Digital Citizenship and the Learner Profile.

 

Principled -- For me, this is the most important Learner Profile in terms of Digital Citizenship.  Users need to understand that anything they post to social media or the internet has now become 'public' record.  Anyone can access your information and or use it.  Any time I have posted anything to the internet I think to myself, "Would I be embarrassed if (Fill in the blank) saw it?"  It's important to be responsible when using the internet...We don't always know who we may be communicating with or what their intentions are.  

Caring -- It's easy to hide behind a computer screen and keyboard.  I think that people tend to be braver and say things that they wouldn't necessarily say if they were communicating face to face.  This is something I think about prior to posting comments on social media or in a blog post.  Am I being polite? Would I have the courage to say this to the person face to face?  Is what I am posting said in a tone that I would be able to accept if someone said it to me?  Basically, If you can't be nice, then don't say it at all.  

Thinkers -- There is so much garbage on the internet.  When teaching my students about researching a topic, I remind them that they should check that what they have found is repeated in a similar way by at least two other sources.  I remind them that not everything they read will be true. They have to think about what they are reading and ask themselves, am I reading this from a reliable source or is this equivalent to a tabloid news paper.  

Open-minded -- Because the internet allows people to connect with one another from all over the world, I think that students and users are given the opportunity to see a topic from a different perspective.  This allows students and users to expand their thinking and belief systems, by connecting with people who are different from themselves.  

Communicators -- It is important to use language effectively and in a way that can be understood when using technology.  What might be culturally appropriate in one culture may not be appropriate in another culture, so being aware of that when communicating collaboratively when online. 

Inquirers -- Users have the ability to find out information, ask questions, make observation and communicate with others when online.  Using technology encourages a user to broaden their curiosity.  It results in instant gratification.  

Knowledgeable -- Users are able to gain a wealth of knowledge from the online world using resources that are written in different perspectives.  Again, the user needs to ensure the information they are obtaining is reliable.  

Reflective -- The user needs to be reflective about many subjects when using the internet.  They should take into consideration the information they are sharing and the language that is being used when sharing it digitally.  They should reflect on the information they've obtained, "Is it reliable?" "Is what I'm communicating respectful and culturally acceptable?" 

Balanced -- It is important that the user is not relying too much or spending too much time on the internet.  Their physical, emotional and mental health need to be kept in mind when using digital resources or games.  One must ask, "Am I becoming consumed by being online?" "Is this addictive?"  "Am I making 'real' face to face connections with people as well?" 

Risk-taker -- The user will often take on different roles when using digital tools.  They may create their own blog, take on a leadership role by starting a new chat group, step out of their comfort zone by posting appropriate videos of themselves.  Forming connections with complete strangers is the sign of a risk-taker.  

Connecting to Two Different 'Mystery Classrooms' Using Different Applications

 

                                                

I am taking an online PYP course, and this weeks lesson engagement was to connect with a classroom from outside of my current school.  I ended up working with two of my cohorts.  I did the same lesson with both cohort classrooms, but we used different applications to connect.  One was done through Zoom and the other was done through Google Docs.  The activity was "Mystery Classroom". The objective was to get the students in each class to ask and answer 21 yes or no questions.  The students then had to use the clues from the answers to try to determine where in the world the classroom was located.  This activity reminded me a of a TV series that was popular with kids in America (U.S.A.) in the late 80's early 90's.

I informed my students about the games we would be playing this week. I did explain that we would be using 2 different applications to play the games.  Honestly, I thought for sure that playing the game through Google Docs. would not be as engaging as playing it in Zoom....Keep reading to find out the outcome to both games. 

Classroom 1.  (Ms. Anjana's Class). Application Zoom:

On Tuesday afternoon we connected with Ms. Angi's class.  My students had seen on our daily schedule that we would be making the call at 2:10 in the afternoon.  They immediately started to deduce which parts of the world the call could not be in.  I over heard their conversations with one another during "settling in time".  The kids were saying things like, "Well, It can't be in America, because Ms. Melissa has talked to us about her family in America.  We know that they are 12 hours behind us.  It would be 2:00 am over there so they would be sleeping."  I didn't respond nor did I correct them...because since the initial conversation occurred Day Light Savings has happened in the US and the time difference was now 13 hours.  That information would not have changed the outcome and I really just wanted to hear them talk freely.  Some of the students then began to talk about other countries that it couldn't have been, Japan was mentioned because kids knew that Japan was ahead of us in hours, and school wouldn't be in session.  They also talked about some of the Central American countries because they figured that they would be in the same time zones as America. It was fun to watch their inquire take place...uninterrupted and without any guidance from an adult.  

At 2:10 the game began Questions were fired left and right.  Kids answered the questions.  I found that 2 different times my students had asked a question that was previously asked.  My class knows that listening during a discussion is important to me.  So a few of my students said the their classmate, "That question has been asked already."  My students also know that I do not repeat myself if information is missed.  I do give the kids an out (because they are just that...kids who are easily distracted) by saying, "You can phone a friend to see if anyone is willing to be kind enough to help you out."  I like doing this, as it shows me who understand and who doesn't understand.  Kids also like to 'help' out at this age, and I find that they are happy to answer the question.  It puts them in the role of teacher...and it also builds a healthy sense of team-work in the classroom.  

Initially Angi and I were thinking that the activity would take about 15 minutes to play.  We decided we would fill the other 15 minutes with "getting to know you" questions.  To my surprise, the kids asked more than 21 questions and were excited to continue to ask questions.  25 minutes into the game, we asked the students to conference with their table mates to see if they could deduce where their 'sister' class was.  

