What is a Common Sense School?
Common Sense Schools are committed to deep implementation of the Common Sense Digital Citizenship Curriculum. Earning the Common Sense School badge is a symbol of your school's dedication to helping students think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.
Why become a Common Sense School?
- Develop a roadmap to school and districtwide digital citizenship implementation.
- Support a healthy school culture where your whole community is invested in helping kids thrive as digital learners and citizens.
- Earn a badge that publicly affirms your school's commitment to schoolwide implementation.
How does a school earn recognition as a Common Sense School?
The Common Sense Recognition Program provides a roadmap for schools to adopt a whole-community approach to digital citizenship by completing three steps. We ask that you:
- LEARN by providing professional learning opportunities to educators.
- DO by implementing schoolwide digital citizenship through student instruction and family outreach.
- REFLECT on how becoming a Common Sense School has had an impact on your school community.
Criteria and resources for the three steps are outlined below.
Criteria must be completed during the current school year and before applying. Applications are rolling. If approved, your school earns a Common Sense School badge that expires in June 2020. Please apply anytime before June 30, 2019.
Prep
Develop a Common Sense School implementation plan. You will be asked to enter the implementation details in the Common Sense School application. The implementation plan should include all criteria outlined in the following steps.
LEARN, DO, REFLECT
Choose two professional learning opportunities for all educators leading digital citizenship instruction that support their learning goals and level up their teaching practice. They may choose to:
- Attend an in-person PD by Common Sense staff, a Common Sense Ambassador, or a school project lead. This counts as two LEARN activities.
- Attend a Common Sense webinar. Viewing two Common Sense webinars counts as two LEARN activities.
- Complete online Digital Citizenship Curriculum Training.
- Find two new edtech tools and read through the reviews and associated materials.
- Read through a Tech Tips & Resources page.
Empower your students to be digital citizens with student-instruction using Common Sense Education lessons and/or interactives, and inform your school community about your digital citizenship plan with family outreach.
Student-Instruction: Schools have two options to meet student-instruction criteria (schools may teach a combination of lessons and interactives):
- In two grade levels, teach all students five Common Sense lessons, Digital Passport™ modules, or Digital Compass storylines, or two Digital Byte bytes.
- OR, in three grade levels, teach all students three Common Sense lessons, Digital Passport™ modules, or Digital Compass storylines, or one Digital Byte.
Family Outreach: Schools are asked to share with students' families how they are taking a Common Sense approach to digital citizenship and teaching with tech. Complete at least three of the following activities to meet this requirement:
- Assign students homework that includes their families.
- Coordinate a Digital Citizenship Week.
- Coordinate or host an event for families on the importance of digital citizenship.
- Insert a link to Common Sense Media on your school's website.
- Distribute a Common Sense Education Family Tip sheet.
- Distribute Common Sense Education Family Media Agreement.
- Host a teen panel for families.
- Facilitate a parent/caregiver discussion group.
- Embed a Common Sense blog widget on teacher or school website.
- Publish an article about the importance of digital citizenship in the school newsletter.
We hope to learn more from you about your experience earning recognition as a Common Sense School. In the application, you will be asked to provide some details on how you feel the process of becoming a Common Sense School has impacted your school community.
Ready to apply?
All work must be completed during the current school year and before applying. Applications are rolling. If approved, your school earns a Common Sense School badge that expires in June 2020. Please apply anytime before June 30, 2019.
If you earned recognition during the 2017-2018 school you do not need to reapply this school year. Please contact [email protected] if you did not receive your updated badge and banner image.
Questions?
Please read through our FAQ in the Help Center. If you have further questions, please post in the Common Sense Education Community or email [email protected] and enter Recognition in the subject line.
Planning ahead for 2019-2020? Read through the updates to the Recognition Program in the Help Center.
