Cyberbullying

    What is cyber bullying? How is it different from bullying?

Cyberbullying is defined as: repeatedly sending or posting harmful or mean messages, images or videos about someone else using the Internet, cell phones or other digital technologies.

According to Common Sense Media, there are differences between bullying and cyberbullying.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/lesson/whats-cyberbullying-3-5

Differences:

In Cyberbullying...

• Kids may use more hurtful and extreme language online than offline.
• Cyberbullying can happen anytime, whereas regular bullying generally stops when kids go home. 
• Cyberbullying can be very public. Posts can spread rapidly and to a large, invisible audience because of the nature of how information travels online.
• Cyberbullies sometimes act anonymously, whereas with traditional bullying it is often clear who the bully is.
• In-person bullying can cause physical and emotional harm, while cyberbullying causes only emotional harm (though it can lead to physical bullying later).

Similarities:
In Cyber bullying and physical bullying...

• Both can make kids feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, helpless, sad, and angry

How can you, as parents, help keep our kids safe from cyber bullying?

1. Teach kids to speak and write respectfully.

2. Teach kids empathy.

3. Teach them to report cyberbullying.

FIVE THINGS PARENTS CAN DO: 

1. Set limits: on time and place and choose age-appropriate TV, movies, music and games.

2. Make rules: Cell phones belong outside the classroom and away from the dinner table. If your kids wouldn't say something to someone's face, they shouldn't text it either. And...IM? Not during homework.

3. Discuss Safety: Tell them what kind of photos, videos and information are ok to post online.

4. Be a media critic: Teach your kids not to believe everything they see or hear/ Online, in the movies or on TV. Talk to them about media messages, what you agree with and what you don't.

5. Join the fun: Watch, listen and play with your kids. Ask their opinions and embrace the wprld!

5 Ways to Stop Cyberbullying (video)  click here

There are 4 roles in cyberbullying:

aggressor- the bully

target - the one being bullied

bystander - those who are aware of the bullying and are standing by watching

upstander - those who step in to intervene as well as report the bullying

We want our kids to be the UPSTANDERS. 

Cyberbullying Prevention Guide for Kids  (video) click here

What do we do if our child is bullied?
Take a screen shot of the page to save as evidence, speak to your child about it and assure them that this is bullying and to tell a trusted adult. Contact your child's teacher.

What is RIS doing to discuss cyberbullying?

1. Jan(PYP Counsellor) is going into classrooms to teach about how to make friends and what bullying and cyberbullying are as well as ways to prevent them (Stand up and tell someone)
2. RIS has adopted the NETS standards which address online digital responsibility including digital citizenship which includes how to communicate in a kind way online.

3. Teachers are being proactive about discussing responsible digital citizenship. Classes have signed pledges about Digital Citizenship. (see previous posts on this blog)

Parents as Partners

Parents and school must work together to help combat cyberbullying. Children need to feel safe and secure knowing that significant adults in their lives are going to support them and protect them.

We can do this by helping kids to:

• THINK before they ACT
• STAND UP rather than STAND BY

What should you say to your young child about cyberbullying?

Explain that the same rules of respectful behavior apply online and offline, including being kind and respectful to others.

If they think they're being bullied, your kids should follow the rules of STOP:

• STOP using the computer.
• TELL an adult you trust what happened.
• Get the OK from an adult before going back online or returning to the website where the bullying happened.
• PLAY with other kids who don't take part in cyberbullying.

Lastly, your kid may want to tell the bully how his or her actions made him or her feel, after getting advice from an adult.

For more information, download the Common Sense Media Family Tip Sheet about Cyberbullying  Click here

Nickelodeon's, The Big Help, Digital Citizenship for Kids webpage click here

Safe Searching with Kid Rex

Kid Rex is a safe search engine designed for children and their parents. ( click here )  It is powered by Google Custom Search and Google Safe Search and offers similar features to a Google search but with filters for child friendly results.

To Set as a homepage on your computer, please follow the link on Kid Rex at the bottom of the homepage where it says PARENTS or (click here)   

For iPads, open Kid Rex (www.kidrex.com) through Safari or Chrome web browsers on the iPad. Choose the send icon and ADD TO HOME SCREEN. Then the icon will appear on the home screen of the iPad as an icon which can be opened easily. 

Of course, no search engine filtering is 100% accurate. There is no substitute for adult monitoring of the use of devices, especially when children are doing searches (in particular IMAGE searches). This, along with a shared understanding between children and adults about responsible online behavior and internet safety is crucial. Both Kid Rex and Common Sense Media address these topics and provide parent guidelines to help you support your child as they engage in using technology.

The key is to be a partner in your child's online and device use. Use this as an opportunity to engage with your child and share new information and ideas that have come up as they use their device. Guide them to be responsible users and consumers of online data by having open discussions about the opportunities as well as the possible threats that online behavior can have.

