For this first lesson, based on the outline, I chose to stick to the do’s and don’ts about student data and privacy. The district I work for does a really good job with providing access to a lot of digital tools but it seems to take a really long time to get platforms approved. Sometimes when the platforms do get approved, students need to sign up for their own account with their district e-mail address. In this case, I want to make sure that students are creating screen names that also protect their privacy.

For example, recently my district approved BandLab for student use. As a teacher, I can go on and create a classroom that my students can then join based on a code. However, the students needed to create their own accounts when joining the class. I always ask my students to use some combination of their first name, or initials, plus a random city name (not the one we’re in) so that I can at least identify them on the platform and connect the work to the correct student. Since the students are using their district account, I don’t want them using their first name/last name, just as additional precaution for student privacy so it will usually look something like KB_Toronto.

Below is a copy of the first lesson plan that goes along with the outline.

Here is a link to the Google Doc so you can make your own copy. Please be aware it is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.