At a recent middle and high school faculty meeting, a challenge was made to the teachers present. It was simple enough: tell each other about an interesting project that students were doing at the time. Computer teacher Colette Cassinelli had something great to share.

Some of the things that Colette talks about in her classes are good and proper ways of communicating in the digital age. Digital etiquette can seem lost in the haze of the internet, from Facebook and Twitter, to people commenting on stories on your local news stations’ Web pages. One of the goals in Colette’s class is to show students how technology can be used for good and to counter a lot of the negative news in the media about teens and the internet.

So in that spirit, the eighth grade students have created a blog about environmental stewardship call Tread Lightly. For 40 days, students will post an idea on how they can affect climate change and encourage readers to take their suggestions. The eighth graders started on the International Day of Climate Change on Oct. 24 and will post until December 2. They have also invited other classes to comment on the blogs and to spur good debate, have agreed to reciprocate and respond to their feedback.

The eighth grade students divided into teams of four. Each student took an editorial job to assist their teammates with their blog posts specializing in technical details, production, communication and creativity.

Students are practicing their digital citizenship skills and protecting their privacy by using first names only, not identifying our school or where they live, supporting their writing with facts, and citing their sources. Mrs. Cassinelli moderates all comments that are received before they are posted.

The students would their school community to also participate in the 40-day blog project. Please join them at Tread Lightly!

Posted by Thomas Kohler in Home Page Features, VCMS Features