Digital Wellness: Helping Students Build Healthy Digital Habits

October 28, 2025October 27, 2025Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Digital Citizenship Week has often served as a starting point for conversations about safety, ethics, and responsible online engagement with others and with content. But an equally vital component, often overlooked, is digital wellness. Digital wellness refers to how technology impacts our emotional, social, and mental well-being. If digital citizenship is focused on how we act and interact online, then digital wellness is how we feel, think, and show up online.

With so much technology in our classrooms today, educators are no longer just teaching academic content. Now, they are guiding students through a new terrain of constant connectivity, algorithm-driven attention, and shaping their digital identities. Digital wellness offers a framework that can help students build balance, boundaries, and agency as they develop technology skills. It leads them to understand how tech supports, rather than replaces, their growth.

What Is Digital Wellness?

Digital wellness refers to the intentional and healthy use of technology in ways that support:

Emotional resilience
Focus and attention
Healthy relationships
Digital boundaries and self-regulation
Positive identity-building
Offline/online balance
Safe and restorative digital habits

Wellness is not about restricting technology; it’s about using it wisely and reflectively—something the ISTE Standards for Students emphasize under Digital Citizen (2a, 2b) and Empowered Learner (1c, 1d). Students need to understand how to leverage technology safely, ethically, and responsibly. Removing it completely is not the answer; they need guidance.

Why Students Need Digital Wellness Instruction

Students today are processing information faster than they can understand it emotionally. Many may experience:

Notification fatigue
Fear of missing out (FOMO)
Stress from “performing” online
Comparison culture
Late-night “doom” scrolling and sleep disruption
“Always on” communication pressure

When students learn mindful tech use, they gain emotional space for creativity, deep thinking, and well-being. Educators have a powerful role in helping students recognize how tech makes them feel, rather than just how to use it.

Classroom Activities for Teaching Digital Wellness (K–12)

These practices work during Digital Citizenship Week—or anytime you want to promote balance and meaningful tech habits.

ELEMENTARY (K–5)

1. “Feelings Before Screens” Routine (5 minutes)
Before using a device, students pause, breathe, and choose a feeling icon (happy, calm, tired, frustrated). After the activity, they reflect: “Do I feel better, the same, or worse?”
Purpose: Builds self-awareness + emotional literacy.

2. Tech vs. Together Time Sorting Game
Students sort cards showing daily activities—reading, gaming, playground time, FaceTime with a grandparent—into “screen” and “people” columns to discuss balance.
Purpose: Helps visualize healthy habits.

3. Brain Breaks for “Resetting”
Before transitions, practice 30–60 second mindfulness (breathing, quiet reflection, stretching).
Purpose: Digital stamina + self-regulation.

MIDDLE SCHOOL (6–8)

1. Attention Audit
Students list apps they check most often, rating how each one affects:
✅ mood
✅ focus
✅ relationships
✅ time
Discuss patterns: “Which apps energize you? Which drain you?”
ISTE Link: 1d Empowered Learner (setting personal learning goals).

2. The “Invisible Pressure” Conversation
Students anonymously answer: “What is something online that stresses you out?” Afterward, compare results to normalize healthy boundaries.
Well-being Lens: Emotional honesty builds agency.

3. Tech-Time Menu
Students design a personal plan using categories like “learning time,” “friends/social,” “rest time,” and “offline time.”
Purpose: Helps students self-regulate instead of default scrolling.

HIGH SCHOOL (9–12)

1. Digital Identity & Emotional Health Reflection
Students respond to prompts such as:

Who am I online vs. offline—and how does it differ? Why?
What parts of my persona do I curate, hide, or amplify digitally?
This can bridge into healthy identity development.

2. “Attention Economics” Mini-Lesson
Teach students how platforms are intentionally designed to capture attention—streaks, infinite scroll, push alerts. I love to consider this question:
“If the product is free, what is being sold?” And the answer is often…our information.

3. Building a “Wellness Contract With Myself”
Students set personal wellness boundaries:

No doom-scrolling after midnight
Screens stay off during meals
Push notifications removed for nonessential apps
Reflex check: “Why am I opening this?”

This shifts digital wellness from theory into habits.

Digital Wellness Through the ISTE Lens

The ISTE Standards help frame wellness as a skill rather than a rule:

ISTE Standard	Digital Wellness Skill
1d Empowered Learner	Self-monitoring tech use
2b Digital Citizen	Managing digital identity & reputation
3a Knowledge Constructor	Distinguishing distraction from meaningful use
7a Global Collaborator	Respecting others’ digital well-being

Digital wellness is not a side lesson—it fits into what ISTE calls “responsible, ethical, and healthy learner agency.”

