Monday, September 29, 2014

Your Digital Footprint

Advisory Bulletin
September 22-16, 2014
Your Digital Footprint – Part 3

Monday, September 22, 2014             Parent/Teacher Conferences

Tuesday, September 23, 2014
            a.m. –  Morning Meeting

            p.m. – Review digital footprint work so far – brainstorm on white board                 or with post-it notes, what’s been covered so far.  [Look back on past Bulletins if you need reminders.]

            Anonymously write out a problem you have had with social media     or        texting or write out one you’ve heard of someone else having.  Come       back together as a group to brainstorm options. 

            Another idea:  break into small groups, with each group handling a    different scenario.

            If you need to give your group scenarios: 

            #1:
            Katie signs on to her facebook account and has two messages in her inbox from                        friends at school. They are both angry messages about how Katie should never       have posted what she did last night at 2am. Katie runs through her news feed and            her profile and sees that there are two pictures, each of her friends they took        when at their last sleep over of them being silly in funny outfits. They are not the             most flattering pictures of her friends. Katie promises she did not post the           pictures.

            #2:
            Ken is in a group message with all the guys on his swim team. They are talking             about the girls team and what girls are hot and what girls are not. The guys are             commenting back and forth about everyone equally. The messaging starts to slow       down after about a week and Ken loses interest. Then, Ken finds out there is         another message group that was created that did not include him. The    conversation is exactly the same, but this time the team all the guys are talking   about is the volleyball team! Ken’s sister is on the volleyball team!

            #3:
            I’m online and I get a friend request from someone I don’t recognize. I look to see        that they have 18 mutual friends with me. Their profile picture is of them in a         group and they look to be around my age.

            #4:
            I only gave my password to my best friend when I was out of town with no       internet connection and wanted her to check my inbox for messages from my        teachers about homework. Now I am in trouble because of an email that was            blasted from my account to the whole middle school. My best friend swears they     didn’t send it and didn’t tell anyone of my password. What should I do?

            #5:
            I was at the beach with my friends and I took a picture of myself in my bathing            suit tanning. We both look awesome in the picture so of course I post it to   Instagram. I get to school Monday and a bunch of classmates keep looking at me          weird. I ask what the big deal is, but no one will tell me. When I get home I am on             Instagram and I see that our picture is getting a lot of likes. I don’t see what the            big deal is. The next day at school one of my good friends shows me their phone.     My picture is on the screen, but it is not the same picture I took. It has been             altered!

            #6:
            I have two twitter accounts. One I let my mom see and one that I like to keep   private. She doesn’t need to know everything that I do. I am in Middle school she    needs to trust me. My mom just found my private account…


Wednesday, September 24, 2014
            Ask an adult – what were the big communication challenges of his or her     day?  How were they handled? What changes has he or she noticed since       the digital revolution?

            The idea behind this:  we are in a whole new phase of communication           skills   development.  Often, adolescents know as much and more than the    adults             around them.  Hopefully this exercise will impress upon     adolescents that they are the vanguard for responsible digital citizenship.    They will be schooling the adults in many ways.  Also:  if it feels like a lot to      deal with, it is.  Today’s parents didn’t have to learn these same lessons.              Today’s kids have to be smarter than yesterday’s kids.


Thursday, September 25, 2014          Holiday – No School

           
Friday, September 26, 2014

            Keystone Game:  Standing together shoulder to shoulder with others in a    tight circle, students slowly lean into the centre as they slide their feet out   to create a self-supporting structure.

1.      Ask your group to stand in a tight circle, facing into the center, just touching the shoulders of their neighbors.
2.      Invite everyone to slowly lean into the circle, without moving their feet.
3.      Having established reasonable balance, explain that you would like each person to slowly – very slowly – slide their feet backwards as they lean into the center.
4.      Announce that the ultimate goal is for the group to create an evenly-balanced circle in which everyone feels supported and yet critical to the overall balance of the structure.
5.      Allow for as many attempts as possible, stopping frequently to discuss what is and isn’t working.
6.      Keep practicing until they reach a desired level of challenge, balance and comfort.
7.      Process your group’s experience. 

            How-To-Play Narrative:

How often in a program do you ask your group to form a circle? Well, add one more to the count.  But this time, ask everyone to form as perfect a circle as possible.  No bends, no corners, just a perfectly round-edged circle.

