This week I developed a cyber Anti-Bullying event for my School. PACER.org supplied a format for th event that I used as a spring board towards a similar event.

The Anti-Bully event designed toward middle school students and their families would be held in the library of the school.

Pre-event- There will be a sign-in table where guests will receive a gift bag consisting of an anti-bully bookmark from PACER.org, an internet safety booklet and the books The Chocolate War and Chester the Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully. MCGruff’s Anti-Bully video will be looped on the large smart board screen.

The Main Event- Following an introduction and short speech about the school’s commitment to anti-cyber bullying the main event would be a 30-45 minute play about bullying performed by a guest troop of actors.

Activities after the event – would include computers set up with the PACER.org sites http://www.PACERKidsAgainstBullying.org and http://www.PACERTeensAgainstBullying.org

for people to play and learn about the effects of bullying.  There will also be a table where people can make acrostic poems against bullying. A drawn heart decorating contest, symbolizing love rather than hate. Middle school students would sign contracts pledging not to cyber-bully and to alert adults when they witness bullying, whether in person or online.

Studenst and Communication

Thanks for the enlightenment!! It is internet safety that they are concerned with and rightly so in these days, but there has to be a balance.Students meet new people everyday and need to make decisions on whether or not these are people they should associate with. Communication is so important to teenagers. I wonder if they faced these same safety dilemmas when phones first arrived on the scene?

blogs increases book circulation

After reading Diary of a blog: listening to kids in an elementary school library by Janie Cowan, I was enlightened to the fact that blogs can be beneficial in increasing reading at even the elementary level. Janie used the blog to find out what her patrons were reading in order to better serve them. She asked some thought provoking questions, the kind of question people like to think about like-"If you could be any book character, who would it be."  Not only did she gain an insight into the books the kids wanted, but also started a community of reader/bloggers and ultimately increased circulation at her library.
The interest in reading  increased because it was fun to do and it  gave the kids and staff something to ponder and discuss. This is not a forced reading program with goals and tests but it had the effect that reading incentive programs want. Blogging can work as a way to get kids to read for fun, and when people enjoy doing something , they do it more. When reading is practiced the reading levels are bound to go up. I love this idea of blogging and starting a community of reader/ bloggers at the elementary level!

Resources

Cowan, J. (2008, June). Diary of a blog: Listening to kids in an elementary school library. 

Teacher Librarian, 35(5), 20-26. 

RSS Feeds

Amanda has me thinking that RSS feeds can be the way to go for a school like ours because it does not allow comment.At this special education school, rightly or wrongly, they discourage the kids from using social media.RSS feeds could possibly be a way to introduce communicative technology without the risk of inappropriate comment opportunities.

I can see where coupled with a reader that keeps web sites organized, RSS feeds can be informative and fun. In education it could make students aware of upcoming assignments or school activities. Students could keep abreast where they do not need to interact. I think RSS feeds have a future as it more and more stressful to feel that everything needs a response, sometimes just receiving the information is enough.

I am also going to look further Kids blog for safe blogging. It may be a way around the school's technology limits while keeping the kids safe.