In today’s world, social media gas-lighting and primal cynics deceptively pull power from others, making us wonder how students can wade through the weeds and come out successful on the other end.

This challenge can and should matter to educators and parents. Here’s how to change the dynamic of the people who try to take others down, especially children . . . .

Remember in middle school the looks, the whispers, and the low expectations that hung over you like a fog? As a kid, this makes us feel vulnerable.

One approach we can teach kids enables them to transform those low expectations into a great advantage. The Pygmalion effect study demonstrates evidence that when educators maintain high expectations, students internalize that belief and rise to meet it.

Consider how doubters and shouters play: they link an external locus of control, blaming outside forces. We see this online everywhere–they shout at others and feel empowered by blaming everything, and everyone else.

We can help children exposed to this with time-tested evidence of how to take back control, and more importantly, to thrive. It is a philosophy that when properly taught can shift self-fulfilling prophecy and silence the doubters.

The Power of Proximity

I wrote about this in a post recently when second guessing reminded me of what works for learners:

“When a doubter is in the room, I sit close by. When they make a frown, I smile. And when they try to intimidate me, I sit even closer.”

It is human nature when faced with a critic or bully, our primal instincts are to fight, flight or freeze. We want to put as much distance as possible between us and the person who makes us feel small. This is also the exact opposite way to thrive as a learner.

The message we can teach children must be that when they shy away from a doubter, they validate the doubter's power over us. We signal that their opinion matters enough to influence us. But when you pull up a chair and sit right next to them, you start to disrupt the dynamic. You show them that you are comfortable in your own skin, regardless of what they think, and more importantly what you think.

An example of how I teach children this is like when my own daughters asked me, “In a room with two difficult people, who do you sit next to?” My answer: “Whoever is most difficult.”

This isn’t about confrontation. It’s about presence, and occupying space in which the doubter thinks you don’t belong. When they frown and you smile back, you aren’t just modeling ethical behavior, you are refusing to let their negative energy dictate your right to be present and be you. Students who learn this skill are maintaining their zone of indifference to toxicity while preserving their dignity and well-being.

The Element of Surprise

I was a special educator. When I got to teach children that there is an advantage to being underestimated, I would demonstrate to them how they have a surprising advantage. Doubters think they are better. This is the nexus where the element of surprise thrives: when I outwork them and don’t blame setbacks on something else, I catch them completely off guard. You can imagine how deeply satisfying this is.

When others expect a child to be inferior, they aren’t prepared for the hard-working underdog. What perpetuates this advantage is when they refuse to blame external sources, such as we see so often happens on social media today. Instead, they accept the hand of cards they were dealt, and work hard within their incredible potential–and every child, every underdog has incredible potential.

David vs Goliath

When students learn to develop compensation strategies—such as unconventional problem-solving or sheer persistence—a competitive edge over those with traditional advantages is often overlooked. It offers a wonderful, unseen opportunity for the underdog, and feels tremendously empowering..

Students with learning challenges navigate their gaps, showing how they use specific compensatory supports to succeed. These strategies include meta-cognition, self-advocacy, and individualized planning to overcome low institutional expectations.

Struggles faced by students, such as David against Goliath, provide for resilience and unconventional strengths that serve as a hidden advantage against challenges. So a weakness becomes a strength.

When the doubter assumes they are better, they get complacent. Meanwhile, the student who harnesses internal locus of control is in the trenches, grinding. They are stacking up micro-wins—small, consistent victories that are subtle, until they compound into something undeniable. When students become so good they can’t ignore you, they feel a deep sense of appreciation and the victories keep piling up. This is a perpetual cycle we want children to be situated in, not all the time, but enough to want more.

Students discover that while doubters are busy looking down on them, they are busy outworking them. The student who embraces their internal locus of control isn’t wasting energy complaining about the unfairness of the situation or blaming a lack of resources. They are simply doing the work.

A Message to the Kids

To the students, the kids, and anyone currently feeling the weight of someone else’s doubt: Lean hard into that advantage.

Don’t try to argue them out of their opinion. Don't waste your time (and remember it is YOUR time) defending yourself. Let them doubt. Let them think you’re out of your league. It only makes it easier for you to blindside them with your success later.

While doubters run their race, students who learn this are running their own race based on outworking them. They are looking at you; you are looking at the finish line. Students transform their doubters into the ultimate fuel and prove that the greatest victory comes from turning that negative energy into positive motivation.

Smile at them. Sit close. And get back to work.

Preventing cyberbullying is increasingly critical for education as students spend more and more time online. 

“We live in a world now where bullying doesn’t begin and end with school bells,” says Chad A. Rose, director of Mizzou Ed Bully Prevention Lab at the University of Missouri. “It encompasses a kid’s entire life.”

Rose shared the following suggestions for educators who want to help prevent cyberbullying at their schools. 

