DigCitCommit Virtual Congress - Febr. 11-12, 2020

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Facebook Headquarters for the first ever DigCitCommit Virtual Congress, sponsored by ISTE and a number of other educational partners. We are still overwhelmed by the people and the mission of this initiative.

The importance of "flipping the narrative" around digital citizenship in schools is necessary now more than ever. Instead of scaring our young people into being safe online and sometimes over-encouraging them to "put away their device", we instead should be promoting positive usage and healthy presence in online spaces for all. 

The DigCitCommit competencies include the following:

• Inclusive - I am open to hearing and respectfully recognizing multiple viewpoints and I engage with others online with respect and empathy.

• Informed - I evaluate the accuracy, perspective, and validity of digital media and social posts.

• Engaged - I use technology and digital channels for civic engagement, to solve problems and be a force for good in both physical and virtual communities.

• Balanced - I make informed decisions about how to prioritize my time and activities online and off.

• Alert - I am aware of my online actions, and know how to be safe and create safe spaces for others online. 

I can truly say that because of the DigCitCommit Virtual Congress event, I am inspired by student activists, fueled by positive change agents, and surrounded by new friendships.

Watch some video highlights from the event here:

Resources to join the DigCitCommit efforts in your school:

https://digcitcommit.org/virtual-congress - Full schedule of presentations and topic focus for the two day event

https://digcitcommit.org/resources - Wealth of DigCit resources from DigCitCommit partners

from ISTE’s YouTube channel - 

• Day 1 Live Stream recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL34LM0Gteo
• Day 2 Live Stream recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcRDJW0VIMY

Additional Fun

Drew’s project - “Be the Change” video - grand prize winner in the inaugural DigCitCommit Challenge. 

Photos from the event - a Flickr album

Quick Peek at Facebook HQ:

Template for Literature Circles Learning Journal

Use this template for Lit Circles in Keynote with your students. Distribute the file and show students how to add pages from the template chooser for the various roles they will take on during Literature Circles each week.

Download this template for Literature Circles and open in Keynote

Postcard template for Quick Writing Activities

Use a postcard template for students to practice writing in smaller chunks than a full-length written assignment.

The following templates can be downloaded and shared with students so that they can customize both the content and the design without the fear of "the blank page."

Use this activity as an exit ticket, an end-of-unit review, a mini book report, geography practice, or even grammar practice (use one of each of the 4 types of sentences in your postcard).

Early finishers can add a photo or drawing on the second slide and design the front of the postcard as well.

• Download the postcard template as a Keynote file (for iPad or Mac)
• Make a copy of the postcard template as a Google Slides presentation