organization you belong to. Do multiple searches to find information buried on the Web. Do the same for your children. Find out what is already out there on the Internet about you and your family, and monitor it regularly. Be the role model your children need.
7. Talk to me!
I don't claim to be a true expert on these issues, but I am certainly accessible. I use social networking sites, e-mail, IM, and other technologies regularly and would be glad to show you how I use them, what I use them for, and how you can set up your own accounts. Please, don't feel at all afraid to bother me. The worst thing you can do is to stay in the dark.
1. First, and most importantly, discuss not just rules but guidelines with your children. Develop a household contract for Internet usage.
Rules tend to be of the “because I said so” variety and do not enable children to truly learn why they are necessary. Instead, work with your children to come up with a shared group of guidelines. Talk through the importance of each guideline. Turn them into a contract, with each member of the family signing off on them. Then post them right next to the computer for all to see. Check this website from NetSmartz to find Internet safety pledges your family can use.
The Internet safety pledges on the NetSmartz page are a great jumping off point for discussing protection from strangers, but don’t say much about protecting yourself even when you are talking to known friends. Many children and teens are using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to connect with friends, chat, and develop a sense of self. Social networking sites are great tools, when used appropriately; however, many children (and adults) don't consider or realize all of the effects of having a virtual "self." (If you are unfamiliar with social networking services, sign up for an account yourself, check out this Wikipedia page to learn more, or watch this quick video from Lee LeFever on the Common Craft Show:
All children inevitably defy their parents at some point or another. For whatever reason, they just can’t believe that you have their best interests in mind. But when it comes to Internet safety, the danger becomes even greater if you have not already established a trusting relationship with your children. If their fear of losing their Internet privileges is greater than their fear of a danger they face on the Internet, they may not come to you to discuss it. At the first hint of trouble, your primary inclination will be to lock the computer away, and your child with it. Try to hold back. Remember, these kids are the information age, and no amount of locks and keys will keep them from using the Internet, so help your child solve their problem responsibly and be the adult they need.
From the beginning, let your children know that in order to use MySpace, Facebook, e-mail, instant messaging, Blogger, Twitter, Bebo, YouTube, Second Life, Webkinz, Flickr, or even Amazon, they will need to let you in on it. Set up the profiles together. Talk about password protection together. Let them know from the beginning that you do not want to invade their privacy, but if they don’t want mommy to see it, it isn’t happening. Keep your computer in a high-traffic area of your house, not in your child’s bedroom. As your child gets older, give him/her more privacy to explore personal issues, but develop that privacy slowly, and continue to discuss privacy issues with your child.
3. Really, truly, thoroughly discuss the notion of privacy on the Internet.
Children often post pictures, events, and other personal information to their profile pages, assuming they are private. These pages can be set to private so that only known friends can see the information, but children also need to know that any "friend" can copy and past the information to a public forum or distribute to a wider audience. In addition, children also befriend people they don't really know, thereby eliminating the whole notion of privacy. Be sure you talk to your children about this notion of privacy. Together, work through all of the advantages and disadvantages of posting certain types of information to the Internet. Allow them to work out for themselves exactly why they need to be careful, and guide them toward safe, appropriate behavior. We all know that a child's ability to reason something through to the end is simply not as well-developed as an adult's, and your children will be much more responsive to your guidelines if they understand the reasoning behind them!
4. Become a positive role model for your children. Do what they are doing, but do it better.
If your child is using Facebook, MySpace, IM, Twitter, e-mail, or anything else, you should be doing it too. You don’t need to spend all your free time checking your friends’ status updates, but play around with the tools enough that you feel confident discussing and using them with your child. If you don’t figure out how to use the tools appropriately and responsibly yourself, how can you expect your child to be more responsible than you are? Create a social network of parents and use it to model a positive social network. You will probably be surprised at what you can do with it!