Good, now come in closer, and closer still – until everyone is just touching the upper arms and shoulders of their neighbors.  Stop there.

Your next move is to invite everyone to lean in slowly, without moving their feet.  And as they produce moderate levels of pressure and balance, to slowly, ever so slowly, start to slide their feet backwards just a smidge or two

The objective of this task is to create the impression that every person is a “keystone” – an engineering term used to describe the wedge-shaped stone which is placed at the apex of a masonry arch which locks all of the other stones into position.

In other words, the ultimate goal is to create an evenly balanced circle in which everyone feels supported and yet critical to the overall balance of the structure, i.e., as if they were the keystone.  Your group should aim to keep this up for as long as possible.

With each smidgen, review the balance and composure of your group, and if considered safe, suggest stepping back a little further.  Anything up to 1 inch extended back from the starting position is cool – beyond this point, encourage your group to brace for a topple, or be ready to stop the exercise.

Invite your group to discuss what is and isn’t working between a series of attempts, and encourage them to keep practicing until they reach a desired level of challenge, balance and comfort.

There’s something pretty special about a large group of people leaning in toward each other attempting to reach that pinnacle of balance, where just one bad move will cause the pieces to topple.  It’s difficult to find this sweet spot, but worth every effort.

Practical Leadership Tips – Although it seems obvious, it is always a good idea to remind people that they should take a quick step forward if they feel that they are going to fall, or if they are experiencing discomfort. 

            Practice is key.  It’s easy for many groups to quickly become disengaged after a couple of poor attempts, so look for positives and offer lots of encouragement.  It can be done, and the sense of shared accomplishment when it’s achieved is wonderful.

Useful framing idea:  “If you looked closely as old stone archways and certain other architectural elements, you may have noticed an object called a ‘keystone.’  Does anyone know what this is? [allow time for suggestions….]  A keystone is, as it sounds, the key to keeping a particular structure together.  This next exercise will provide you each with the opportunity to be a human keystone.

Debriefing Tips:
»        Our three standard questions.
»        What worked and what did not work to keep the circle evenly balanced?
»        What adjustments had to be made to achieve the objective?
»        How can we apply any of the design principles here to our relationships with others?
»        How can we apply the design principles here to our digital footprints?
»        What do you think is the keystone of healthy, balanced relationships?


This video takes about 16 minutes.  Please preview and facilitate a discussion afterward.









Scenarios for Tuesday (if you want to cut these up and hand them out)


#1:
Katie signs on to her facebook account and has two messages in her inbox from friends at school. They are both angry messages about how Katie should never have posted what she did last night at 2am. Katie runs through her news feed and her profile and sees that there are two pictures, each of her friends they took when at their last sleep over of them being silly in funny outfits. They are not the most flattering pictures of her friends. Katie promises she did not post the pictures.

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#2:
Ken is in a group message with all the guys on his swim team. They are talking about the girls team and what girls are hot and what girls are not. The guys are commenting back and forth about everyone equally. The messaging starts to slow down after about a week and Ken loses interest. Then, Ken finds out there is another message group that was created that did not include him. The conversation is exactly the same, but this time the team all the guys are talking about is the volleyball team! Ken’s sister is on the volleyball team!

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#3:
I’m online and I get a friend request from someone I don’t recognize. I look to see that they have 18 mutual friends with me. Their profile picture is of them in a group and they look to be around my age.

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#4:
I only gave my password to my best friend when I was out of town with no internet connection and wanted her to check my inbox for messages from my teachers about homework. Now I am in trouble because of an email that was blasted from my account to the whole middle school. My best friend swears they didn’t send it and didn’t tell anyone of my password. What should I do?

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#5:
I was at the beach with my friends and I took a picture of myself in my bathing suit tanning. We both look awesome in the picture so of course I post it to Instagram. I get to school Monday and a bunch of classmates keep looking at me weird. I ask what the big deal is, but no one will tell me. When I get home I am on Instagram and I see that our picture is getting a lot of likes. I don’t see what the big deal is. The next day at school one of my good friends shows me their phone. My picture is on the screen, but it is not the same picture I took. It has been altered!


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#6:

I have two twitter accounts. One I let my mom see and one that I like to keep private. She doesn’t need to know everything that I do. I am in Middle school she needs to trust me. My mom just found my private account…

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