Seventh Grade 

1. Note: The Lesson Quiz is being revised and will be available in August 2020. 

Project Slide 4 and tell students they're going to watch a short video about being on the internet. Ask students to pay special attention to the images they see. Show the video What's in Your Digital Footprint? Allow two minutes for students to discuss the images with a partner. Images include:

• a lighthouse

• a copier

• a whisper in the ear

• a stadium and a jumbotron

• a permanent marker

2. Ask: According to the video, what do these images have to do with the term "digital footprint"?

Invite students to respond. Confirm that a digital footprint is all the information online about a person either posted by that person or others, intentionally or unintentionally. (Slide 5) Explain that, like the images show, a digital footprint can reveal a lot about someone (lighthouse, whisper in ear), it can be shared widely (copier and stadium/jumbotron), and it's permanent (permanent marker). These images remind us that a digital footprint is persistent, which means it lasts a long time.

3. Ask: Using only one word, how does it make you feel knowing that everything you do online is stored and can be searched for, shared, or even broadcast?

Do a whip-around, where each student shares their answer when you point to them. Answers will vary but may include worried, confused, curious, or scared.

4. Explain that what you do online is different from what you do in person because the audience who sees it is invisible.

Define invisible audience as unknown or unanticipated people who can see information about you posted online. (Slide 6)

Say: For example, imagine a friend from preschool you haven't talked to in years follows you on Instagram and is part of your audience. What if he shows your posts to his mom? Or takes a screenshot to send to his cousin? Or, what if you don't realize that your Instagram posts are getting saved and archived, and they pop up years later once you've forgotten about them? These are all examples of invisible audiences that you probably weren't thinking about when you made a post.

Ask: Who might be part of the invisible audience that would search for information about you or posted by you online?

Call on students to respond. Explain that it includes both people they know personally and people they don't. It might include:  

• old friends

• colleges or schools they apply to

• possible employers

• scholarship committees

• leaders of groups or organizations you want to join

5. Pair up students. Ask: How might people who don't know you see your posts, or posts about you, differently from those who do? Take turns sharing your ideas with your partner. Responses may include:

• They might make incorrect judgments about you based on incomplete information.

• They might misinterpret something you post because they don't have the whole context.

1. Say: Let's look at how a digital footprint might be used to draw conclusions about people and their reputations and abilities. 

Arrange students into groups of four or five. 

Distribute a copy of  the Truth Be Told Student Handout. (Note: This is a lengthy handout, so you could also print just a couple of copies per group. Students will be analyzing pieces of "evidence" in the handout.  You can also print only pages 6–7 for students, which is where they write their responses.) 

2. Ask a student to read aloud the instructions of Part 1. In groups, have students look through the evidence for Iliana and Drake. Then have them discuss the question in the handout: Does anything you see make you think twice about either candidate? 

Invite groups to share out their responses.

1. Explain that in the next activity, the class will be using the steps of Take a Stand to consider whether the digital footprint of one of the candidates should affect if they are allowed to keep the job.

Take a Stand is a thinking routine for exploring perspectives on dilemmas about community and civic life. 

Read the directions for Part 2. Then, display the new piece of evidence (Slide 7). 

2. Give students one to two minutes to read through the new evidence, or invite two students to take turns reading out loud as the different characters. 

Ask: After seeing this evidence, do you think that Iliana should be fired? Why or why not? 

3. Show the steps of Take a Stand (Slide 8) and facilitate the class discussion. Have students follow along and take notes on their handout.

Note: Use the Teacher Version of the handout for guidance and suggestions for an enriching discussion. (This will take the majority of time in this step!)

4. Say: The aim of this activity was not to lead you to a "right" answer. Rather, the goal was to slow our reactions down, take time to listen to different perspectives, and be reflective about our stances on this dilemma about a digital footprint. 

Explain that listening to others' perspectives can also help us discover shared beliefs or values, even when we disagree on how to resolve specific issues (if possible, give an example that surfaced during the discussion -- e.g., two students who had different stances but were both thinking about people's rights).

Understanding how and why we don't see eye to eye can support greater mutual understanding and more productive dialogue about how to resolve issues in our society and world.  

5. If time permits, invite students to share one insight from the discussion. Sample responses:

• It helped me understand other people's points of view even if I didn't agree with them. 

• It allows us to get different perspectives on situations from our peers, and to better understand what to do and how to deal with the situations. 

6.  Optional: If time permits, have students discuss one or more of the questions in Part 3 of the handout. 

1. Say: Your digital footprint is somewhat in your control and also somewhat out of your control. You can make decisions about what you post about yourself and what you send to others. However, your footprint, what you post, and what others see about you can have a big impact on your life. So it's important for you to think carefully as you share online and add to your digital footprint.