Daily Mini-Practices Teachers Can Use Immediately

These require no prep and can be layered into any class.

Strategy	What It Looks Like
Mindful Start	A 60-second pause before screens come out
Offline First	Think → speak → write → then tech
Tech + Talk	Every digital activity paired with peer discussion
App Impact Check	“How did this tech help your learning today?”
Micro-reflections	Quick exit tickets on wellness or focus level

Sample Prompts for Student Reflection

“Does this tool help you feel more connected or more overwhelmed?”
“When do you feel most in control of your technology use?”
“What’s one boundary you wish you could set but haven’t yet?”
“Where in your life could less screen time give you more peace?”

Partnering With Families

Home behaviors shape wellness as much as school experiences. Consider:
✅ Family Tech Talk Night
✅ One-page wellness guide in multiple languages
✅ Conversation starters (“when does tech feel too loud?”)
✅ Shared “screen-free zones” (dinner, car rides, bedtime)

When adults model healthy balance, students internalize it.

Shifting from One Week to a Wellness Culture

Digital wellness is not a unit—it is a skill for life. Schools can deepen impact by:

Including wellness language in advisory / SEL time
Embedding digital balance into classroom norms
Modeling tech off-ramps, not just on-ramps
Celebrating offline creativity with as much enthusiasm as digital work
Using AI thoughtfully—slowing down for reflective thinking

Digital wellness is really about helping students feel grounded, connected, and emotionally safe in digital spaces. When we teach students not just how to use technology but when to pause, reflect, and choose intentionally, we prepare them for a world where their humanity is not overshadowed by the pace of innovation.

About Rachelle

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s Next in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle received her Doctorate in Instructional Technology, with a research focus on AI and Professional Development. In addition to teaching, she is a full-time consultant and works with companies and organizations to provide PD, speaking, and consulting services. Contact Rachelle for your event!

Rachelle is an ISTE-certified educator and community leader who served as president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network. By EdTech Digest, she was named the EdTech Trendsetter of 2024, one of 30 K-12 IT Influencers to follow in 2021, and one of 150 Women Global EdTech Thought Leaders in 2022.

She is the author of ten books, including ‘What The Tech? An Educator’s Guide to AI, AR/VR, the Metaverse and More” and ‘How To Teach AI’. In addition, other books include, “In Other Words: Quotes That Push Our Thinking,” “Unconventional Ways to Thrive in EDU,” “The Future is Now: Looking Back to Move Ahead,” “Chart A New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow’s World, “True Story: Lessons That One Kid Taught Us,” “Things I Wish […] Knew” and her newest “How To Teach AI” is available from ISTE or on Amazon.

Contact Rachelle to schedule sessions about Artificial Intelligence, AI and the Law, Coding, AR/VR, and more for your school or event! Submit the Contact Form.

Follow Rachelle on Bluesky, Instagram, and X at @Rdene915

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here. Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

************ Also, check out my THRIVEinEDU Podcast Here!

Join my show on THRIVEinEDU on Facebook. Join the group here.

Celebrating Digital Citizenship Week with Purpose

October 21, 2025October 19, 2025Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Every October, schools around the world celebrate Digital Citizenship Week, a time to focus on educating others on how to engage responsibly, safely, and ethically in digital spaces. This week, events are happening to bring greater awareness to the importance of digital citizenship. There are activities and webinars provided by Common Sense and other organizations with resources for schools. However, we need to focus on it throughout the year. Digital citizenship has become an essential life skill. It is how we understand the connection between technology, ethics, communication, and well-being. Preparing students means helping them understand not just how to use technology, but how to use it well and for good.

Especially today, in a world surrounded by AI, students have access to so many tools that enable them to create, connect, and collaborate. With these opportunities comes greater responsibility, and as educators, providing guidance to our students is more important than ever. Digital citizenship is not just about “don’t click this” or “stay off of that site.” It is about student agency, empathy, discernment, digital well-being, and community-building.

The ISTE Standards for Students address this by highlighting the importance that students move beyond being simply consumers of technology, but creators and innovators. That they emerge as Digital Citizens who “recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world.” Digital citizenship is foundational to preparing students for both college and career readiness and future success.

