Download the free companion resource (no email required): Digital Citizenship Is Everyone's Job, Episode 16 Companion

Digital citizenship is not just the tech teacher's job. It's everyone's job, and this week is Digital Citizenship Week.

In this episode, I share why my son's first experience with the internet in 4th or 5th grade is the reason I care so much about this topic, why I only see each class about 22 times a year, and what you can do in five minutes to be one of the places kids hear it. We also talk about what to teach (including how to tell what's real and what's AI-generated) and where to find free lessons, most of which aren't mine.

Looking for everything in one place?

• Digital Citizenship MEGA Bundle, Grades 3-5 (12 internet safety resources: games, flipbooks, an escape room, poster projects, and more) on Teachers Pay Teachers

My free resource

• FREE Digital Citizenship Resource Guide, K-5 (22 videos, 5 games, 5 eBooks, 6 lessons and projects). This one is a free email signup.

More from me (Teachers Pay Teachers)

• Internet Safety Early Finisher Digital Choice Board, Grades 6-12
• Digital Citizenship Computer Lab Warm-Ups (10-minute bell ringers): 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th
• All my warm-ups

Free lessons and resources from other organizations

• Common Sense Education: Digital Citizenship Week activities for every grade level
• Common Sense Education: K-12 Digital Literacy and Well-Being Curriculum (free)
• Common Sense Education: AI literacy lessons, K-12 (most 20 minutes or less)
• PBS NewsHour Classroom: Recognizing AI-generated content, grades 6-12
• Google Be Internet Awesome and Interland
• NetSmartz from NCMEC, including Into the Cloud
• ConnectSafely parent guides
• AAP Family Media Plan

Stay in touch

• Get one practical, time-saving idea each week: thattechsavvyteacher.com/newsletter

A quick note on email: the companion PDF does not ask for your email. Some of the resources linked inside it might, like my free guide above.

If this episode helped, follow the show and pass it along to a teacher who thinks this isn't their job.

The Time-Saving Teacher: From Scattered to Strategic

Read the companion guide (PDF) for screenshots, a checklist, and every video link from this episode.

If you've never made a video, or video has always felt like too much work, Google Vids is a good place to start. This week I tried three ways to turn something I'd already made into a video: a Slides presentation, a PDF, and the script from one of my podcast episodes. I share what worked, what I'd change, and one thing I couldn't do.

This is the third episode in our AI series. You are the professional, and you drive. AI is there for the days you're out of time or out of ideas. This episode is about you making a video for your students to watch, not about students working with AI.

What we cover

• How to find Google Vids and why the AI options depend on your organization's settings
• Slides to video, and why you should check the narration before you create the video
• Docs to video, and what I thought of the AI-generated images
• Turning a podcast script into a video
• The one thing I missed: recording my own voiceover
• My checklist before students watch

Key takeaways

1. If you've never made a video, start with something you already have, or start with a prompt.
2. Check the narration and the voice before you create the video, because the AI doesn't know your students' grade level.
3. Treat what it makes as a first draft. It's a good start, and you finish it.

Videos from this episode

• Internet Safety Rules, made from a Slides presentation (version 1, version 2)
• A professional development PDF turned into a video
• A podcast episode script turned into a video (Episode 5)

Videos I've made in Google Vids

• Browser Buttons (AI voice)
• What Is Inside a Computer (AI voice)
• Computer Parts for Kids (my own voiceover)
• Tech Savvy Teaching (my own voiceover)

Free resources

• Google Docs and Google Slides Mini Tutorials for Students: 32 short videos in one place
• Join my newsletter for a weekly email with practical ways to save time

If this episode helped, please follow the show and pass it along to a teacher friend.

This is the second episode in our AI series, and it starts with something worth saying plainly. You are the professional in the room, not AI.

When a student isn't getting something, the usual move is to ask AI to explain it younger. That works, but it only changes the vocabulary, not the delivery. In this episode I walk through a second move, changing the format entirely, and a third, getting AI to help you find the actual misconception behind a mistake instead of just handing you another generic explanation.

I also ran a real example using my Claude free teacher account, not live, a third grade water cycle passage and jingle, and I show you exactly how I caught and fixed a problem in it by asking one more question afterward.

Grab the full companion resource, all five prompts and the whole AI conversation here.

If you found this helpful, join the newsletter here: https://thattechsavvyteacher.com/newsletter

Tools mentioned: MagicSchool AI, SchoolAI