4th Grade Bully/Harassment Survey: Spring 2015

Students, please take time to answer the following 10 questions about your experiences in Hartford Upper Elementary the past 7 school days. Be as honest as possible as the survey is anonymous and the data is extremely important for us to understand what the student experience is like when it comes to bullying and harassment issues. Click Submit when you are finished and begin on today's assignment.

Nutshell and Utah Education Network's Short Internet Safety Videos are Pretty Good!

   Through a blog I recently read, I learned about the website called Nutshell. It has lots of short animated videos about things people don't understand. In other words, they explain a concept or idea in a "nutshell". Well, the blog I read focused on a portion of the site that schools, counselors, and parents may appreciate. The Utah Education Network has produced and is still producing Internet safety, etiquette, and proper usage videos. I just watched a couple and thought they were pretty good, even for the high school age. If you have kids at home and don't understand something about the Internet, you could watch these videos and then have your kids watch them. Or watch them together. They are not very detailed, but the get the general idea across, in a "nutshell". Lots of other videos on the site that could be of interest, but I am posting the link directly to the Internet safety videos as well as the link to the Nutshell homepage. Enjoy

Utah Education Network Internet Safety Videos click here!

Nutshell home page click here!

Planet Nutshell | Web Videos | Explainer Videos | Educational Videos: NetSafe Episode 1: What is the Internet? (Grades K-3)

Des Moines Register Feature Sunday Article About Facebook, Parents, and Their Kids

Sunday's Des Moines Register's feature story was about Facebook usage among teens and pre-teens and their parents. I have received this question from time to time as a middle school counselor: "Should I allow my child to have a facebook account?" There is no great answer to that question and truly it is a question that parents has to answer for themselves. But I think this Register article (link below) has a great conversation and gives some good advice. My advice is pretty similar. I think Facebook can be a great tool and has many positive uses, but as a parent myself, my children's first Facebook friend will be me and I will have their password so that I can log into their account at any time. But isn't this invading my child's privacy? No. Reading their diary and unlocking something in their room to see what inside would be invading their privacy. Facebook is a social network where the whole point is that what is said is not private. In Life Skills we teach to never write/say anything online that you don't want the whole world, your teachers, and your parents to know. So....if you don't want Dad and Mom to know, don't post it!! But enough from me, read what a professional journalist and several local people who were interviewed have to say....

Des Moines Register article "Teens, Parents Face off Over Facebook" click here!

State Trooper Brian Shelley Instructs Grades 4-8 in Internet Safety

State Trooper Brian Shelley visited with every 4th through 8th grader in late December and early January and was able to talk to them about online safety and how to protect themselves from online predators. Technology is changing rapidly and many students and their teachers like me can't always keep up with the changes. Sadly, some of the people who know the most about technology are the ones who are abusing it and trying to trick teens and pre-teens into doing something they would or should not do. That is why we brought in State Trooper Shelley, to help inform our students the benefits of technology if you use it correctly and the dangers if you don't. He was a great speaker and the kids learned a lot. Here is a brief summary of some of the ideas kids wrote down at the end of his presentation.

Top things learned:

*Do not respond to an email if you don’t know who it is from.

*Never meet someone face to face who you only know online without bringing an adult with you.

*Change passwords OFTEN!

*Be careful that information and pictures you post don’t give too much information about you or your location away.

*If someone you only know online does not want your parents to know and wants you to keep your relationship secret….you need to tell someone. This is not right.

*Time spent with person online does not equal trust

*Share information with your parents, especially if that information makes you feel uncomfortable.

*Once you hit “send” or “post”, you rarely can get that message back.

*Save messages if they are inappropriate, means, hurtful, or harassing.

*If you haven’t met someone face to face and know them, be careful meeting them online and “friending” them.

*Never share your password, not even with a friend. Someday, they may not be your friend and then they know your password.

*Online actions EQUALS offline consequences

*Make sure you pictures of free of clues about you and where you live (no team shirt, no town name, school name in background, etc.)

*Make sure your user name is appropriate

*Do not respond to threatening or mean messages. Print it, block the person, and tell an adult.

Variety of Web Safety Websites

As I catch up on my blog reading over the Holiday Break, I found a variety of web safety websites and videos in one short blog entry by Richard Byrne who publishes a blog titled "Free Technology for Teachers". It is a great blog and followed by many educators around the country and possibly even world. But if you click on the link below, you will see some of what he feels are the best web safety websites out there right now. State Trooper Brian Shelley will be in our building again this week to talk about internet safety, etc., so this is just another way you can learn more about it and have a conversation with your children about the importance of being safe while operating online.

Web Safety Resources

Google's Good to Know Site

As I am catching up reading blogs that I follow over the 3-day weekend (had about 400 blog posts to read...so I was a little behind!), I came across a blog about Google's Good to Know site and how it is very helpful with tips and information about being safe online. Everything from how to search more safely and more appropriately to actually seeing what data companies like Google actually get from your online experiences. I played around with this site some and found it to be somewhat helpful. Feel free to explore it some more and if you learn something or your child learns something....great!

Google's Good to Know click here!