2. Project Slide 8 and invite students to suggest ways they might be able to monitor and shape their digital footprint. List their suggestions on the board. If not generated in the discussion, provide the following ideas to the list:

• Think before you post, because many things you do online will add to your digital footprint.

• Remember to review your privacy settings.

• Perform a search on yourself every so often to see what your digital footprint looks like.

Have students complete the Lesson Quiz. Send home the Family Activity and Family Tips.

1. Ask: Does anyone here have a nickname that their family calls them?

Call on volunteers and follow up by asking: Do you mind sharing it with us? Or is it embarrassing? If students are comfortable sharing it, have them do so.

2. Say: OK, so what if, as a joke, I just started calling you that? Would that be OK?

Call on volunteers to respond. If necessary, clarify that it depends on how the person feels about it. It might be OK, or it might not.

3. Say: OK, what about if I change the nickname up a little? Let's say I add a funny adjective to it. Would that be OK? If you feel comfortable, give an example by adding a relatively harmless adjective to one of your students' nicknames. Alternatively, you can use the example "Sassy Sam" for an imaginary student whose nickname is "Sam."

Call on volunteers to respond. Students may say it depends on the adjective you choose and your relationship with the person. If necessary, clarify that it also depends on how the person feels about it. If the recipient doesn't like it, then it's not OK.

4. Ask: What about if I choose a negative adjective, like "snarky" -- "Snarky Sam"? Would that be OK to call someone?

Call on volunteers to respond. Most likely will say no, it's mean, and it's not OK. Some might say it depends on your relationship with the person and whether you're joking. Clarify that the person likely would not feel good about being called that, regardless of your relationship, and so it's probably not OK. If you're really good friends, you tease each other a lot like that, and the person is OK with it, then maybe it's not that bad.

5. Say: All right, last scenario. Let's say I take that negative adjective and nickname, and I post it to every single picture I can find of you online, on Instagram, Snapchat, etc. And I even post a picture of you to my account with the insulting nickname. Would that be OK? Or would it depend on the type of relationship we have?

Call on volunteers to respond. Most will likely say no, it's not OK. Clarify that you agree, that under no circumstances would it be OK. Identify the behavior as cyberbullying, which is using digital devices, sites, and apps to intimidate, harm, and upset someone. (Slide 4)

1. Say: In all those situations, we talked about how one person's actions might make another person feel. What we were doing was called empathizing, or showing empathy. Empathy is when you imagine the feelings that someone else is experiencing. (Slide 5) Why do you think it might be important to try to empathize with others? Take turns sharing with your partner. (Slide 6)

Allow students to pair-share and then call on volunteers. Showing empathy can help students:

• Make decisions about how they treat people.

• Make decisions about how they allow others to treat them.

• Build relationships with others.

• Decide on what they think is right and wrong.

2. Distribute the Kevin and José Student Handout and ask students to read the story silently.

3. Ask: Is what José did in this scenario OK? Why, or why not? Take turns sharing with your partner. (Slide 7)

Call on students to share out. If necessary, clarify that what José did was not OK because, if we were to empathize with Kevin, it's likely that Kevin was extremely embarrassed and even devastated by what happened. If necessary, clarify that this is an example of cyberbullying.

1. Say: Could this situation have turned out differently? If so, how? To answer these questions, you're going to first take on the perspective of one of the individuals involved.

Assemble groups of four students and direct their attention to part two of the handout. Read the directions aloud. Assign a different role to each member of the group or allow groups to choose their own roles. No roles should be duplicated within a group. (Slide 8)

2. Allow students five minutes to think about their viewpoints and complete Part 2.

3. Explain to students that they will now take turns sharing out with their group what they wrote based on the viewpoint they had. Allow 10 minutes for groups to share out.

4. Have students complete the Reflection Questions on the handout.

5. Call on students to share out their answers to the Reflection Questions. Capture the different ways that students respond to question No. 2 on Slide 9. Use the Teacher Version to offer additional ideas. 

• As students provide possible actions, follow up by asking: Why might that action have been difficult for the person to do? Is there something else they could've done instead?

• Point out that some of the actions mentioned are examples of being an upstander or an ally. An upstander is someone who responds to a bullying situation by confronting the bully directly or by telling a trusted adult. An ally is someone who responds to a bullying situation by supporting the person being bullied (e.g., checking in with them, being a friend to them, etc.). (Slide 10)

1. Distribute the Mia Student Handout and ask students to read the story and answer the questions that follow independently.

2. Collect handouts and use them to assess student learning.

3. Have students complete the Lesson Quiz. Send home the Family Activity and Family Tips.