Adorable feature image found here!
Hello #ECI832’ers and beyond,
Well..here it is, the official check in…yikes! I think this week for whatever reason, I am feeling like my classmate Jessica appears to be feeling in her blog post this week. I’m not overwhelmed, but I so desperately want to do this project justice and I need to think critically about how it is going to look, why I’m doing it, and how it will really benefit my students beyond the confines of this class. My littles deserve the world, and everything I do in my classroom is centered around preparing them to be responsible, respectful, caring, empathetic citizens of not only our city, province, country but of the world both online and IRL.
Is anyone else’s head going in every direction? Thanks Giphy.
THE PROGRESS:
As I mentioned in my last update, I am working with 2 amazing organizations to put together a social action project for my grade 2 class to participate in. Want to read all about it? I got you covered, just click here. If you remember and are up to speed, keep reading! 😉 So far, I have met with the main organizer of “The Chair Affair” and have received the adorable children’s chairs and table that we will be painting for the auction. My kids are chopping at the bit to get started on the design and painting but I have to keep reminding them that we have lots of the “why” learning to do first! I have also just finished leading a 2 day training session with the Red Cross on their Beyond the Hurt and Healthy Youth Relationship programs so it has refreshed my memory on all the hard work we need to put into this area in my classroom too! We will again be using the hashtag #lionkidshelpingkids in our school and community initiatives.
THE CONNECTIONS:
One of the main areas that I saw my project connecting to the Mike Ribble’s Nine Elements was with feature number one, Digital Access. My kiddos, because of the school, community and country we live in, sometimes have trouble understanding that not everyone has the same access and privilege to technology that we have. They are very lucky to learn about digital citizenship and digital literacies at a young age so they need to use their privilege to help others. Although our initiatives for this project will not necessarily help narrow the inequities of technology, I hope that my class will come away with the knowledge of them and then use their power as they grow to continue with the cause. As Ribble suggests, the goal of any digital citizen should be to help expand and access technology – I think it it’s important to also note that this can be learned starting at any age where students and kids access technology. ❤
Connections in the modern world. via GIPHY
The second connection I can make to Ribble’s 9 elements is, feature number 4, Digital Literacy. Any project that I would have agreed to take on would somehow connect to this extremely important idea. Ribble says, “Learners must be taught how to learn in a digital society. In other words, learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere”. This piece is what struck me in particular as how we teach kids to learn now is so incredibly different than in the past – we need to teach them to find the information where ever they are, not just remember whatever we thought as the teacher was the most important. With my project I am hoping to use digital technology in a way that is meaningful but also effective and worth while to the way my kids will learn and need to know in their futures. My kiddos will be using technology and research skills online to help support their understanding of healthy relationships as well as the conditions and need for support in the developing world.
THE END
Overall, I feel like I have the skeleton of this learning project ready to get filled in and I’m so excited! Learning about the world and being able to think globally are skills that I would LOVE to help my kids develop in their time with me. Stay tuned…
This picture from Pixaby reminded me that it’s ok to slowly put the pieces together because if you’re prepared, the ACT piece can change the world. One step at a time.
Thanks for reading.
Dani ❤
“Educating the mind without educating the heart,
is no education at all.”
-Aristotle
The Hackel Hub 
What a lovely project Dani! I can imagine the excitement of your students as you brought int he table and chairs. They will learn a lot about this project alongside you as you work to get it up and running! I can’t wait to see what they design and what they achieve through this! Looking forward to the next update!
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You beat me to it with that Pixaby image – I was going to say something about the importance of taking it slow, step-by-step, etc., as it’s fairly important to get projects like this ‘right”. The “why” piece will be worthwhile, and I love that you are helping students understand how access is important and that their access will be much more privileged than the access of others. Often, when we thinking of privilege, we don’t always make the connection to tech and knowledge. Of course, this is very important!’
I look forward to seeing where this goes – please share any relevant social media posts with me and I am very happy to share widely!
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Dani, I like what you wrote about understanding how our privileges give us access to certain things, especially in regards to technology. I will be coming back here to check the progress of your project! Thanks for sharing.
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