Cyberbullying: The Surprising Facts

Cyberbullying: The Surprising Facts

Chantal Faucher, Wanda Cassidy, and Margaret Jackson define bullying as the “repeated aggressive behaviors that are intended to cause harm to a victim with relatively less power to defend themselves.”  However, cyberbullying is not always initiated by what we think of as the typical bully.  The reality of cyberbullying is that it can be initiated by anyone, at any time, through multiple platforms.  This idea is what I found very interesting about cyberbullying because cyberbullying, quite frankly, can happen to and by anyone. 

I believe that it really is easier for kids to be cyberbullies than a "traditional" bully.  It is easier to say things behind the comfort of a computer screen and keyboard.  I see this daily on social media platforms, such as Facebook, where people make rude comments or remarks to total strangers.  Adults are guilty of being cyberbullies just as much as children. 

In the video below, Emma shares her story of how she was a victim of cyberbullying by her best friend.   

Emma's Story: Cyberbullied by a Best Friend

Cyberbullying is a huge concern of mine as my district moves to eLearning because every student will have access to technology at home.  While this is a wonderful initiative which will level learning gaps across the district, it also opens up a whole new world of potential for cyberbullying.  Even though I am in an elementary building, that does not mean that I will not have students who face cyberbullying.  Before devices begin going home with students nightly, my plan is to teach a series of digital citizenship lessons in the library, especially with the students in grades 3 - 5 because that is the age group where I anticipate the most potential for problems to arise.

NetSafe: Cyberbullying

Common Sense Education provides a wealth of resources on digital citizenship, including cyberbullying, and you can locate lesson ideas by grade level.

Other Resources on Digital Citizenship and Cyberbullying

https://code.org/curriculum/course3/20/Teacher

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-citizenship-mary-beth-hertz

https://www.k12blueprint.com/blog/michael-gorman/10-digital-citizenship-resources-web-classroom-part-3

Make Learning Fun with Kahoot!

Let’s face it, reviewing for a big test can get boring, especially when you are just discussing important points.  Why not make your review more fun by using Kahoot?  Best of all, Kahoot it totally free!

Getting Started 

To access Kahoot, you will need to visit https://kahoot.com and create your free account.  For more directions on creating your account, visit the help page.  Once you have created an account, you can either browse Kahoots which have already been created or you can create your own.  Creating a new Kahoot is the best way to tailor the material to suit your classroom needs.  Directions for creating your own Kahoot can also be found in the help page. 

Starting the Fun 

Once you have created or found a Kahoot, let the game begin.  Students will log in using a specific game pin, which is auto-generated, and depending on how you set up gameplay, they can either type in their name or select a username.  Once everyone is in, questioning will begin.  What makes a Kahoot fun to the students is that they are playing against each other, and they score points, not only by getting the correct answers but also by who responds the quickest.  This makes reviewing for a big test or exit tickets from a lesson much more fun.

Kahoots for Homework

Kahoot also recently launched its newest platform where students can play at home for their homework.  Students can access the Kahoot via a mobile app, and their responses are collected for the teacher just as in normal gameplay.

Here are some suggestions of when to use Kahoot in your classroom:

• Reviewing for a test
• Exit Slips
• Homework assignments 
• Brain Breaks
• Indoor Recess
• Fact Reviews (Multiplication Tables)

The possibilities are endless!

Other helpful resources for Kahoot:

• Guides and Tutorials 
• Kahoot! Pedagogy
• Kahoot! Certified 

Adaptive Tool for the Flipped Classroom

Adaptive Tool for the Flipped Classroom 

When I was completing my undergraduate studies at Clemson University, I was able to take American Sign Language as my foreign language.  As a result, I became very active in the ASL Club where I was able to participate in numerous events within the Clemson / Anderson Deaf Community, and I was able to learn so much about the community and their culture.

After watching and reading this week’s material, it really had me reflecting back on my experiences as an undergrad and how the deaf community can and will be impacted by the flipped classroom movement.  I started about, what tool could I share with the teachers in my school which could be used as an adaptive technology to meet the needs of potential students who are members of the deaf community. Personally, as a teacher, I have never even considered this as an obstacle unless I had a deaf student in my classroom room, presently, but there are is always a chance of class roster changes throughout the year.  Also, if I had an exceptional lesson which I had flipped, I would want the ability to use it from year to year, so accommodations should be considered in the beginning and not just because you have a new student come in.

With all of this in mind, Screencast-o-matic was the resource that first came to mind.  Screencast-o-matic can be found at https://screencast-o-matic.com/.  Screencast-o-matic has free and paid versions, both of which you can utilize to add closed captioning to anything which you record.  I know that most of the time, teachers are going to want a tool to use which is free, but personally, I think the Solo Deluxe plan is well worth the $1.50/per month that you spend. The see a full comparison of the free versus paid versions please visit https://screencast-o-matic.com/plans.  

With Solo Deluxe, you can edit video, script your video, as well as utilize other resources built into their platform. The biggest perk with the paid version is that you can easily edit the closed captions if the auto recognition does not get the wording correct.  This is especially useful if you are using the video as a flipped lesson. All videos can also be uploaded to a teacher’s Google Drive, which would make sharing lessons through a Google Classroom much easier without the worry of a district monitoring program blocking a YouTube video which you created.