Born to Learn

This 5 minute video from the 21st Century Initiative shows what recent research tells us about the capacity to learn through play and inquiry which we are born with. This capacity must be nurtured so that children can learn. It goes on to show the physiological need for adolescents to rebel and that, once again, this should be nurtured. Rebellion as an adolescent is a normal stage in the development of the brain, but rebelling within a safe and nurturing environment is crucial.

How can we nurture the curiosity and normal brain development of our children? 

How Will We Prepare Our Children For the Future?

 The term 21st Century Skills  has become popular in educational discussions. It is clear that the world as we know it today is very different than the world we grew up in. Any generation can say that.
Sociologist have defined the years 1970 to the present as The Information or Digital Age. This can be defined as a time period in which large amounts of information was available mostly through technology.
Prior to that, western cultures were involved in the Post-Industrial Era which spanned close to 100 years (1890-1980). Schools were created as a response to the Industrial Revolution and mimicked the factory model of an assembly line where each child was placed in a grade level according to their age and expected to master specific skills and knowledge deemed necessary at that age.

Since the mid-1970's, education has been going through a shift, a change that has never before been seen; from teacher-centered to child-centered. From giving knowledge to finding information.

Our world is changing, education is changing. The future holds unforeseen changes. How will we prepare our children for the future that we cannot even see?

Below is a video called; Learning to Change - Changing to Learn. In it, educators and other leaders of future oriented businesses speak about our responsibility to prepare our children for the future. It is reposted from January 24, 2014 and is worth another look.

The 21st Century Skills are what is commonly referred to as, "soft skills" meaning, skills that are personal attributes which enhance a person's performance as opposed to "hard skills" which are specific to a task, such as kicking a ball, calculating using an algorithm, singing...

The above video is called, Rethinking Learning. Another thought provoking look at what educators say should be the focus for education today and in the future.

The ISTE (International Society of Technology Education) lists 21st century skills as: creativity, collaboration, communication, problem solving and  digital and information literacy. These have been put into NETS Standards which need to be taught as well as focused on in order to prepare children for the future.

How will we prepare our children for the future?

Growl Media and Appy Kids for learning Arabic

This week I had the pleasure of meeting Dolly, a representative from Growl Media, a Dubai-based website company which creates FREE apps for iPad and Android tablets. These apps are for  language learning, specifically Arabic, Hindi and English. They are fantastic apps, with interactive components and beautiful graphics.

 This is their award winning app called, Alfie, Haathi and the Magic Bioscope in both Arabic and English.

 

Check out their website and parent blog.
Growl Media website: click here
Appy Kids Parent Blog and website: click here

Online Safety, a Parent's Guide

The latest issue of the local magazine, 999; Security and Safety For All, (October, 2014) has an article about how to support your child as they manoeuvre through the online world through social media apps.
The article mentions studies done by such organizations as Ofcom which have studied the usage of social media by age group. It also reviews certain social media apps which need to be monitored by parents due to their content and features.  The article has interviewed local and global experts about advice for parents as their children engage in the online world and supports the view that parents need to be vigilant about  what apps their child is using and to not be afraid of creating limits. After all, as a parent and guardian, it is your right to control your child's use of technology. But it is also your duty to be informed about the latest Apps and Social Media platforms so you can also advise and guide your child. Just saying no is not always the nest way to approach these situations. Looking into the Social Media app, doing some research about it, then discussing it with your child so they understand the dangers as well as the opportunities is key.

New Primary Website and Class Sites

Raha Primary School has some new ways to communicate with parents.

1.) Primary Website for parents (click here) is the first place to look for information about RIS Primary School. On this site you will find your children's grade level Google Sites.

Bookmark this site on your home computer or tablet for easy reference.

2.) Grade Level Google Sites have links found in the Primary Website for Parents. When you open the Primary Website, click on the tab in the sidebar which will take you to the class page. On this page you will find the Grade Level website. 

Bookmark these grade level sites on your home computer or tablet for easy reference.

Welcome to the 2014-15 School Year

This year we are rolling out a BYOD (iPad) initiative for gr 2-5. All the information for this has been sent via email to parents at the start of the school year. It is important that all parents and students read the Acceptable Use Policy as well as sign it and return it to their child's teacher by September 11.

Any questions, check with your child's teacher or Mary Kay Polly, ICT Coach/Deputy PYP Coordinator.  mpolly@ris.ae

RIS tech Plan for 2014-15

On Monday evening, May 26, I unveiled the Technology Plan for 2014-15 school year. There were several changes discussed. Please refer to the slideshow  for details. (click here)

All parents will receive a letter from explaining the new Technology Plan and asking for parents to contact Catherine DeJonge, Assistant to the Head of Primary, via email:  cjonge@ris.ae stating your intent to enroll your child in the 1:1 iPad class for gr 4 or 5. 