5. Learn from your children.
Face it. Unless you are in the IT business, your kids know more about using the Internet than you will probably ever know. You are the digital immigrant, your children are digital natives, blah blah blah. If it were truly a language barrier, you would never just go about your life speaking a different language than your children and being unable to communicate with them. This is their mode of communication. This is their language. Learn it. Let them teach you what they are doing on the computers. It will help you learn, establish that all-important trust, and help them develop their skills!
6. Do your research. Google yourself. Google your kids. Pay attention.
Regularly keep track of your Internet presence. Go to www.google.com and search for your name in quotes. Add the name of the company you work for, a league you are in, or an organization you belong to. Do multiple searches to find information buried on the Web. Do the same for your children. Find out what is already out there on the Internet about you and your family, and monitor it regularly. Be the role model your children need.
7. Talk to me!
I don't claim to be a true expert on these issues, but I am certainly accessible. I use social networking sites, e-mail, IM, and other technologies regularly and would be glad to show you how I use them, what I use them for, and how you can set up your own accounts. Please, don't feel at all afraid to bother me. The worst thing you can do is to stay in the dark.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Internet Safety - Conversations with Parents
When you sign up to be a librarian, it's almost like signing the Hippocratic Oath of Information. Most of us believe fairly strongly in the Library Bill of Rights and in free access to information. So I was a bit worked up after attending a recent PTA meeting about the perils of the Internet. As a first-year librarian without any social capital, I really needed to gain the parents' trust and was in no position to disagree with a police officer, so I found myself stuck in a corner, biting my tongue.
Our PTA invited the local police officer to speak about Internet safety at tonight's meeting. Don't get me wrong, it was a very necessary conversation to have, but I wish it hadn't been so one-sided. The officer thoroughly covered the dangers children face when using the Internet -- knowingly or unknowingly divulging personal information to strangers, navigating to inappropriate sites, etc. But the answer proposed was secretly installing tracking software that allows you to view everything your child (and babysitter) posts. To each his own, but I find that terribly offensive and would use such a method only as a last resort. I understand that Officer Fuller is a police officer first and an educator second. As a result, she stresses prevention at any cost and sees the issues from that particular lens. But with something as important and ever-changing as the Internet, there will never be a quick fix. To suggest that parents can pass off all personal responsibility onto a software package is awfully short-sighted, considering the stakes. In addition, parents risk losing their children's trust as well as the important dialog that takes place when parents and children learn and develop Internet safety strategies together.
During this meeting, there was no real conversation about how to talk to your child about Internet safety, what to do to truly educate yourself, or how to positively learn and navigate your way through the Internet with your child. It was a lot to handle in one session to begin with, so maybe that's Part 2. I sure hope so. Because the conversation should never be about preventing your child from learning and exploring. The conversation needs to be about learning and exploring with your child in a meaningful, positive environment.
In addition, I learned that Internet safety education is conducted at the same time as drug and alcohol education for our 5th grade students. I'm not crazy about the message that the Internet is in the same hateful category as booze and cigarettes. The Web is their world. By the time they graduate high school, it will literally be everywhere. We are putting them at a severe disadvantage by equipping them only with the skills they will need to navigate the world we know, and ignoring what they will need for that world.
The whole meeting got me truly thinking about where a parent's responsibility lies. It is common for adults to talk about the ways their children misuse the Internet as if they themselves know better. But do they? Are they taking the steps to educate themselves as fully as they would like their children to be educated? Do they regularly conduct Internet searches on both themselves and their children? Do they experiment with Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz themselves when their children ask to set up accounts? Have they attempted to get involved in a positive and appropriate social network to model for their children? And it goes even further: as an educator, I do what I can to teach students these vital 21st century skills. But have I been neglecting half of my duty by not also educating their parents?
The bottom line is this: you can't expect your kid to be more responsible about the Internet than you are yourself. Yes, you are a digital immigrant and that is a difficult position to be in. I get it. But it is your responsibility as a parent to at least TRY to speak the same language as your child. And I am here to help.
