Voice Thread on Bullying

My VoiceThread: http://voicethread.com/share/567753/

I really enjoyed using VoiceThread to make an interactive project for my class. I can foresee using this website to view existing VoiceThreads and also having the students make their own. For this application, I chose to focus on a guidance type lesson. My school is very proactive in the field of Character Education, and has been wonderful over the years incorporating these real life skills into our everyday lessons so they do not seem forced. Thus far in our program, we have focused particularly on bullying. Our guidance counselor does a unit every year in every grade on what bullies are, why they bully, and what to do as the victim. The lesson are received well, and I think that our students have a fairly good handle on these concepts.
Before the school year ended a few teachers and I decided that we needed to do more to focus on the bystander’s role, as that affects most of the students. There are so many songs, TV shows, movies, lessons, etc. that empower the victim and help correct the bully (all good ideas by the way). We found, however that there is not enough out there to show the bystanders, which are the majority of the students, what to do besides “tell a teacher.” I decided to make a VoiceThread that let the students know that I have been in their shoes, and I know it isn’t as easy as running to the nearest adult. I posted three pictures, speaking about the role of the bully, the victim’s role, and lastly the bystander’s role. I asked my students to post either an experience they have had as a bystander or what they would do in the future when they are one (knowing that situation is inevitable). I envision my students jumping right on this, and would open it up to the whole school. My students from last year already know how to post on VoiceThread, so perhaps they could post first to show other what to do. I also believe it would be powerful to see if others, who are not in our school, post their reactions so that the students could see other’s experiences.