Monthly Archives: January 2013

Electronic Devices and Children

Posted on by
Reply

I have been dealing lately with a few issues related to children’s use of texting, messaging, sending videos or pictures, or joining in on online chats. I have learned a lot, and I am reminded of many of the messages that our guest,  Jesse Miller of Mediated Reality, recently shared with our students in grades 4 to 7.

Here is what I have learned:

  • You don’t need a phone to make a phone call anymore (an iPod Touch with FaceTime will do)
  • Children are texting each other after midnight (as young as grade 4)
  • Some text messages sent by children would make adults blush
  • iPod Touches have cameras
  • Children are sharing pictures of themselves through text messages or other services
  • Children are signed up for services that require them to be 13 years of age to join (i.e. Facebook or Instagram)
  • Poor text behaviour has a significant negative impact in the school or on the playground

Recent events have led me to think of a number of questions for parents:

  • Does you child have access to an electronic device that can text or send images to friends?
  • Are your children asleep when you are, or are they texting friends?
  • Where is your child’s smartphone or iPod Touch when your child is asleep?
  • Do you know the password on your child’s device?
  • Will your child get upset if you read all his or her text messages?
  • Will you child let you look through the photos on his or her device?

On January 11th, Jesse Miller met with our students and went over many good ideas for online behaviour and privacy. This was his second visit with our students. His first visit was in November 2011, and I blogged about it in the post Social Media Lessons.

Some things have changes since then:

  • Less students report being on Facebook, but there are still many on this site, despite being 9, 10 or 11 years old.
  • Many, many students put their hands up when asked if they have received texts that they would not share with their parents.
  • Instagram is a popular app with our students
  • About 20 children put their hand up when asked who has received a text between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am
  • Several students report checking their phone or iPod for text messages before getting out of bed
  • Several students shared that it was hard to do homework when texts message come in
  • Many children report sending pictures of themselves to others without their parents knowing
  • Students report using YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Kik, textPlus or iMessage

Jesse asked students to follow a few simple rules:

  1. Let’s be thoughtful before we text or post
  2. Let’s not text our friends at night
  3. Let’s not use online tools in a bad way

 

Parents, how about a few rules for families?

  • Know your child’s password
  • Keep computers in public spaces
  • Set up overnight charging stations for smartphones or other electronic devices in the family rooms (or other public spaces) and away from the bedrooms
  • Know what services or web sites your child has signed up for
  • Discuss with your child what information should remain private and not be posted online
  • Review Trust Building Exercises from Mediated Reality
  • Talk to your child about their behaviour online or while texting
  • Listen to your child about their online or texting experiences

Share the online world with your child Together, parents and children can enjoy the connected world.

Take Care

Today’s Student Assembly

Posted on by
Reply

This afternoon the students will all be gathering in the gym for an assembly. Today’s theme is Integrity. Over the past few months, teachers have been focusing class discussions on a number of positive characteristics; Respect, Tolerance and Integrity.

Each morning, one of our grade 7 student makes our morning announcement over the public address system and has a daily message related to our theme. The announcements have been very positive, and our first assembly on respect was a success.

Today we will have students from a number of divisions speaking, performing and running the show. Thanks to all the teachers who have helped these student leaders be successful in teaching us about integrity.

I have to go help set up now.

Take care

Self Regulation

Posted on by
Reply

On Friday, January 18th, the North Vancouver School District has scheduled a Curriculum Implementation Day. The staff at Cleveland will be joining a number of other schools at Carson Graham Secondary School to listen to a key note talk by Stuart Shanker, author of Calm, Alert and Learning. In the afternoon, we will be joining up with other local schools at Highlands to discuss a number of different topics in education.

I am just getting into the book Calm, Alert and Learning, and it is an interesting read. There are some strong statements about self-regulation and its importance in school.

“”Some theorists believe that self-regulation should now be considered a more important indicator of educational performance than IQ” ~ page xi

“Children acquire the ability to self-regulate by first being regulated” ~ page 9

“Adults around children need to be optimally regulated themselves.” ~ page 9

“it involves a straightforward understanding of the importance of children’s emotions in their ability to learn, and emphasizes what educators can realistically do to help students optimally regulate those emotions.” ~ page 25

I look forward to learning more about self-regulation. For parents who are interested, this Self-Regulation may be site may be a good place to start.

Take care.

My New Year’s Message to Students

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday was a very successful day back from winter break. The classrooms were filled with students sharing stories about their Christmas day activities. I heard a lot about vacation trips (Whistler, Hawaii, New York, etc.) and I heard a lot about staying home with family and friends.

My vacation was a wonderful break for me. I was able to get away (San Diego region) and shut down from work emails and thinking about the job. In this connected world, I strongly believe that we need down time (kids too) away from computers. Unplugging is how I charge my batteries. Every once in awhile during my vacation, thoughts about school would come to the forefront of my mind, and I would quietly put them away. Those thoughts could wait for the new year.

One school thought that kept resurfacing throughout my vacation (I did think about this one a bit before putting it away) was how we (children and adults) treat one another. We are regularly asking children to show respect and care for one another, but they often see (in the news or on television) evidence of adults not showing respect for one another. I hear students tell me that everyone swears – No they don’t. Students tell me that people don’t mind put downs – Yes they do mind. Students also tell it is ok to hit someone if they hit me first – No it’s not ok to hit.

My New Year’s message to Cleveland students is quite simple – We Can Do Better.

We Can Do Better in showing Kindness to everyone.

We Can Do Better by showing Tolerance towards ourselves and others.

We Can Do Better with showing Respect at all times.

I also shared with students some of the message from Robert Fulghum’s poem, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.

Let’s make 2013 the year that we encourage everyone to care for each other, and show kindness, tolerance and respect. We can do better, and I look forward to seeing it everywhere.

Take care.

Happy New Year

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back!

Cleveland Elementary School is about to be filled once again with the joyful noises of little children (and some not so little ones). I look forward to hearing from our students about their winter breaks and holiday activities.

See you soon.

Take care