Now that I've gotten past being appalled, I would be remiss to rant without giving my own positive suggestions, so...coming soon: effective strategies parents can use to practice and preach Internet safety in their homes.
Our PTA invited the local police officer to speak about Internet safety at tonight's meeting. Don't get me wrong, it was a very necessary conversation to have, but I wish it hadn't been so one-sided. The officer thoroughly covered the dangers children face when using the Internet -- knowingly or unknowingly divulging personal information to strangers, navigating to inappropriate sites, etc. But the answer proposed was secretly installing tracking software that allows you to view everything your child (and babysitter) posts. To each his own, but I find that terribly offensive and would use such a method only as a last resort. I understand that Officer Fuller is a police officer first and an educator second. As a result, she stresses prevention at any cost and sees the issues from that particular lens. But with something as important and ever-changing as the Internet, there will never be a quick fix. To suggest that parents can pass off all personal responsibility onto a software package is awfully short-sighted, considering the stakes. In addition, parents risk losing their children's trust as well as the important dialog that takes place when parents and children learn and develop Internet safety strategies together.
During this meeting, there was no real conversation about how to talk to your child about Internet safety, what to do to truly educate yourself, or how to positively learn and navigate your way through the Internet with your child. It was a lot to handle in one session to begin with, so maybe that's Part 2. I sure hope so. Because the conversation should never be about preventing your child from learning and exploring. The conversation needs to be about learning and exploring with your child in a meaningful, positive environment.
In addition, I learned that Internet safety education is conducted at the same time as drug and alcohol education for our 5th grade students. I'm not crazy about the message that the Internet is in the same hateful category as booze and cigarettes. The Web is their world. By the time they graduate high school, it will literally be everywhere. We are putting them at a severe disadvantage by equipping them only with the skills they will need to navigate the world we know, and ignoring what they will need for that world.
The whole meeting got me truly thinking about where a parent's responsibility lies. It is common for adults to talk about the ways their children misuse the Internet as if they themselves know better. But do they? Are they taking the steps to educate themselves as fully as they would like their children to be educated? Do they regularly conduct Internet searches on both themselves and their children? Do they experiment with Facebook, MySpace, and Webkinz themselves when their children ask to set up accounts? Have they attempted to get involved in a positive and appropriate social network to model for their children? And it goes even further: as an educator, I do what I can to teach students these vital 21st century skills. But have I been neglecting half of my duty by not also educating their parents?
The bottom line is this: you can't expect your kid to be more responsible about the Internet than you are yourself. Yes, you are a digital immigrant and that is a difficult position to be in. I get it. But it is your responsibility as a parent to at least TRY to speak the same language as your child. And I am here to help.
Now that I've gotten past being appalled, I would be remiss to rant without giving my own positive suggestions, so...coming soon: effective strategies parents can use to practice and preach Internet safety in their homes.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Book-to-Movie
I went to see The Golden Compass this past weekend. It was good, but didn't hold a candle to the book. One of the previews for the movie was Inkheart, also based on a great fantasy book. While I always end up just as excited about these movies as the 10-year-olds are, I am starting to get a little irritated about the sheer number of children's/YA books that are being turned into movies these days. If I loved the book (and chances are, I did), then I always see the movie too...and usually I even like the movie. But it bothers me when the entire New York Three Apples Book Award list is made up of books that have been turned into movies. Of course, the list is composed of student suggestions in the first place, and there is certainly a chance that some of these students ended up reading the books because they liked the movies. So maybe I am being pessimistic to assume that those students are few and far between, but it's discouraging when a whole class responds that they have not read the book, but the movie was really good!
Just FYI, the 3 Apples list for this year is below. How many are not popular movies?
Just FYI, the 3 Apples list for this year is below. How many are not popular movies?
- Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
- The BFG by Roald Dahl
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
- Eldest by Christopher Paolini
- Eragon by Christopher Paolini
- Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
- Matilda by Roald Dahl
- The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
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