To support grade 5 students with their transition to middle school,  four grade 6 students came by this morning to chat with fifth graders.

We discussed the increased pressure to use social media in middle school. The sixth graders also discussed how to successfully navigate this new frontier by doing the following:

• THINK before you share/post
• ASK for permission before sharing or posting a photo or video of another person
• If you don’t want your mom, dad, or principal to see it… don’t post or share

Interestingly, all of the sixth graders agreed that life was easier without social media and pointed out that you don’t have to have a phone or social media… it’s probably easier if you don’t!

Please take a moment this week and talk with your child today about social media today!

With our current digital citizenship lesson in grades 4 and 5, we have been discussing ‘Spider-Sense’ and the Internet. There are three big ideas that we reviewed:

1. The Internet is forever; be thoughtful about what you post, text, share or comment
2. Privacy online is never guaranteed; if you don’t want the world to see it then don’t put it online
3. Use your Spider-Sense – ‘ listen to your inner voice’ – if you aren’t sure, re-think and question it.

In order to help students visual this, we asked them to think of a red balloon.  Once the student has sent a photo, texted a friend, shared an experience, etc. the red balloon is released and it is out of their hands. The student can no longer control where the digital message goes, who sees it or what someone might do with that digital message.

We strongly encouraged students to talk to their parents about social media. If something comes up that they are uncomfortable with then talk with your folks.

The Internet is a wonderful place full of information, creativity ideas and learning communities. However students need to be thoughtful and savvy when participating in this gigantic digital world. Talk to your child today about social media!

In an effort to promote smart online choices, students focused on strategies to avoid Spam and never clicking on a ‘pop-up’ ad.

Even though Elementary students’ email accounts are on a ‘Restrict Delivery’ mode, (school email cannot send to or receive emails from outside of the school domain ‘gemsdaa.net’), this will not always be the case. Plus, many students have mobile phones and personal email accounts. As a result, we spoke to students about staying safe online regarding Spam emails and pop-up ads.

Based upon Common Sense Media lesson ‘You’ve Won a Prize!’ objectives: Spam, how to deal with it and to also never click on a pop-up, we discussed strategies.  These included not opening up emails if the sender is unknown, never give out personal information especially to an unknown entity and listen to your common sense.  Additionally students are strongly encouraged to speak with their parents regarding strategies for keeping safe online.