Boot Camp

Have you ever been part of something that started small , but  then grew into something amazing?

I have.

It all started with these lovely ladies (plus Karen, another amazing coworker).

Last year, as part of our professional development, we were asked to serve on a PLC- Professional Learning Community. For you readers who are part of the educational world, this should be a familiar term. Typically in a PLC, the members are asked to identify an area of student learning that is a concern. Through research and development, the goal is to produce a product that addresses the problem, and hopefully, improves student learning.

During Abbi's last year of high school and Jacob's first year, Morrison Academy high school began a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy. This year, all middle school students are equipped with a Chrome book. These changes came with a lot of thought process. But, I wasn't quite sure where my second graders would fit into all these changes.

During a professional learning meeting, the term digital footprint, lit up that proverbial lightbulb, not only in me, but also other elementary teachers.  Thus, our digital citizenship PLC was born. I won't bore you with the process we went through, but, needless to say, the ideas kept flowing. Before we knew it, we not only had a graphic reminder for our students to keep at home, but an entire week long K5 digital citizenship boot camp, complete with lesson plans, was set into action.

T-shirts, dog tags, refrigerator magnets, banners, and flags also were planned.

Our Boot Camp kicked off at a K8 chapel. The students received their t-shirts and a group picture was taken.

The following week, everyday featured a letter from the acronym T.H.I.N.K. 

Just as our foot leaves a footprint as evidence of our path, so does our digital footprint.

At the end of the week, a celebration was held. 

The entire EMS staff jumped in and became a part of this special event. It was a wonderful week of hands-on learning, as well as lots of fun. I truly believe this somewhat ambiguous concept became more real and evident in the lives of our K8 students. After all, what learning doesn't go well with cake and ice cream?