Why Digital Citizenship Matters More Than Ever

Today’s students are growing up in a world where:

Communication happens across multiple platforms, immediately, and often publicly.
AI tools have tremendous power and can generate content in seconds, without a guarantee of being accurate or not.
Online actions leave permanent digital footprints.
Collaboration is global, instant, multilingual, and multimodal.
Well-being and identity formation are increasingly tied to online spaces.

In my work with some schools that are focused on digital wellness and innovation, they are rethinking their policies and shifting in thought. They are looking at digital citizenship as a mindset and skillset rather than a compliance checklist.

With the right support and learning opportunities in place, all students will learn to:
✔ evaluate credibility
✔ protect personal data
✔ engage with empathy
✔ think before they post
✔ advocate for themselves and others
✔ leverage technology for positive impact

They will gain confidence, agency, and voice in authentic, meaningful, and responsible ways.

Aligning with the ISTE Standards for Students

Digital Citizenship Week is a great time to explore the resources from ISTE that provide free lessons. Focus on the Core Competencies of Balanced, Informed, Inclusive, Engaged, and Alert.

It also offers an opportunity to connect instruction with key strands of the ISTE Standards, especially:

1. Digital Citizen
“Students recognize the responsibilities and opportunities for positively contributing to their digital communities.”

2. Knowledge Constructor
“Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts, and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.”

3. Global Collaborator
“Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.”

Activity Ideas

Here are a few adaptable activities for different grade levels. Each aligns with the ISTE Standards and can be completed within 15–45 minutes.

Elementary (K–5)

Activity 1: “Digital Footprints in the Sand”
Students trace a footprint on paper and fill it with icons or words representing safe things they can share online (favorite book, pet’s name) vs. things they should not (birthday, address, school name).
ISTE: Digital Citizen

Activity 2: Kindness Chain Reaction
Students write a positive digital message or example of an encouraging online interaction on a paper link. The class builds a kindness chain displayed throughout the week.
ISTE: Global Collaborator

Middle School (6–8)

Activity 1: “True or Fake?” Digital Source Investigation
Present students with three online “facts” or headlines. In pairs, they determine which is credible and why. They cite what signals helped them evaluate reliability (URL, author, publication, etc.).
ISTE: Knowledge Constructor

Activity 2: Digital Well-being Workshop
Students brainstorm behaviors that keep them emotionally healthy online. The class builds a wellness checklist (screen limits, muting apps, balance between offline and online activities).
ISTE: Digital Citizen

High School (9–12)

Activity 1: AI & Authorship Mini-Debate
In small teams, students debate: “Should AI-generated writing be considered original work?” Extend to ethics, attribution, and bias.
ISTE: Digital Citizen & Creative Communicator

Activity 2: “My Digital Legacy: Who Am I Online?”
Students reflect on how they are perceived digitally and create a personal statement describing how they choose to show up online as leaders.
ISTE: Empowered Learner

Student Leadership Opportunities

Bringing students into digital citizenship planning increases relevance and impact. Consider:

Student-created PSAs during morning announcements or posters displayed in the school
Peer digital mentors and mentoring activities
Student-led “digital wellness” club
TED-Ed club or TED-style talks on AI, privacy, or inclusivity

Digital Citizenship Week is meant to be the beginning of an ongoing learning journey for everyone in the school community. Schools can further support the development of these essential skills by:

Integrating media literacy in research projects
Encouraging the use of bilingual / multilingual tools for family communication (Check out School In One)
Practicing ethical generative AI use
Modeling digital well-being and boundaries
Hosting family nights or sharing family one-pagers

Digital Citizenship Week is a time to teach students to navigate digital spaces with care, empathy, responsibility, and discernment. By using the ISTE Standards as guidelines, we emphasize student agency, ethical engagement, and global connection. We are living in a world shaped by rapid innovation, where these skills are not optional, but rather they are foundational to the future of learning.

About Rachelle

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s Next in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle received her Doctorate in Instructional Technology, and her research focus was on AI and Professional Development. In addition to teaching, she is a full-time consultant and works with companies and organizations to provide PD, speaking, and consulting services. Contact Rachelle for your event!

Contact Rachelle to schedule sessions about Artificial Intelligence, AI and the Law, Coding, AR/VR, and more for your school or event! Submit the Contact Form.

Follow Rachelle on Bluesky, Instagram, and X at @Rdene915

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here. Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

************ Also, check out my THRIVEinEDU Podcast Here!

Join my show on THRIVEinEDU on Facebook. Join the group here.