Facebook Predator is a Good Reminder to All Students to be Safe Online

If you don't know the story, click on this KCCI link to watch the video story. This story was forwarded around Central Iowa this past week and I think I received it about 4 times. And it is an important story even if it has not affected Carlisle....yet. The important part is that this is a great reminder how young people need to be smart and safe when online. When we decided to get the 8th graders up and blogging, I was hoping this would constantly give me chances to talk to the kids about their online behavior and online life. What they should post, not post, how they should post, where they should post, and who might be looking at the things they are doing. Would you believe that most 8th graders have a Facebook and most of their Facebook walls are visible to the public? Yep, it's true! And many 8th graders have admitted to accepting a friend invite on Facebook of someone they did not know, but they thought they knew that person or a friend of theirs was a friend of this person, so why not accept? Technology is fun and social networks are some of the most fun parts of technology, but they are not risk-free. Predators of children and other adults who have not-so-nice motives are USUALLY smarter than our students and almost always smarter than me! We can't just assume we are bullet proof and the bad things that happen won't happen to us. We must protect ourselves in at least some very simple ways. Here is some of my quick advice regarding Facebook

1. Make your wall, photos, and information only visible to friends. No reason to have your information public.

2. Limit the amount of personal information you post. This includes pictures. I purposely do not post many pictures of my kids on Facebook. I would love for people to see my kids, but I don't want my kids' photos all over the Internet.

3. You don't have to accept every friend invite. If you are their TRUE FRIEND in life, accept them. Even if you just know of them, don't accept it. If you are getting up to 200, 300, 400 or more friends (and most middle school kids are), you are friending too much!

4. Think before you post....every time! Think about what your post may mean to others, how it will affect others, and who will see it. We talk about this with our blogs, but we could talk about it everyday if we wanted to. Also, never post when emotional...and teens can be emotional often. Take a break and relax before putting your feelings online. Or better yet, talk to someone about your feelings and do not post them to hundreds.

5. Report, print, and record. If you feel uncomfortable by anything online or something doesn't feel right, print the screen immediately. Smart predators (and bullies) will remove their post once they are sure it has done its job. Write information down. Report what happened to an adult and delete the person from your friend list if possible.

Here are some great Facebook and online safety sources:

Great Guide to Facebook for parents!

SafeKids tips!

CommonSense Media.org article (one of my favorite websites by the way!)

If you have any questions, please contact me or any school counselor.

Our 8th Graders are Blogging!!

Yep, they are blogging! Just like this blog, only they are much more creative and having even more fun. Well, some of them are having fun anyway. The others are still thinking this is just boring school work, but a few seem to like it more and more each day. So, why are the students blogging and what are they blogging about? Well, read more to find out.

First off, I have attached several links below to other articles and blogs about the importance of student blogging. But my beliefs are that writing and maintaining a blog can help a student with basic literacy skills (grammar, spelling, capitalization, etc.) and typing skills. I believe about 95% of my writing is on a computer and my family members who work outside the home say they think they do even more than that in their job. Bottom line is that students will be typing and writing online with their career someday. It truly is a Life Skill. Next, it helps student take a simple topic and expand on it and really reflect. As other 8th grade teachers start having students blog about what they learned or talked about in class, students can really reflect about their knowledge and express themselves. This is something they cannot necessarily do in a 40 minute class period. Finally, some students may really find that maintaining a blog online that is not just limited to assignments from teachers, but their own personal writing may be able to deeper explore themselves and actually learn and teach others. Each time we use the lab to write our blogs, I share a few blogs that I follow with them and they can see how these blogs can have an effect on our staff or even people all around the world.

One thing I didn't mention about students blogging online is that I am monitoring everything they post and helping them edit it and refine it. This is helping with their digital literacy and helping them be safer and smarter online. Over 80% of our students belong to a social network and randomly post information that they don't think twice about. Through these blogs, I am helping them think about what they post and what the consequences of those postings are. I hope what they learn in class makes them think a little more about what they put on facebook, twitter, etc. Students are going to be online, that won't change. I hope I can be their "driver's ed" teacher as they learn to drive on the Internet Superhighway and teach them the correct and safe way to be online. If they have learned one thing so far, they know whatever they post is out there and could affect them years in the future....hopefully for the good. Please click on the articles below to hear what other experts have to say about students blogging.

(By the way...if you want to read your child's blog or follow it, please ask them for the web address and you can follow it just like I do!)

Why Should Students Blog Answer 1

6 Reasons Students Should Blog

Edublog Blogger response (our students use Edublogs as this is the blog site built for teachers and students so it is much safer and has more restrictions)

Top Ways Teens are Getting into Trouble When Online

Came across an interesting article today while going through my Google Reader updates. This was linked on a blog I read and after clicking on it, I even learned some things. As your kids/teens go online and do the many things they do (remember....online means computer, laptop, tablet computer, phone, Ipod Touch, etc....online is almost everywhere now!), they might be at risk by doing things they don't think twice about. Please click on this link and read the article. It is a little complex at times if you are like me and do not know everything about the Internet, but maybe you could have your teen read it with you and explain what it means. I have a feeling they will know what these 5 risky online behaviors are. Bottom line: You can never be too safe when going online....

Click below.

Internet Safety For Teens: Top 5 Ways Teens Are Getting Into Trouble Online

This Picture is Really Worth a Thousand Words!

Maybe the best and easiest graphic I have come across when it comes to what students (and adults) post online. I am going to print this out and put it in our computer labs and outside my office. At home, you might consider printing it out and putting it near the family computer, near any other computer workspace, or maybe even in your child's room....on their wall (right next to the Justin Bieber poster?!). Lots of good stuff in the picture, so I will stop typing and let you look at the picture again