Question: Why have you decided to create this blog and what do you hope to accomplish?
Answer: As an educator, I am very excited about the increase in digital literacy opportunities for our students this year. Here is a list of some of the exciting things happening at Grant:
- All students in Grades 3-8 have a Google Apps for Education account.
- Students in Grades K-2 have also experienced more technology opportunities with our updated curriculum and emphasis on keyboarding skills.
- All of our teachers are utilizing more websites and web tools to complement the wonderful teaching already taking place.
- 23 teachers received new Chromebooks to help implement technology in the classroom. Thank you CEF for the generous grant!
- Grant School continues to fulfill our mission statement in preparing our students for the future as we move forward with 21st century learning opportunities for your child. As a parent, we want you to be involved too. Hopefully this blog will help you feel more connected to the process and give you some helpful resources to assist your child at home.
Question: Why is increasing digital literacy skills for our students a big priority this year?
Answer: The Common Core State Standards are fundamentally changing the way students learn in the classroom. Today's students need to know how to use technology to acquire knowledge, analyze and evaluate information, explore, draw conclusions, and test theories. In fact, this chart shows the technology skills needed at each grade level to support the Common Core Standards. Our students need to learn how to think critically and creatively, navigate an increasingly digital world safely, and learn by doing. I have been teaching for 25 years and some educational trends come and go but technology is here to stay!
Question: How can I support my child at home in regards to technology?
Answer: These ideas are in no particular order, but I think they are are essential to ensure that your child is on the right track:
- Encourage your child to practice keyboarding skills at home. We have limited time in the classroom to teach the students to type correctly on the keyboard. Did you know that on the homepage of the Grant School website we have a list of free keyboarding websites to assist with this process? We are always updating these links so it is a great resource.
- Ask your child to log into their Google Apps for Education account at home and ask them to share their password with you. This is great practice for the students and it is a good reminder to your child that you can access it at any time. All students in grades 3-8 should be able to do this. If you do not know where to start, I would suggest you go to https://drive.google.com and ask your child to log in. Google Drive allows our students to create and share documents with ease and work on projects at home that they might have started at school. To use all of Google Drive's features, I would recommend installing Google's free browser called Google Chrome. The students will have limited functionality if they use other browsers, but the Google Drive Apps definitely work better when using the Chrome browser. Students have been informed that their Google Apps for Education account, or GAFE is to be used for educational purposes and that we expect all of our students to be good digital citizens.
- Speaking of digital citizenship, all students also need to learn what makes a good digital citizen. Grant School is reminding the students through our daily announcements and lessons in the classroom to THINK before they post. They need to ask themselves: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? When our students post something online, it is instant and very hard to retract. Having conversations about digital citizenship at home helps pave the way for following the golden rule of online communication in the classroom. As we ¨prepare students for the future¨ our children need to remember that their digital footprint is an impression that others will see when they are applying for college or a job. Just as a reminder, on my website you can access my YouTube channel where I have two playlists of digital citizenship videos depending on the age of your child. I also have other playlists that might be helpful including tutorials on all of the Google tools we are using at school.
Thank you for reading my first blog post and I look forward to connecting with you again soon!
Mrs. Sumption
