This Week in Technology Classes: Middle and Upper Elementary

Our first unit in Technology Classes this year is all about being safer online.  We will be concentrating on Internet safety and netiquette until after Fall Festival.

This week, students in Middle and Upper Elementary Classes have been learning about online safety through the Netsmartz program (created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children).  We learned the four rules of Internet safety:

1.  I will tell my trusted adult if anything makes me feel sad, scared or confused. 

2.  I will ask my trusted adult before sharing information like my name, address, and phone number. 

3.  I won't meet face-to-face with anyone from the Internet. 

4.  I will always use good netiquette and not be rude or mean online.  

We watched a funny cartoon called "Router's Birthday Surprise", and were introduced to the rules.  We played a fun classroom game called "Which Rule is it, Anyway?", in which we considered some real-life situations and decided what we would do if faced with that problem.  We also listened to songs to reinforce our basic safety rules for online and real-world safety.

Our study of the basic rules of online safety will continue through next week, with more fun games and activities.  Students will then move on to more advanced topics (password safety, preventing cyberbullying, avoiding viruses/malware, etc.) in the following weeks.

Students did a great job during our safety discussions - they were engaged, excited, and full of great ideas!

PS - Parents/Guardians: Be sure to check out the Netsmartz Presentation for Trusted Adults, available for download on this page!  It is full of great information and tips to help keep the kids you love safer online.