Videos embedded in the Slideshow presentation are below.

Did You Know? 2014

TED talk: Sir Ken Robinson, Changing Education Paradigms.

Minecraft and Your Kids

Minecraft has been around in it's Alpha version since 2011 and has taken the video gaming world by storm. It has more than 10 million subscribers worldwide. In addition, educators around the world are using it in their lessons from as low as KG up to university level.

What's so special about Minecraft?
It is no ordinary video game. Minecraft is a sandbox game: a game which you play online but it has no rules, no limits. I liken it to it being able to have the whole world outside your backdoor where you can invite your friends or play alone. You can build anything you like, go exploring, create tools so you can survive and just have fun. It's the ultimate playground!

Tech Columnist, Dan Tynan, explains it well in his latest column; A Parent's Guide to Minecraft; 5 Reasons to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Cubes.

What is a Blog?

Blogging For Kids is a website and a Pinterest board which has guides and suggestions for blogging with children. (click here)

 "Blogging has entered the mainstream consciousness as a legitimate source of media.”

                                                    - 2012 Josh Catone of Mashable

Why Blog with my child?

There are many reasons to help your child to start blogging. 

- share ideas and collaborate with the global online world
- learn how to communicate due to the possibility of a wider audience
- control your digital footprint and create digital portfolio

- develops their imagination

- opens up the world to them when they view other kid's blogs

- develops their writing and communication skills

- learn about online resources and computer skills in an authentic way

Here is a blog by a girl named Miriam. She maintains one of the best blogs around because it contains posts about her interests , activities and ideas. She always ends her posts with a question to engage her readers. Miriam was a finalist in Best Student Blogs of 2011. She has been blogging for over 3 years.

Sue Wyatt, a retired teacher from Tazmania, is the founder of the annual Student Blogging Challenge which is in its 12th year. Her Student Blogging Challenge engages and challenges children of all ages to learn about blogging by actually blogging. Adult mentors give feedback on posts and other students are invited to do the same. This creates a community of bloggers who are all trying to improve their craft of blogging. 

How to set up a blog

My recommendation is to have your child use Blogger by Google. This blog you are reading is a Blogger platform. It is free and easy to use. You need to set up a Google account for your child first, then open the Blogger App and create the blog in 2 easy steps. Then you are ready to start blogging.

Safety and Parental Supervision of kid's Blogs

Once your child has created a blog, it is important to teach them about online safety.  Parents need to supervise the blogging of their child and here are some ways to do it:

1. Read and approve posts before they are posted

2. Parents should have access to the gmail account of their child and moderate the comments. This can be set up in the settings.

3. Parents can set the blog to be private (by email invitation only) or public.

4. Visit your child's blog frequently. This means their friends blogs as well.

5. Guide your child and confer with them about what they want to post.

6. Look at other children's blogs on the web and discuss them with your child. Use them to help develop good blogging skills.

7. Teach your child to never post personal information on their blog such as full name, address, phone numbers, names of their school, etc

Consider blogging for your child as an opportunity for both of you to learn about the digital world together and develop good, safe, digital behavior.

Sir Ken Robinson on Common Core, Creativity, & Technology in the Classroom

Things That Are Becoming Obsolete in 21st Century Schools

There are several articles and blog posts our there which address the changing face of education and how the current schools need to catch up to 21 st century learning. The focus of education needs to be on the LEARNING not the knowledge, the classes, the coursework....
This article from The Daily Riff (click here) shares 21 things which will be (or already are) obsolete in schools by 2020.

An Icelandic Elementary teacher, Ingvi Hammar, recently wrote about 14 things that are obsolete (or are becoming obsolete) in a 21st century classroom (click here). He says that schools are being innovative and looking at education; the way students learn, the way teachers teach, the classroom environment, professional development and  testing....hoping to spark a discussion in educational circles.

We are living in a transition period in education. Fourteen years into the 21st century, how are we addressing the 21st century skills that prepare students to be productive citizens in the world?

What Makes up Your Digital Footprint?

In the Information Age which we are living, understanding what your digital footprint is vital. The pieces that make up your child's digital footprint begin before they were born with their sonogram and the hospital's records, photos you have shared of them growing up. Once a child is in school they have input into their digital footprint and need to be made aware of what this means for them and how to make sure they are making sound choices before they post or search.

Parent guidance is important in helping your child see the importance of caution and careful thought of anything they do in the online world. 

Raha International School is "Happy"

With the help of Ms Laura,  Primary Music Teacher, a group of students created a video for the Pharrell Williams song, "Happy."  Watch and SMILE :-)

Parental Controls Update

New Parental Controls Nix the Fear, Up the Features

Thanks to Common Sense Media and their vigilant crew of authors who are always keeping updated on the latest in technology. Their newest post is about parental controls and how they are improving the flexibility

that parents have over their child's internet usage. 