1. Preventing Cyberbullying: Recognize That It’s a School Problem Even if It happens Outside of School  

Bullying, of any kind, is defined as an imbalance of physical or emotional power, intent to cause physical or emotional harm, and behavior that is repeated or likely to be repeated, Rose says. Unlike traditional in-person bullying, cyberbullying does not necessarily occur on school grounds or even during school hours. As a result, it can be seen as an issue that is outside of school, even though cyberbullying has the potential to impact every aspect of a child’s life and education. 

“I think it’s always a school issue,” Rose says. If educators acknowledge this, they can do more to prevent it and support and protect their students in their digital interactions. 

2. Preventing Cyberbullying: Teach Digital Citizenship 

A key to protecting students from cyberbullying is to teach digital citizenship in elementary school, Rose says. These lessons should focus on the following:  

• Safety - Students should learn the basics of online safety, including not giving out personal information such as their name or address
• Choice - Students should be reminded that posting something online is a choice and that stopping and thinking before posting or sharing can often prevent an unfortunate incident
• Permanence - Students need to learn that things that you post online are permanent, Rose says, as even apps that claim to delete data often keep that data stored 

While school digital citizenship programs often do a good job with teaching online safety, Rose says more needs to be done to teach students about the other two key aspects, particularly that items posted online can be there forever. “I don’t think kids quite understand permanence,” he says.  

3. Preventing Cyberbullying: Working with Cyberbullies on SEL and Empathy  

When educators discover one of their students is a perpetrator of cyberbullying they are limited in how they can respond. “You can’t tell a kid that, ‘Hey, I’m confiscating your phone that your parents paid a thousand dollars for,’” Rose says. However, educators can and should work to form a connection with parents. “Before anything happens, we should have a nice form of communication between parents and schools,” he says. That way parents of both cyberbullies and their victims can be enlisted to help find solutions. 

Students who engage in cyberbullying should be given extra social and emotional learning lessons. One strategy is to build empathy by having the student and a facilitator talk through a story that is similar to the real-life situation that is occurring, and then delve into the student’s thoughts and feelings in relation to that story. If the student says they wouldn’t care if someone did that to them, an educator can teach them about empathy by explaining that other students might care. 

4. Preventing Cyberbullying: Don’t Suggest Students Stop Using Technology  

A common piece of advice for the victims of cyberbullying is to stop using the platform on which the bullying is taking place, however, that may not be the best approach. “We used to tell kids if someone is mistreating you, delete the app,” Rose says. “I’ve long said that we can’t just tell them to socially remove themselves.” For example, Rose says you wouldn’t tell a child to stop playing basketball if they were getting bullied on the court. 

Increasingly, online spaces fulfill a similar function in children’s lives, and simply withdrawing from social media isn’t a valid option. Instead, educators need to understand the causes of bullying and work with students to develop online strategies to mitigate the impact. "Digital citizenship should be embedded in the daily curriculum, especially in environments that include high usage of electronic devices," Rose says. "This includes teaching students about the safety, choice, and permanency of interacting online."

• Study: Popular Students Are Not Always Well-liked
• Former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera: Using Poetry to Support SEL

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a campaign founded by PACER to eradicate bullying across the country. According to statistics, 37% of children report having been bullied, but only 31% of this number reported it to an adult. The non-profit organization Waterford.org offers ways for parents and teachers to respond to and prevent this behavior.

How to prevent bullying

• Teach emotional intelligence: Teach children how to recognize different emotions or what to do when they are sad or angry. That way, when they feel overwhelmed, they learn to react in healthy ways instead of bullying.
• Address the Trauma: Bullies are more likely to have had traumatic experiences earlier in life that may factor into why they act inappropriately. Connect children who have experienced trauma to counseling resource.

How to address bullying

• Look for warning signs: If you believe a child is being bullied, talk to them in private. Some children may feel uncomfortable asking for help, so you can let them know they can come to you.
• Inform parents: If you are not the child’s parent, contact the parents of both the bully and bullied students. You can also contact school leaders (such as a school principal). 

How to Prevent Cyberbullying

• Identify cyberbullying: harassment through phone calls, texts, or online messages, online impersonation, hacking into accounts.
• Teach online safety: Show students how to keep their accounts and messages private, as well as how to block or report bullies. 

Waterford.org is a nonprofit organization that seeks to form community, school, and home programs that deliver excellence and equity for all learners.  

October is National Cyber Security and National Bullying Prevention Month. This is a perfect time for lessons and discussions in classrooms throughout the school building.  Discussions can be as simple as a pre-writing that starts at the first few minutes of class as a warm up activity or a full lesson that links Cyber Security to concepts or standards in that course.  Topics can include: Facts & Figures: Cyber Bullying and How to make positive change. See the link below for more information from the Do Something Global Movement. 

