How to Book a Facility

Hello everyone!  I know many of you are anxious to book various rooms around campus.  Here is a video to help you with that process.

One quick note: the video was made last year when we were still on our .com accounts so please keep in mind that we are now on .org.  The information is all still correct, but make sure you are logged into your .org account to book a facility.

Exciting news from Apple and it's iOS 9.3!  It is in beta form now, although once released the hope is that our iPads will become even more valuable for enhancing our classroom learning experiences.



Read more about it here!

What's The Story With Cyberbullying? Pt 4: What Can We Do As Parents?

As mentioned in Pt 1 of these articles, if cyberbullying occurs, students are more likely to speak to a peer, rather than an adult about it.  A core reason for this is likely to be the fear of losing access to their technology.  As parents how can we support our children in their cyber life.  Here are some strategies to consider.

Engage With Your Child

• Your relationship is important. Keeping an open, interested attitude to your child's use of technology is one of the best things you can do.

• Ask your child to show you how they use social media.  Engage with them on it.  Who are their buddies?  How do they know them?

• Discuss cyberbullying with your children and ask if they have ever experienced it or seen it happen to someone.

• Emphasize your love and desire to protect your child.  Emphasize that you won't take away their computer privileges if something happens (remembering that this is the main reason kids don't tell adults when they are cyberbullied)

Model Technology Boundaries

What messages do your children get from you about technology?  Are you always on your phone? They will be too!  Try out some of the following ideas for establishing technology boundaries:

• family no tech time?  eg.  Phones/devices in a basket for the night
• think about where technology is physically placed.  In bedroom at night not a great idea.
• engage parent controls for time boundaries (but set the time boundaries WITH your child)

Build Your Digital Skills

Get interested and informed about the apps your child is using. Take a step into their world and engage there with them. Get your child to teach you, try googling for things you want to know.

• Take classes or have your child teach you
• Read - use google to search specific topics
• Learn how to identify secretive behaviours (minimizing windows, switching screens etc)

If you need help or support on any of this, the Digital Learning Coaches would love to chat with you. Stop by the DLC office anytime.

What's The Story With CyberBullying? Pt. 3: What Is CyberBullying?

Last Week:  What's The Story With Cyberbullying?  Pt. 2:  Digital Socializing

Cyberbullying is defined differently depending on who you talk to.  Essentially it consists of the following elements:

Behaviour that is:

• aggressive
• intentional
• repeated over time (although this can be by more than one person)
• using electronic forms of contact eg. IM, email, chat, website, gaming, social networking, texting

Characteristics of cyberbullying:

• indirect - hard to see the impact on the person at the other end of the screen
• invasive - there is no where to go to escape
• roles of bystanders are more complex
• primarily takes place out of school

Types of Behaviours

Behaviours can be broken down into direct and indirect behaviours:

Direct Behaviours:

• harassment - unwelcome contact
• flaming - rude and vulgar language, name calling, threats and insults
• unwelcome sexual texts or photos - happens more to older girls
• sexual behaviours (being asked to do something sexual online)

Graphic types of cyberbullying can be more hurtful due to their highly public and revealing nature.

Indirect Behaviours:

• rumours, gossiping and denigration (anger)
• sending private pictures without consent (anger, shame)
• impersonating (anger)
• social exclusion - being rejected by peers and left out of communications

In Pt 4 of this series, we will look at things you can do as a parent to help address this issue with your child.

What's The Story With Cyber Bullying? Pt 2. Digital Socializing

Part 1 (last week): What’s the story with Cyberbullying? Pt 1 - Different Digital Worlds

In Part One of this series, we discussed some of the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants.  We noted that natives express themselves through their technology and see it as an extension of themselves.  This brings us to a key aspect of digital native life:  Cyber Socializing.

Adults tend to underestimate the importance of cyber-socializing to teenagers.  If we recognize how important technology use is to our teenagers we can help facilitate conversations where they are more likely to confide in us if they have negative experiences.

The commonsense media survey found that only 6% of teens were not using media outside of school. Approximately half of the teens surveyed indicated a preference for using mobile devices.  Our students are highly dependent on the internet for communication, but they are not always knowledgeable about the realities of staying safe online.

Teens use technology to explore and express their evolving identities.  Studies have shown that for many teens, cyber socializing has a positive impact on friendship quality and relationships.  Students are highly concerned that if they do not have access to technology they would be socially isolated.  A primary reason that they do not confide in adults when cyberbullied, is fear that they will lose access to their technology.

Next Up:  Pt. 3:  What Is CyberBullying?

Your child's secret life online: 7 ways to manage it as a parent

A great resource for us moms and dads on managing our children's online life.

Your Child’s Secret Life Online: 7 Ways to Manage It as a Parent

MYP encourages creative, critical and reflective thinking

10 reasons why MYP can encourage learning  to happen...