During this time, I also co-taught and independently taught middle level and high school level ELA and English classes. I provided my students with lessons on how to cite their sources during their research and how to create bibliography pages. If they didn’t cite their sources, I would take off points. No bibliography page? I wouldn’t even accept the paper! I thought that I was doing what was best for my students. Well, I was wrong.
What about me? Was I citing my sources? Did I have a citation or give credit to the places where I was getting all my images, videos, or gifs? Honestly? No. No, I wasn’t.
I never realized that, while trying to teach my students how to be a good and noble digital citizen, I could have been modeling the practice all along. Everyone is a digital citizen. Even those of us who aren’t necessarily online. Even if you, yourself, aren’t online, most everything else is. Banking? Online. News? Online. Shopping? … you get the point! I get very worried about people who tell me, “Well, what do I have to worry about? I don’t go online!” Well, you may not, but you definitely have an online presence whether you want one or not. I read an article called Digital Citizenship Lessons in Two Minutes or Less by Nancy Watson. Just this short article opened my eyes to what I’ve been doing wrong. Instead of teaching digital citizenship as a stand-alone entity, Nancy’s mottos is: “Every Teacher, Every Classroom, Every Day.”
Impossible! Who has the time!
Nancy gives specific examples of how to do this, just embedded in our everyday teaching. If you’re interested in those examples, take the two minutes out of your busy schedule and read the article. It is worth it! I’m going to reflect on what my takeaways were from it.
First of all, I am going to start modeling to my students (who are now teachers!) ethical, safe, and legal practices with my digital tools. When I use an image or video from the internet I will cite it. When creating and sharing documents, presentations, or the like, I will include a reference page. When I take ideas or attributes from another source, I will give credit.
I am happy to say that I did give a list of sources in the last professional development (PD) I gave. I read so many articles that I felt like they were all worth sharing. Did I think the teachers would read them all? No, I know in the words of Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins, “ain’t no one’s got time for that!” But, I did want to share the links to each of the articles I read and put it on the last page. Maybe it’s all the ISTE training I’ve been doing that is making me into a better digital citizen.
For my next PD, I plan on doing the same, but I want to engage the teachers a bit more. Links are boring. This time for each article I reference, I am going to post my favorite quotation from that article. I’m also going to try something new! Instead of having the teachers come in with a blank slate, I am going to send out my references before the PD. I am going to ask teachers to read at least two of the articles I’m sharing with them and be prepared to discuss them. I know that still requires time, but I am planning this 6 weeks in advance, so I’m hoping that will give them time! I am also hoping this will encourage the teachers to think about the topic ahead of time and come prepared with ideas of their own; possibly ideas that I haven’t even come across or thought of myself!
Finally, I will definitely be giving credit in my presentations to the ideas, images, and various media I use. I hope that by modeling how easy it is to give credit, the teachers I work with will see and model it for their students. I have always been on the front side of technology integration throughout my teaching career but I know that I still have a long way to go. As technology changes, so will the ways we teach our students and learn ourselves. By having open and honest conversations with colleagues and students, I believe we can all move in the right direction to become positive digital citizens in the technology age.
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