To continue our Technology Literacy them, teens should read about Smartphone Security Checker to secure their mobile phones or learn about how to use public WiFi safely. Whether you teach Cyber Security, Social Studies, Economics & Personal Finance or Career & Technical Education there is something for every level.

Cyber Bullying Information: 
Information from the government website to stop bullying https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html
 
Facts about Cyber bullying from the Do Something global movement https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying   Stats, information handouts, and even a bookmark you can download which has a pledge the kids can sign. https://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/cyberbullying/  

Cyber Security Information
The Department of Homeland Security offers student resources. https://www.dhs.gov/publication/stopthinkconnect-student-resources

Websites with tips and tip sheets about digital declutters, staying safe on vacation and at tax time and even a  Cyber Safety "tech talk" for parents to give their kids. Sheets may be downloaded in many languages. https://stopthinkconnect.org/tips-advice/general-tips-and-advice

NICCS: National Initiative for CyberSecurity Careers and Studies:  Resources for Teachers: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/formal-education/integrating-cybersecurity-classroom 

NICE CyberSecurity Workforce Framework https://niccs.us-cert.gov/workforce-development/cyber-security-workforce-framework 

Cyber Security Career Profiles: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/career%20profiles5.pdf?trackDocs=career%20profiles5.pdf 

Brochure: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/cda_cybereducation_5ways_final.pdf?trackDocs=cda_cybereducation_5ways_final.pdf 

Posters: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/cea_cybersecurityeducationalposters_20190222_v11f.pdf?trackDocs=cea_cybersecurityeducationalposters_20190222_v11f.pdf 

From NICERC: An Academic Division of The Innovation Center  Cipher Disk Activity: A great hands on way to learn encryption and decryption. https://nicerc.org/2018/09/classroom-activity-cipher-disk-student/ 

The Secret Code of Lewis’s and Clark. Password Challenge for Students https://nicerc.org/2018/09/classroom-activity-the-secret-code-of-lewis-and-clark-student/ 

November/Upcoming Events:

GIS Day: Geographic Information Systems (GIS): November 13: http://www.gisday.com/

Enjoy October!

cross posted at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com

Deborah Marshall is the Department Chair of Career & Technical Education and Lisa McKnight Ward is the librarian at Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Both are Nationally Board Certified, former Teachers of the Year, who have taught multiple subjects including AP and IB courses. They have over a decade of experience collaborating on technology-based learning. Read more at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com/

Digital citizenship has emerged as a top priority in U.S. schools and classrooms. In fact, six out of 10 educators are teaching some kind of digital citizenship skill every month. To find out more about this growing effort, we've completed a first-of-its-kind research report, The Common Sense Census: Inside the 21st-Century Classroom. This research gives a unique window into today's classrooms, including the challenges and opportunities teachers see in managing technology and using it to enhance student learning.

Though digital citizenship encompasses a range of skills and habits of mind, we've observed that often teachers and schools design digital citizenship instruction with a protectionist approach, emphasizing anti-cyberbullying education and internet safety. The new findings confirm this is true: Of the six topics covered in the Common Sense K–12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum, teachers most often address digital drama, cyberbullying, and hate speech (taught by 46 percent of teachers) and privacy and safety (taught by 44 percent of teachers).

Include opportunities that empower students with thinking skills and strategies to evaluate what they find online, along with support in developing self-awareness and self-regulation as they learn to manage their own tech use.

Despite a tendency to focus on safety issues, teachers are keenly aware of how student needs are changing due to our increasingly connected culture. Teachers reported their top technology-related concern was that "students lack skills to critically evaluate online information," which 35 percent observed "frequently" or "very frequently" in their classrooms. Their second-largest concern was that "technology distracts students from the learning experience and interferes with learning," reported by 26 percent of teachers as "frequent" or "very frequent." In contrast, only 13 percent of teachers in the Common Sense study observed cyberbullying "frequently" or "very frequently" in their classrooms.

While we aren't suggesting teachers throw out their cyberbullying lessons, the data does suggest teachers and schools should consider adopting a more holistic approach to digital citizenship. Instruction needs to include opportunities that empower students with thinking skills and strategies to evaluate what they find online, along with support in developing self-awareness and self-regulation as they learn to manage their own technology use.

The following three research-based tips offer fresh guidance on how to make your digital citizenship instruction the most relevant and effective it can be:  

1. Make news and media literacy education a priority.

As the Common Sense study suggests, teachers know that students are struggling with news and media literacy. For students to become informed citizens who are able to distinguish among fact, opinion, and misinformation, media literacy education is essential. Fortunately, these skills are broadly applicable no matter what content area you teach: whether you're digging into research projects in ELA, investigating how scientific misconceptions spread online in biology, or analyzing social media's impact on elections in U.S. history. Try adding a news literacy lesson to a relevant unit, or find ways to incorporate media-analysis strategies into your existing lesson plans. 

