Internet Safety Conversations

So I talked to my 13 year old sister. I asked her what she does on the internet. She says she has an e-mail account where she e-mails a few of her friends occasionally. She doesn't belong to any social networks, though. So basically, I have no concerns for her safety on the internet. I asked her if her friends did anything she was concerned about. She said sometimes people put dumb things on the internet. But I don't think she was referring to unsafe things, just things nobody cares about. I asked her what she would say to someone who was being unsafe with the internet. She said she would tell them to get a life. I tried to explain the difference between dumb things and unsafe things, but I don't think the distinction is important to her.

Then my 16 year old sister joined the conversation. She said, "Oh, the internet is full of creepers." She refuses to get facebook even because she is so worried about creepy people. I told her she doesn't need to get facebook or anything if she doesn't want to, but I explained that there are safe ways to use social networks and unsafe ways to use them. She had a good idea about posting profile pictures. She said to post a group picture so someone wouldn't know which one is you. I said that was a good idea and also told her about the ideas we discussed in class. I said that in today's world, we really can't and shouldn't avoid using the internet, but we should be smart about it.

Internet Safety

I read the "Just a Game" article. I didn't realize that there is a huge distinction between interactive games on the internet and games someone installs on their computer. The former can be much more addictive and much more harmful because it happens in real time and the other players create peer pressure. The advice given in the article seemed counterintuitive to me. It advised talking to the person about the game they are playing; how it works, their role, etc. This doesn't quite sit well with me because I specifically avoid doing this with my brother. But he plays really violent games and I don't want to watch at all. I also feel like if I talked to him about his games, I would be endorsing his behavior. Am I totally wrong? Suggestions, anyone?


Here is a link to a video on internet safety I particularly liked:

Internet Safety: A Cautionary Tale

Instructional Video

Modern Myth Assignment

Here is your assignment for creating a modern myth:

click here

Class Calendar

Here is the calendar for our class. It has what we will be doing in class each day in September and October as well as the information you will need for any reading assignments

Storyboard for Movie

Podcast Plan

This podcast is an example of an assignment I could have students do. The rationale for this assignment comes from the Utah State language arts requirements for 7th grade part of which states, “Retell or summarize and make connections to clarify thinking through writing.” The assignment will be to create a podcast which presents a summarized version of a story in dramatic form. This could be done with a book we read as a class or with books the students read on their own. My model for the format of this assignment is old radio shows which tell stories in a very engaging way and make very good use of sound. In doing this assignment, students will need to learn how to pick out the most important events in the plot and the most significant aspects of the characters to include in their podcast. They will also need to write the script which will summarize the book, but this assignment will encourage them to do it in an interesting way. The goal of this assignment is to help students solidify in their minds the reading they have done, learn to create something, and improve their writing skills.