Floris Has Been Awarded Common Sense Certification!
Great news! Floris has just been approved as a Common Sense School, an honor that recognizes our efforts in teaching digital citizenship. The recognition acknowledges our school's commitment to helping students build skills that are essential for their well-being today—and for the opportunities they'll have tomorrow.Â
For the past several years, we have seen a rapid increase in technology use across the globe, out of necessity and for innovation. With this access, we are afforded fantastic opportunities to enhance the ways in which students are accessing and taking ownership of their learning. At the same time, it is imperative that we recognize the importance of responsible technology use. Â
Floris has been using Common Sense Education's innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources, which were created in collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and are grounded in the real issues students and teachers face. The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, media balance, managing online relationships, and media literacy.
What does this look like at Floris?
Teacher Training
We hit the ground running this year, with specific plans to embed digital citizenship expectations schoolwide with students and staff members. We formed a school-wide digital citizenship committee to keep staff training, messaging, and plans on track. At the beginning of the year, teachers engaged in school-led training on digital citizenship procedures and how to embed them into their classes.
Student Instruction
Additionally, each grade level began the school year with targeted lessons to establish technology expectations. For the first time, we wrote and distributed technology contracts for every student. These specifically align with our schoolwide expectations. Teachers self-selected relevant Common Sense lessons and themes and have periodically conducted digital citizenship check ins. Teachers have collaborated with our technology coach to make broader connections between digital citizenship and our FCPS Portrait of a Graduate (POG) skills for a streamlined and more comprehensive approach. Schoolwide, students are also exposed to digital citizenship themes periodically through our daily morning news show.
Family Involvement
It has been our goal to increase communication involving technology use and digital citizenship. Through creation of our contract, we established a tangible home-school connection of digital expectations at Floris. In October, we sent many family-facing digital citizenship resources for you to utilize at home, including family contracts, activities, and tip sheets to encourage social-emotional wellbeing and self regulation while using technology. We encourage continued partnership with ensuring our students maintain positive digital learning environments and experiences, at Floris and beyond. It takes a village!
We hope to continue on this trajectory moving forward to help our students be the best that they can be, now and in the future. Thank you!
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