We have been discussing how important it is to be a responsible user of technology - especially when online. I decided to show a video created by Common Sense Media. I asked students to specifically watch the different images featured in the video.

Afterwards, we discussed how the "fingerprint" image makes us realize that everyone is unique and leaves a mark when online. The "football stadium" image is a great reminder that the Internet is a massive public space. The "permanent marker" image shows that you need to be careful what you post online because it is very hard to take something down. Finally, the "lighthouse" image reveals how easy it is for someone to search for information about you!

That's exactly what I wanted students to think about. What online information did they want connected to their names 10 - 15 years from now? Students created a list of ideas at school and they also talked to their parents about it at home. 

We used Tagxedo to put our key words into a fancy footprint picture. Here is one example:

Students will be posting their Tagxedo creations in their own blogs. We also typed up our ideas and created a footprint using fancy lettering and pencil crayons. You can see that I told my students to dream big!

Finally, we discussed the entire experience together and created a shared piece of writing for our bulletin board outside of our classroom.