While explaining the parental controls in a clear fashion, they still emphasize the need for you to talk with your child and model proper behavior when it comes to using devices. You are your child's first teacher. They watch you. They need guidance from you. If you spend the time keeping updated on parental controls as well as best ways to support your child while they are using devices, as well as keeping the lines of communication open between you, then you both can navigate the waters of online citizenship and, in the long run, equip your child to be a wise user of technology.

____________________________________________

iOS 7 Parental Controls (RESTRICTIONS)

For those parents whose children have iPads, Apple has a special help section on their Apple support
website to guide you to restrict activity on the device.

Firstly, create a for your child with a password that you both know. You should always have access to their iPad. Do this by going to:
SETTINGS/GENERAL/PASSCODE LOCK
You will be asked to create a 4 digit passcode.

In order to set up Restrictions, open the following link: Apple Support Restrictions
It gives you a step-by-step guide to enable restrictions on your child's iPad. The great thing about it is, that in order to  ENABLE or DISABLE the restrictions, another passcode needs to be entered. Warning, this passcode cannot be changed without resetting the iPad to factory restore. So keep the passcode to yourself and don't forget it! :-)

Destiny Quest For Mobile Devices

Destiny has a FREE app for all mobile devices that allows pupils and teachers alike to browse our library catalog from anywhere. 

Here's how:

- Simply download the Destiny Quest app

- Input our libraries’ URL (libraries.taaleem.ae)

- Select Raha International School PYP Library

- log in as a guest

Pupils and teacher scan use the search function to look for a book title, a research theme or an author. Destiny Quest will let you know if our library has the relevant material  and if it is currently available.

Go to the Apple App Store to find it. Or find it on the Follett Website.

Link for Destiny Quest website

Digital Learning Day, Feb 5

Digital Learning Day Resources
Edutopia has done it again with a post in their blog chock full of resources, articles, ideas and information about digital learning. From social media to games-based learning. This is a must keep/must read blog post for teachers and parents about how to bridge the digital divide for our students.

Rules of the Road for Parents in a Digital Age

                         

From Common Sense Video. 10 Simple Common Sense Rules for Parents. 

Learning to Change-Changing to Learn

Great Math Websites for Kids

Pinterest is a website more and more people go to these days, to find ideas for anything from decorating your living room, to baking a cake and everything in-between. But it is also a place to find ideas for parents to help their kids in school.

Recently I came across a Pinterest pin board devoted exclusively to great Math websites for kids. Check it out and try some of their ideas! It could be your family's New Year's resolution.....to do one math problem a night :-)

Math Websites For Kids on Pinterest

Use the comments section below this post to add your thoughts or make recommendations for particularly fun and worthwhile sites from the Pinterest Board.

Follow National Geographic Explorer

National Geographic Explorer

Journalist Paul Salopek has completed a year of his 7 year trek across 5 continents as he follows the path of human migration. He began in the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia and will finish at the southern tip of South American in Tierra del Fuego. His journey can be followed by students who can ask him questions and read his blog entries as well as follow him on a map. This is too good to miss!
Check it out by clicking on the link above or to the right in the links for parents.

Happy Virtual Trekking! :-) 

Safe Searching on Google

Happy New Year and Welcome back to school!

This is as good a time as any to talk about online safety when doing searches on search engines. The one that is highly recommended is GOOGLE. Google has well known support features which help parents and teacher guide the kids to search safely when online.

One such web page from Google is called:

How You Can Protect Your Family Online

(click on the above title to go to the Google Good To Know Website) 

This page has tips for safe searching as well as links to YouTube videos which explore the topic.

                                                ---------------------------------------

You can also set up the Google Search engine to filter searches from unwanted adult material by following these simple steps.

SafeSearch: Turn on or off

With SafeSearch, you can help prevent adult content from appearing in your search results. No filter is 100 percent accurate, but SafeSearch should help you avoid most of this type of material.

Turn SafeSearch on or off

1. Visit the Search Settings page at www.google.com/preferences. 
2. In the "SafeSearch filters" section:
   • Turn on SafeSearch by checking the box beside "Filter explicit results." Turning SafeSearch will filter sexually explicit video and images from Google Search result pages, as well as results that might link to explicit content.
   
   
   • Turn off SafeSearch by leaving the box unchecked. With SafeSearch off, we'll provide the most relevant results for your search and may include explicit content when you search for it.
   
3. Click the  Save button at the bottom of the page.

Change my settings

If you're signed in to your Google Account, you can click Lock SafeSearch to help prevent others from changing your setting. Learn more about locking SafeSearch

SafeSearch should remain set as long as cookies are enabled  on your computer, although your SafeSearch settings may be reset if you delete your cookies.