How Curriculum Genie Helps Students Thrive

October 16, 2025October 16, 2025Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

In collaboration with Learning Genie

Education is evolving faster than ever. Artificial intelligence, personalized learning, and competency-based models are transforming the way educators determine the most effective ways to prepare students for the future. Even with so many options available, in my own experience and for others, the same curriculum may be used each year, in more of a one-size-fits-all format, rather than reflecting the diversity, creativity, and individual needs of our students today.

Each student brings their unique abilities, background experiences, and identities into the classroom. To continue engaging and empowering students in learning, educators need tools that provide robust options and possibilities. We need tools that help us design learning that is relevant, inclusive, and connected. An extra bonus is finding tools that save time, allowing us to spend more time with students.

I have enjoyed using Curriculum Genie, developed by Learning Genie. This innovative platform helps educators transition from traditional instruction to personalized and UDL-aligned learning, supporting the whole learner and also the competencies outlined in the Portrait of a Graduate.

Why Curriculum Needs An Update

A standardized curriculum was initially developed to promote fairness, ensuring that all students had access to the same information. But equal content doesn’t mean equitable learning. If lessons are not adjusted to meet student needs and are not more personalized, then they will fail to:

Reflect students’ local cultures or communities, and authentic learning is lost.
Connect abstract concepts to real-world experiences, reducing comprehension.
Maintain student engagement when lessons feel irrelevant or disconnected.

As educators, we know the need for personalization, but creating differentiated lessons can be time-consuming and, at times, even overwhelming, as we worry about meeting each learner’s needs. Curriculum Genie removes that barrier by making relevance, accessibility, and inclusion achievable and in a platform that is easy to navigate and user-friendly.

Curriculum Genie: AI Meets Authentic Learning

Curriculum Genie is not just another planning tool—it’s an AI-powered educational design partner. It helps teachers build or adapt a curriculum that authentically and meaningfully connects to students’ needs and experiences.

✨ Key Features

1. Location-Based Unit Generation Educators can select a location (state, city, or region), and generate unit planners tailored to that specific place in no time at all. The examples, activities, and cultural connections align with the local environment, which makes the lessons more authentic and relatable.

2. AI Lesson Assistant Teachers can:

Create new lessons in a short amount of time that reflect a specific location or cultural context.
Transform existing lessons without rewriting them from scratch.
Have a thought partner to build out a truly impactful lesson for students.

This flexibility empowers teachers to make any lesson more meaningful while saving hours of preparation time. The time saved can then be spent with students and colleagues, continuing to learn and grow together.

Generates interactive slides!

3. UDL-Embedded Supports Curriculum Genie doesn’t just create lessons; it also aligns them with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, helping educators plan for accessibility and inclusion from the start. UDL is a focus area for many educators, and making sure to provide the right supports and activities is key. Curriculum Genie helps with this. Why UDL?

UDL ensures multiple means of:

Engagement: Connecting to student interests and motivation.
Representation: Presenting information in diverse ways (visual, auditory, tactile).
Action & Expression: Giving students options to show what they know.

For example, when designing a science lesson, Curriculum Genie might suggest hands-on experiments, visual diagrams, or video explanations to make sure that every learner can engage and succeed. For my STEAM course, I can create robust lessons focused on digital citizenship and wellness or other important topics that boost student engagement and make truly interactive lessons to amplify learning. How? Curriculum Genie provides all of the resources that I need to make a lesson successful, meaningful, and personalized to my students.

4. IEP and ELL Integration
Supporting diverse learners is a key aspect of Curriculum Genie’s design. It automatically weaves strategies for students with IEPs and English Language Learners, helping educators to build their instructional practices, too.

5. Portrait of a Graduate Alignment Many districts are focusing on the Portrait of a Graduate, and also, Portrait of an AI Graduate, which outline the essential skills our students need to be successful in the future. They develop skills such as critical thinking, communication, creativity, collaboration, and global citizenship.

Curriculum Genie helps educators design lessons that cultivate these competencies through:

Real-world, problem-based learning grounded in local and global contexts.
Collaborative and inquiry-driven activities that foster communication and creativity.
Culturally responsive projects that honor diverse perspectives and promote empathy.

Using Curriculum Genie enables educators to connect academic standards with the Portrait of a Graduate competencies, which ensures that students learn more than the content; it helps them to build the mindset and skills needed for their future.

They also offer FREE K-12 Lessons on AI Literacy!

