Digital Footprint

What appears when you Google your name?
I didn't realize it but I am a retired professional tennis player, an inspirational romance author, and a comic illustrator.  Wow! What a glamorous life I have lead.  Of course, none of that is really true.  I am nothing other than an educator for the past 20 years.
When looking over the articles pertaining to Digital Citizenship, I have become more aware of the importance to educate our students on the impact technology can have on their lives. The article written by Mike Ribble explains how important teaching students about appropriate behavior on the internet can be.  He simple states that we need to... Respect, Educate, and Protect.  There are nine important elements to digital citizenship.  It is extremely important that as educators we teach our students how to be responsible learners.
The footprint they leave on the internet is not simply washed away by the ocean's current. It remains.

Keeping Track of Resources

Susie spent hours collecting and curating resources for her upcoming unit on cells. She is able to successfully use much of what she has found when implementing her plans.

The following year, when it is time to begin the unit on cells again, Susie forgets about the resources she curated. She essentially starts from scratch, performing the task of searching, saving, and sorting once again.

Create a plan or provide suggestions for ways to make your curated resources a regular part of your planning.

Susie is in a predicament that we all as teachers often find ourselves in.  As teachers many of never do the same lesson plans the following year. we are always changing how we teach the lessons as new things come along. Whether it is because our classroom is going to be a more flipped classroom, or the introduction of iPads to the classroom, and even the changing of the state standards will cause teachers to adjust their lesson plans.

However, Susie needs to work smarter and not harder.  She needs to create a website with the collection of all her classroom resources.  The symbaloo program we have been using for this online class would be a great resource for Susie to use to keep track of her online resources.