#BRESA Tech Talk

I am asking all of you to get involved.  Berrien RESA is leading a twitter challenge on Feb. 16.  More on this to come, but I am hoping you will follow, participate, or even lead this challenge in your classroom, building, or district.  Connections make us stronger.  Connections make us smarter. Become better connected and share your story.  I will start by sharing mine. With only 140 characters as a defining limitation I did not see how Twitter would change my profession, or more precisely my professional development.  I was wrong.  I signed up for the service skeptically.  There were enough folks posting shots of their dinner in the world, and it all looked better than mine. What did I have to offer?   Like many I started out following famous athletes and others of 'interest' to the world.  I soon learned that this was not very engaging.  My next step was to connect while at conferences.  I would follow a hashtag and...

Kids as young as age 2 are beginning to understand how computers work and how to find the activities that they like. It’s no wonder that those of us in the elementary classroom are finding that students are coming to us prepared to find Disney and Nickelodeon with no trouble. While this is a useful bit of knowledge to have, these same students have very little understanding of how vast the Internet truly is, and the implications of their actions online. It’s our job as educators to help them understand the “rules of the road” in order to help protect them. As teachers, we are given the unique opportunity to provide students with dedicated instruction on how to stay safe online. The tricky part of teaching this topic is balancing teaching safety skills, while still making the content real for students. In elementary school this can be difficult. I encourage you to reach out to parents and let them know that you are going to explore the topic and offer them tips that they can use at...