Thursday, March 28, 2019

Advanced Literacies for Academic Success

Anecdotal feedback from our March 20th Superintendent's Conference Day has been overwhelmingly positive. Our Curriculum Advisory Team put a lot of work into making preparations for the day's activities and it certainly paid off as the conversations that were held across the district were thoughtful and engaging. The thoughts below are from WG Literacy Coach Stephanie Finn, who graciously accepted my invitation to contribute a guest blog post for this week's Tech Tips Blog. Thanks, Steph!

Reading and writing,language-based competencies, have become prerequisites for participation in nearly every aspect of day-to-day, 21st- century life. On March 20th, 2019 the entire West Genesee district participated in professional development to expand our understanding of advanced literacies and the Next Generation Standards. We worked collaboratively to dive into the brief series that was written by Dr. Lesaux, Academic Dean at Harvard School of Education, to help us figure out how we can foster advanced literacies in today’s classrooms. Meeting today’s demands for what counts as ‘literate’ requires a new approach to instruction and a need to focus attention on strengthening our instructional core. This was a kick-off event to begin a multi-year plan of professional development, curriculum transformation and review to ensure that we have a guaranteed and viable curriculum that meets the needs of all of our learners at West Genesee. 

The video snippets below represent a small sampling of the thoughtful exchanges that took place across the district.
Advanced Literacy  & Math Instruction


Advanced Literacy & Instructional Time


District-Wide Recap

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Thursday, March 21, 2019

Digital Citizenship & Internet Safety

We all receive promotional emails from time to time, but I recently received an email from an organization called the Family Online Safety Institute that piqued my interested.

FOSI's mission:
The Family Online Safety Institute is an international, non-profit organization which works to make the online world safer for kids and their families. FOSI convenes leaders in industry, government and the non-profit sectors to collaborate and innovate new solutions and policies in the field of online safety. Through research, resources, events and special projects, FOSI promotes a culture of responsibility online and encourages a sense of digital citizenship for all.
As an educator and a parent, some of FOSI's statistics struck a chord:

Teen's Use of Technology


  • Question: What age should your child be to create a Facebook account or other social media accounts?
  • Answer: 13 years old
  • Remarkably, 55% of parents whose child has a social media account allowed their child to get on when were 12 or younger.

Acknowledging Risks


  • While the internet and social media can be used in so many beneficial ways, there is also a lot of risk involved for children
  • An easy way to remember the risks involved is to remember the 3 C’s: Content, Contact, and Conduct
  • Key points: With Content, know what your child can view or post, for Contact, know who your child can contact or who is able to contact them, with Conduct, know what behaviors can happen. Popular risks involved are cyberbullying and sexting.

Mitigating Harms


  • “54% of parents with children age 14 to 17 do not limit their child’s amount of time online”
  • If half of children are not being monitored online, time-wise, what can we do to mitigate the harms of free reign on the Internet?
  • Common harms to your child include damage to reputation, identity theft, too much screen time, and oversharing

Reaping the Rewards


  • While there are risks and harms, let’s not forgot the rewards and benefits of the Internet
  • The Internet provides so many benefits for your child’s education, communication, positive reputations, life skills, and creativity
  • This is supported by the fact that 78% of parents believe that technology use has a positive effect on their child’s future, career, and life skills

Tips for Parents & Guardians: 7 Steps to Good Digital Parenting


TALK WITH YOUR KIDS

  • Stay calm
  • Talk early and often
  • Be open and direct

EDUCATE YOURSELF

  • Search online for anything you don't understand
  • Try out the apps, games, and sites yourself
  • Explore the Good Digital Parenting tips and resources

USE PARENTAL CONTROLS

  • Activate the safety settings in your operating system, search engine, and games
  • Use the parental controls of your children's phones, tablets, and game consoles
  • Monitor your kids' use of their screen time

SET GROUND RULES AND APPLY SANCTIONS

  • Agree to and sign a family safety contract
  • Set time and place limits for their tech use
  • Enforce sanctions when necessary

FRIEND AND FOLLOW BUT DO NOT STALK

  • Friend your kids on social media
  • Respect their online space and don't over do it
  • Encourage your kids to create a good digital reputation

EXPLORE, SHARE, AND CELEBRATE

  • Go online with your kids and explore their online worlds
  • Take advantage of new ways of communicating
  • Learn from them and have fun

BE A GOOD DIGITAL ROLE MODEL

  • Curb your own digital habits
  • Know when to unplug
  • Show your kids how to collaborate and create online

Google's Applied Digital Skills Curriculum

If you are interested in teaching your students about digital citizenship, look no further than Google's Applied Digital Skills Curriculum filled with ready-to-use lessons that have immediate, real-life application.

Click here to learn more about Google's Applied Digital Skills Curriculum.

More Resources


Digital Footprint
Family Safety Contract
Seven Steps to Good Digital Parenting
Three Teachable Moments
Tips for Video Games and Mobile Apps


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Wednesday, March 13, 2019

March 20, 2019: Superintendent's Conference Day

On the March 20th Superintendent's Conference Day, the Curriculum Advisory Team will be leading a 2-hour workshop for ALL teachers and teaching assistants with a focus on our curriculum improvement process and how we can begin to redesign our curriculum and instruction through a deeper understanding of advanced literacy. Please take a moment to register on MyLearningPlan as well as review all of the linked materials below prior to the workshop.

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Friday, March 8, 2019

Closing the Gender Gap in the Tech Industry

On Sunday, March 3, 2019, 60 Minutes aired an episode entitled Cracking the Code which addressed the gender gap in the technology industry. Despite efforts from companies and universities, the number of women majoring in computer science is declining. Code.org is trying to change that by offering coding lessons to boys and girls as early as kindergarten. Check out the full episode via the link below, which features Hadi Partovi, co-founder of Code.org, as well as Alexis Dixon, a 4th-grade teacher from NY who is integrating coding lessons into her lessons. As shown in the video, teachers do not need to be computer science majors to teach coding--Code.org has a full catalog of courses for students of all ages. Further, teachers can learn how to teach coding with a variety of resources on Code.org's website.
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