Final Wicked Project

WOW! 8 weeks has flown by and here I am now presenting my final presentation for my Wicked Project.  What an interesting lesson/unit it was to teach.  I learned a few things about ways to get studetns to respond and even sparked some interesting adaptations to make for next time.  Overall the students had a great reaction to the lesson and therefore were able to learn something but I still wanted them to learn more.  What inspired me to choose this topic was the fact that students are using social media sites as the new bathroom wall, so to speak.  They are writing things and stirring up problems without the thought that this is slander and can hurt people.  To solve this problem, the unit I created had the students deductively researching the answers as well as the effects of negative social media.  We used role playing to showcase scenarios that students can learn the appropriate way (not RT something) to respond. One thing that was added late to the unit was the fact that I had such great support from my principle.  She was very willing to sit down with me and share many of her experiences with kids and negative digital citizenship.  What I hope to do next time is similar to the scared straight program.  Instead of having criminals come in and speak to the kids about bad decisions, have students who have lost scholarships or been expelled due to negative social media come in and explain their first hand accounts.  This is something that, regardless of the topic, students relate to.  You can tell someone something but until they hear a first had account, it is almost like they think "that will never happen to me".  Overall, I really enjoyed creating this project.  It really made me consider options that I hadn't.  I had always seen this problem but now I can see a solution to help me in the future deal with this.  Teaching kids before they fall victim to the poor choices the rapid expansion of technology has.