I have actually used CommonSense Media for years with my district talking about Cyberbullying and encouraging educators district wide to use the resources present there. I really like the quote that Chris found “We can’t cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.”. This really resonates with me and what I do with staff. I have to provide teachers the materials and opportunities to teach students, but can only provide them the means to teach it. I cannot require that they do things my way, if they choose to "cover their eyes".
1. Which CommonSense Media materials most resonated with you as an educator? How might you use them?
I like the fact that you can ask questions anonymously and that they will respond in a forum style post for others to see. This allows any kids to get more information and I hope that the folks on the other end provide good services. The answers that I find within CommonSense are all great answers. Graphite is another great program that is part of Common Sense Media. It portrays he good and bad, from an educators standpoint, about apps, websites and games. It has a star rating system and provides educator reviews on numerous different items.
2. How might your school or district use these materials? Should teachers consider their use on an individual basis? Should schools or districts consider something more systemic? Both?
I think is should go both ways. I believe that the district should provide the scope and sequence overview of the program, but allow teachers to teach as they see fit. We at the district level provide the resources, but the teachers can decide when and how they will teach the concepts. if someone has a great idea that they have been working on, I would rather that they run with something they are familiar with (while still hitting the standards) then require them to change everything and use a specific program to teach a specific topic.
1. Which CommonSense Media materials most resonated with you as an educator? How might you use them?
I like the fact that you can ask questions anonymously and that they will respond in a forum style post for others to see. This allows any kids to get more information and I hope that the folks on the other end provide good services. The answers that I find within CommonSense are all great answers. Graphite is another great program that is part of Common Sense Media. It portrays he good and bad, from an educators standpoint, about apps, websites and games. It has a star rating system and provides educator reviews on numerous different items.
2. How might your school or district use these materials? Should teachers consider their use on an individual basis? Should schools or districts consider something more systemic? Both?
I think is should go both ways. I believe that the district should provide the scope and sequence overview of the program, but allow teachers to teach as they see fit. We at the district level provide the resources, but the teachers can decide when and how they will teach the concepts. if someone has a great idea that they have been working on, I would rather that they run with something they are familiar with (while still hitting the standards) then require them to change everything and use a specific program to teach a specific topic.