Category: technology

internet safety, technology

Why the Internet is Like the Mall

Pernille Ripp
Another cross posting from my other blog, this one has taken on a life of its own, with others putting their own spin on it.  When we discuss internet safety, it is vital that we are able to relate it to students’ lives, so that they can understand that being behind a computer does not mean that they are protected.  While I am not in the business of scaring students, there are plenty of other ways that can happen, we can stress the importance of proper behavior.  And thus this lesson came about; linking the internet to going to the mall.
I believe in the importance of honest conversation with the kids, where they supply the answers, rather than me hitting them over the head with it.  I simply started out this lesson by writing the words “Internet Safety” on my whiteboard and turned to the kids.  They volunteered what these words meant to them and then I ventured into the mall analogy; so what would they do to stay safe at the mall if their parents dropped them off?  

Some of the students answers were
  • That they would not talk to strangers
  • Give anyone their information if approached
  • Go only to the place they were supposed to
  • And they wold go straight there, rather than take detours or stop at other places 
  • They wouldn’t give their money to strangers
By having the students provide the safety rules, taken from their own memory of rules drilled into their heads by their formidable parents, they connected real life danger with things that can happen on the internet.  Sometimes students think they are safe on the net, as we all know, and this brought the responsibility home for them.  

So as we continue learning proper safety and etiquette, we will keep referring back to the mall analogy, for example, would you walk up to a friend and tell them their outfit was ugly when talking about how to comment?  Today was one of those moments where I was able to make students understand something they have to learn in this day and age.  A lesson not just meant for 4th graders or 5th graders but hopefully something they will keep in the back of their minds when they go on the internet themselves, or maybe even next time they go to the mall.  Once again today I realized how huge my responsibility is for these kids and how glad I am to be their teacher.  
blogging, Introduction, kidblog, safety, technology

So You Want to Use Kidblog?

Pernille Ripp


While this post is from my other blog, I have found it to be a very useful one, thus the cross posting.  Many of us have started our students blogging but to ensure full parent and student understanding, I created these documents.  We still use these documents, halfway through the year, as we continue to emphasize safe internet usage and responsible behavior.  My students can practically recite the safety plan.


One of our main components will be our Kidblog but since this is the first year anyone has done anything like this in my school, there was some safety business to handle first.  So here are my links to an internet safety plan my students will sign as well as the Kidblog introduction letter I am sending home to parents.  Please feel free to use.

conferences, letter to Jeremy, technology

Are We Setting Students up for Failure?

Pernille Ripp
This letter is part of a series of letters taking place between  Jeremy Macdonald @MrMacnology, a 5th grade teacher in Oregon, and Pernille Ripp @4thgrdteacher, 4th grade teacher in Wisconsin; two educators who for the first time are attempting a no grades classroom, as well as limited homework.  We share our thoughts and struggles with creating the best learning environment for our students so that others may learn something as well.  To see the other letters, please visit us here or here.
Hi Jeremy,
I am so glad to hear that conferences went well. There we both were, sweating over every single detail and once again our fears got the better of us.  My parents loved it.  No one asked any questions as to what grade their child should be getting but instead asked pointed questions to their children about their learning.  As you may have realized, I have gotten hooked on student-led conferences as well in the process.  So maybe this shows us too that we have done our job well as well.  We have prepared our parents as much as we prepare our students.  We let them know from the beginning what type of environment we envision and then we follow our own guidelines.  No surprises means no anger.  I do wonder how you ended up doing your report cards in that you say some students were surprised?   Had you not shown them to them beforehand or discussed it with them?  I am liberally borrowing the idea from Joe Bower in setting grades with the kids, that way there won’t be any surprises or confusion.  I agree, we continue this path and we adjust and continue, knowing that it is the right way to go.
I too am tech-obsessed.  I like to blame it on my parents who had one of the only original apple computers in town.  My students know that I have this obsession and they love it.  And yet, like you, I ponder whether my obsession is a healthy one and whether it is educationally relevant to the students?  So every time I choose to introduce a new tool for the students I have to know why.  Is it just for playing or is it an integral part of the learning process.  My students blog because we are learning to connect with an audience and to cater our writing to specific purposes.  Blogging also has the added excitement of responses from other people rather than just plain old me.  And yet, we write by hand every day as well.  One teacher told me that they thought students needed to learn how to write before they moved on to typing.  She therefore did not want students doing technology “stuff.”  I was hurt and confused by her comment, knowing that she was directing it at me and the approach I have taken and I didn’t get what she meant as I see the two as one in the same.  I can just as easily write a story by pencil as by typing.  To me that seems to be an excuse to keep students away from technology.
There have been times though where I have had to stop myself, though.  I know that my students get much more excited when they get to use technology but some times learning has to come from books and from discussion.  Not from a movie, or a voicethread, or some other computer related activity.  How do we set up our students for excitement about that type of learning?  Is there a way to combine the two?  Or will the technology always win because it is a gadget.  Are we, in truth, by being techy teachers, doing our students a disservice by setting them up for perpetual disappointment when they move on to teachers that do not embrace it as fully as we do?  Are we instead of helping shape 21st century students, shaping kids that will more quickly become disillusioned in a classroom because their teacher does not embrace technology?  Should teachers even be allowed to not incorporate technology into their lessons?
We will always be advocates for learning, that is the nature of our job, but what we must deliberate on every day is whether a tool will enhance learning or merely dress it up to become easier to digest?  I take an unpopular stance when I say that I feel interactive whiteboards are not all that they are hailed to be for learning purposes, although I agree that they catch children’s’ attention very well.   And that’s it, isn’t it?  Do we use technology to get the attention of our students or do we use it properly to teach them something?  
I fear I left you with more questions than answers.  Yet they are important ones that I struggle with on a daily basis.  And I wish I could say that I had typed this on my Ipad, however Santa has yet to decide whether I have been good enough to deserve one of those for Christmas or not.  I swear I have…