2. Model and encourage media balance in the classroom.

Teachers' second top technology-related concern was digital distraction in the classroom. Add to this the statistic that nearly half (47 percent) of teens report feeling "addicted" to their phones and it seems clear that students need some help with media balance.

We've long advocated for device-management plans as opposed to bans in the classroom. While this can take some work for teachers to put in place, it allows the classroom to be a place to model and practice intentional and mindful use of devices. Teachers can also empower students to take control of their own media use through media balance lessons that focus on self-reflection and critical analysis of how media contributes to their lives and relationships. Students can develop individual plans for healthy media balance and practice these skills in and out of the classroom.

3. Empower upstanders with habits of mind.

Though cyberbullying and hate speech didn’t surface as the most pressing technology-related concerns for educators, the rates at which teachers observed these issues in their classrooms is significant. The frequency of cyberbullying and online hate speech increased with grade level, with nearly half of middle and high school teachers reporting that cyberbullying occurred at least occasionally in their classrooms. Regarding online hate speech, about one in 10 middle and high school teachers said it happened at least occasionally in their classrooms.

Whether you teach dedicated lessons on cyberbullying and hate speech or address these topics more informally when teachable moments arise, it's helpful to focus on what students can do as opposed to what they shouldn't do. Encourage students to pay attention to "red flag feelings": when something happens on digital media that makes them feel uncomfortable, worried, sad, or anxious. Habits of mind like "slowing down," "exploring different perspectives," "envisioning options and possible impacts," and "taking action" can prepare students to recognize and respond to cyberbullying when they encounter it.

Source:  Which Digital Citizenship Skills Do Students Need Most?

Erin Wilkey Oh is the Executive Editor, Education Content and Distribution for Common Sense Education

A couple of months ago I wrote a response to a psychologist's theory that smart phones are responsible for the increase in teen depression and anxiety. The overemphasis on screen technology as a root cause for the increase of major depressive episodes among teens and young adults is not new. The most popular articles about this topic found online, like this recent one from Time, will continue to confirm that screens are the problem because it is an easy answer and soothes adults who are not sure how to manage the tech use of the adolescents and teens in their lives. There is not doubt, the stories of individual teens they tell in those articles are touching and concerning.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the true causes of teen depression are:

• biological chemistry
• hormones
• inherited traits
• early childhood trauma
• learned patterns of negative thinking

Surely some of the learned patterns of negative thinking can stem from some interactions students have online, especially cyberbullying. While cyberbullying is a phenomenon educators and parents need to help their children understand and overcome, its prevalence should not be overestimated. In fact, a recent survey shows that most bullying is verbal and the vast majority is in person.

[Why Student Creation is the Hardest/Best Form of Assessment]

This information is not meant to minimize the traumatic impact cyberbullying can have. (There is help available. My favorite resources are ConnectSafely's Parent's Guide to Cyberbullying and Parent, Educator & Youth Guide to LGBTQ Cyberbullying.) It is meant to provide a realistic understanding of the myriad of causes of teen depression and anxiety. Even if we were able to eradicate cyberbullying among children and adults, the major causes of teen depression would still exist. It's time to stop blaming devices and apps and start addressing the true root causes more holistically.

The well-being of the teens and adolescents in your life depends on your awareness of ALL potential causes of depression and anxiety. In addition to the Mayo Clinic webpage hyperlinked earlier, I also recommend the National Institute of Mental Health. Read them, build your awareness, and be careful to avoid simple explanations – like blaming cell phones and social media – for the rise in teen depression and anxiety. Raising and educating healthy children is challenging, complicated, and incredible rewarding.

cross posted at www.KerryHawk02.com

Kerry Gallagher is the Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts. She’s also the Director of K-12 Education for ConnectSafely.org – internet safety non-profit in Palo Alto, California – a FutureReady Instructional Coach, ASCD Emerging Leader, and EdSurge Columnist. She served as a middle & high school teacher and digital learning specialist for over 15 years, and her passions include digital citizenship and effective integration of curriculum, pedagogy, and edtech. Kerry is a TEDx & keynote speaker and a lawyer by training. She is on social media @KerryHawk02 and her website is www.KerryHawk02.com

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one student out of every four reports being bullied during the school year. But another statistic confirms that students are more likely to act if they believe they can make a difference. PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center invites you to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of National Bullying Prevention Month by educating and raising awareness of bullying prevention in your school or district.

Participants will communicate to students who are experiencing bullying that they’re not alone and will help to create a safe and supportive school community. They will also be part of a cause that’s uniting the nation. PACER provides creative ideas, resources, and video links, as well as free bookmarks for your elementary or middle- and high-school students. Toolkits and t-shirts to help schools celebrate are also available. Spread the message: “The End of Bullying Begins with Me!”

For more information go to http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/