Who Am I?

As a our tech coordinator, I get to work with pretty much everyone in the building.  One of my favorite things is when I get to step out of the tech role and teach unplugged lessons, which, while rare, is something I'm in the midst of with our 6th graders.

It's time to do a deep dive into digital citizenship with them, something we have dabbled in a little bit every year since third grade, yes, but this is different.  They're older, they are on their own devices, and yes, some of them (despite terms and agreements) are already on social media.

However, before we can dive into their choices online, we decided to backtrack a little and explore who they are as people.  In the real world.  Today.

Using resources from the lesson Understanding Identity from Facing History and Ourselves, the students met The Bear that Wasn't.  Through the lesson, they developed an identity chart.  It was very interesting watching the kids process through the asks for the chart - how they enjoy spending time outside of school, how they would describe themselves, and finally, how others describe them.

A former colleague used to always say, "You need to go slow to go fast," and this particular lesson experience was a perfect example of that.  The end goal is where I want to be, and I want to take the kids directly to that goal because that is what they need.  At the same time, getting there is going to have to be a slow process if we want the lessons learned to stick.

Check out the lesson - it is definitely modifiable for many ages!

(Student names were intentionally removed from charts.)