global read aloud, students, technology

Why the Internet is like the Mall

Pernille Ripp
Today,  in anticipation of the Global Read Aloud Project, I started  my first lesson on internet safety.  And yes, students have been taught about internet safety before by my fabulous technology teacher, yet I wanted to cover all bases one more time.  So last night, when I was pondering my lesson, it came to me: compare the internet to the mall.

Today, I therefore told the students that going on the internet is like going to the mall without your parents’ supervision.  So what would they do to stay safe at the mall?  Some of the students answers were that they would not talk to strangers, give anyone their information, and they would also go straight to the place they were supposed to go without stopping at other stores.  Those lessons can be applied directly to the internet and the students got it!  I had so many light bulbs go off, I could barely contain myself.

By having the students provide the safety rules, taken from their own memory of rules drilled into their heads by their formidable parents, they connected real life danger with things that can happen on the internet.  Sometimes students think they are safe on the net, as we all know, and this brought the responsibility home for them.  So as we continue learning proper safety and etiquette, we will keep referring back to the mall analogy, for example, would you walk up to a friend and tell them their outfit was ugly when talking about how to comment?  Today was one of those moments where I was able to make students understand something they have to learn in this day and age.  A lesson not just meant for 4th graders or 5th graders but hopefully something they will keep in the back of their minds when they go on the internet themselves, or maybe even next time they go to the mall.  Once again today I realized how huge my responsibility is for these kids and how glad I am to be their teacher.  We are now one step closer to the global connections!

students, technology

So, let’s Get These Students Tech Ready

Pernille Ripp
Since I am teaching a 4/5 combination class this year, and 8 of the students are my old students, I have had to throw all my usual first week projects out.  (Which by the way is incredibly liberating; you should try it!)

The first week of school, or more accurately the first actual 7 days of school, will therefore be a great chance to integrate tech into my classroom and get my students ready to participate in the Global Read Aloud.
So what will we do?

  • Using Skype, parents will be invited to call us in the classroom at the end of the day so we can share what we have been doing.
  • Using Wordle, students will think of adjectives to describe themselves and parents’ adjectives will be added as a surprise.  These print-outs will go in lockers.
  • Voki will be used to create book hooks describing one cool book they read over the summer.
  • We will write a letter to ourselves about our expectations for the year using Future Me.  We will plan to receive them back the last week of school.
  • Wallwisher will be used and shared with parents to showcase something we learned in class.
  • We will blog about something we hope to learn and post in our kid blog.
  • Voki will also be used to introduce another classmate to the class.
  • We will use Google Earth to look up participants in the Global Read Aloud and then do pins on a world map in the classroom.
  • Digital Cameras will be introduced by having them go on a scavenger hunt in my room and having to photograph the “treasures” – these will be posted on VoiceThread as a guide to our classroom for parents to see.
  • We will use Animoto to come up with our hopes and wishes for the year letting each child add a picture and a sentence.
  • Wordia will be used when students have to come up with the definition of student, classroom, community, teacher, and school.  We will tape and post our own definitions.
How will you integrate technology into your classroom?  How do we get the kids excited about using it and how do you make it purposeful and not just technology for technology’s sake?