My class answered first.  I chose a student who seemed very excited to give her answer.  Honestly, I didn't think that she would successfully answer the location, mostly because she is still at the beginning stages of understanding English.  To my surprise, the child answered the correct location.  When asked "what made you choose Singapore for the location?" her answer was. "Because uniform has lion. Singapore has Merlion."  This showed me that even though she may not have understood all of the questions and answers that were given, she was other skills to help with her reasoning.  It was a nice reminder for me to not 'sell a child short' based on their language skills.  

Ms. Anji's class was also able to figure out where my class was located.  This activity/introduction was such a success we have decided that we will continue connecting with one another throughout the remainder of the school year.  The energy and excitement in the classroom was over the top (in a good way) and the students had fun learning.  

Student asking a question 

Students discussing where their Mystery Classroom friends are from.  

Class 2 (Ms Arwa's Class) Application Google Docs:

This activity was spread over two days.  My students came up with 21 questions:

I put the questions up on my Google Drive and shared them with Ms. Arwa.  The next day we received the answers.  She also posted some questions that her students had for my class.  We answered their questions and then went over the answer to Ms. Arwa's class.  I screen shared a map of the world onto our display screen.  Each student in the class had the opportunity to hear the answer to a question.  They then went to the tv screen and crossed out the countries that each question eliminated.  At times, when a student wasn't sure of which countries to cross out, they would "phone a friend" who would help them.  

Once we went through all of the questions, the students guessed the country that they thought Ms Arwa's class was located in.  These are their two guesses:

Although the energy was not as 'electric' as the zoom call, it was apparent to me that the kids were having a lot of fun.  They were able to show their knowledge of the various countries around the world.  They worked as a team and the whole time they felt like they were solving a mystery.  My students are excited about learning more about their new friends.  

Although the activities were different in degree of interaction with the students from each Mystery Classroom, I realised that the outcome was the same...my student enjoyed the learning and connection that occurred in each activity.  

My Experience & Qualification

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

I am a professional American educator with eight years of international ESOL, teaching experience and six years of teaching in the United States. I am familiar with teaching a wide range of curriculum systems and assessments including, but not limited to Vermont State Standards, I.P.C., IB-PYP & Common Core. I am successful in academically advancing second language learners while promoting cultural awareness. My special interests are increasing the knowledge of culture and history through travel and photography within my students and myself.

Teacher Brain Dump

Reflecting through Blogging

I have been taking an IB course on Getting Connected! Engaging in authentic global learning practices. It's not quite what I had imagine it to be...and now the teacher becomes the student. I am realising that this class is pushing me to be more open-minded with my mind set.  

The first learning engagement we had was to create a blog. I have chosen to have my blog be multi-purpose...it's going to be a potential resource for job hunting. I figure I can start uploading some of the photos that I have taken over the year and writing about the lesson that was taught and the learning that the students engaged in. It's a long process...

This weeks learning engagement is to write a reflective post on my personal blog about the benefits and challenges of being a connected educator.  *panic bells ringing*, Self talk occurring..."THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED MY BLOG TO BE ABOUT. Fixed mindset, you have a fixed mindset. Open up your mind...this may just work out...If it doesn't you can delete it. (I hope!)". 

So, here I am about to expose my thoughts to the 'world'. An introvert is not comfortable with everyone seeing her thoughts, shoot, will they get my sarcasm or just think that I'm rude? I guess I'll start with the challenges of being a connected educator. I am having to step WAY outside of my comfort zone and post my inner thoughts to people who do not really know me. Will I be negatively judge. I know that face to face, people think I am a curmudgeon, until they get to know me and realise that it is my way of protecting myself. 

I also worry about the amount of screen-time blogging and Twitter will add. I already 'waste' more time than is healthy connected to my phone. So much now that it seems like my fingers are itchy when it's not in my hands. I am going to have to become more structured with myself when it comes to 'browsing' on social media. 

Another challenge that I see is Child Protection/Privacy. I see many teachers posting photos of their students...with their faces unshielded. I can admit that I too have done the same thing...especially when I was new to teaching internationally. I wanted to share my lessons and fun times I had with my students with everyone back at home. As time has gone one, I've stepped away from that. I guess living in country where everything is monitored so tightly and also realising that I am now exposing those photos to hundreds of people all over the world has caused me to put the breaks on posting kid photos. Yes...I can add emojis over the faces of my adorable students...but that is one more time consuming activity. (But really...in the days of Covid, It's not like I am partying it up and hanging out with all of my friends and taking fun adventures. No...can't hang out with more than 2 people at a time and am stuck on the 3rd smallest island in the world. Seriously...I'm just watching Netflix.)

The benefits of being a connected educator? Well, I've already started to notice them. It seems to be giving me some energy that I have felt I have lost over the past couple of years. Looking at what other teachers are doing in the classroom sparks new excitement. Meeting a few of the folks in this class has also caused me to become excited about sharing my thoughts and ideas about teaching. 

New friendships are being formed. I was recently reading a travel blog. The writer is a single, older female who had hopped out of the 9-5 rat race, to make a living as a travel blogger. In her post, she talked about how the blogging has given her connections to people all over the world, who have become friends. She no longer is a 'solo' traveler. The places she goes, she seems to have a reader, friend who is willing to show her around their country. I am hoping that will be a benefit that I get from being connected as an authentic global learner. On an educational/teacher level, I hope that by making these connections, I will be able to show my students parts of the world that they have never seen before.  Zoom has become an excellent application which allows virtual field trips.  I've already been doing that with some of my colleagues that I taught with in Egypt.  Maybe I'll find some teacher readers from countries that I do not have connections in, that will be interested in learning about Singapore, or are wanting to show off their country to a bunch of 3rd graders in the land of the Merlion.  And now...the globally connected journey begins.   

Cheers and happy blogging to all.