My Own Virtual Space

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School

COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language

Using Bitmoji to Build a Virtual Backdrop

As soon as teachers received the news that many schools would start the 2020-21 school year in virtual spaces, educators across the country began creating “bitmoji classrooms” to share with their students. These virtual classrooms, created on a Google or PowerPoint slide, enable teachers and others to design and personalize online classroom spaces that convey important information about who they are and create welcoming and inclusive classroom environments.

Identity and Inclusivity

Bitmoji is a creative and digital way of expressing one's identity through cartoon avatars and other images. It can also be used instead of photos as a safety precaution. Today, young people spend a significant amount of time in digital and virtual spaces, and bitmojis have become very popular. Expressing aspects of your identity, even in bitmoji created virtual spaces, should be valued and respected but sometimes can elicit negative responses.

About the Lesson Plan

This lesson provides an opportunity for students to reflect on important aspects of their identity and communicate who they are by creating their own virtual spaces. Students also have the opportunity to read and reflect on a recent news story about the consequences for a teacher whose bitmoji classroom elicited a negative response.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will explore what social identity is and the important aspects of their social identities.
• Students will create their own virtual spaces and choose the aspects of themselves they want to represent.
• Students will reflect on a situation where a teacher was put on leave because of items in her bitmoji classroom, which will prompt them to consider the importance of conveying values.