Free AI Literacy Courses for K–12 Educators

Another great feature offered by Learning Genie is that it provides free AI Literacy Courses for K–12 educators.

The courses are self-paced and help teachers and school leaders:

Understand how AI works and how it’s shaping learning.
Explore classroom-ready strategies for AI integration.
Learn to design lessons that teach students to think critically about AI.

You can access these courses and learn more about Curriculum Genie at https://www.learning-genie.com/.

Transforming Education, Together

The future of learning depends on our ability as educators to make education more personal, purposeful, and powerful. Curriculum Genie offers guidance that helps educators move beyond traditional and one-size-fits-all instruction to learning that is inclusive, authentic, and future-focused.

More than just a platform with limited capabilities, through its integration of AI, UDL, Portrait of a Graduate competencies, plus the great and free AI literacy courses, Curriculum Genie supports educators with the tools to make it a reality.

If you’re looking for a new platform that will save you hours of time by addressing many important areas, then I definitely recommend that you dive into Learning Genie and explore creating with Curriculum Genie. I have been amazed at how quickly it creates, how responsive it is, and the quality of resources and materials that it shares for teachers. Learn more and request a demo at https://www.learning-genie.com/

About Rachelle

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s Next in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle received her Doctorate in Instructional Technology, and her research focus was on AI and Professional Development. In addition to teaching, she is a full-time consultant and works with companies and organizations to provide PD, speaking, and consulting services. Contact Rachelle for your event!

Contact Rachelle to schedule sessions about Artificial Intelligence, AI and the Law, Coding, AR/VR, and more for your school or event! Submit the Contact Form.

Follow Rachelle on Bluesky, Instagram, and X at @Rdene915

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here. Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

************ Also, check out my THRIVEinEDU Podcast Here!

Join my show on THRIVEinEDU on Facebook. Join the group here.

Introducing the AI Mirror Project

October 7, 2025October 1, 2025Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest post by Brian Baker. Opinions expressed are those of the guest blogger.

In a sense, the disruption genAI has caused – regardless of whether you see it as a net positive or negative – has held up a mirror to education, giving us new perspectives into known issues and exposing ones that were under the surface.

That opportunity for novel insights and increased awareness spurred 24th Century Education, an Oregon-based consulting firm, to launch the AI Mirror Project. The project seeks to capture the voices of those living this unique moment in education by asking:

What has the introduction of genAI taught us about critical issues within the education system?

The project will progress through three phases:

Hearing from you: Through December 19, 2025, our website will collect submissions from educators, students, caregivers, the most enthusiastic AI evangelists, the most critical skeptics – anyone who is involved in any way with the education system and has reflected on these issues.
You are welcome to capture your thoughts in text, images, video, audio, or whatever format allows you to best share your voice.
Analysis & research synthesis: We will look for themes among the perspectives that are shared, then synthesize those with available research to better understand the issues identified.
Final report: 24th Century Education will compile and share our findings, hoping to use this disruptive moment as a means to better understand our current reality and work towards our goal of building a better future.

(Gemini, 2025)

While the education system has learned and is continuing to learn many valuable lessons about genAI since its introduction, this project instead focuses on what the introduction of and reaction to these tools has shown us about existing issues and challenges, such as…

Safety and privacy
Assessment
Human connection
Student engagement and relevance of learning experiences
Individual and systemic bias
The interaction between education and other large systems (government, industry, economy)
Education’s role in maintaining democracy
The influence of tech companies
Media literacy and misinformation
Mental health and digital well-being
Anthropomorphization
The role of education and the balance between preparing students for working in the existing economy versus equipping them to shape a more just system
The vital role of teachers
Student agency
Critical thinking and cognitive offloading

… along with any other topic that genAI’s introduction into education has made you consider.

There are many, often competing narratives about AI’s role in education. 24th Century Education is hoping to cut through that discourse and instead dive deeper into some of the existing challenges that have, in some cases, been highlighted by genAI’s impact, and that in others have been obscured by it.

To accomplish that, please share your voice and let us know how this moment has exposed existing issues within education.

AI’s introduction and use have touched on nearly every financial, instructional, and social-emotional function of schools. It has implications for equity, well-being, and the health of our democracy, environment, and economy. It has vast implications for education, a system that binds today’s learning to tomorrow’s reality.

At 24th Century Education, we are fueled by the belief that humanity needs an environment, economy, and society where all people can thrive, and that we must use education today to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that they need to create that tomorrow.

We believe understanding the present is essential to building the better future we envision for the education system, and we hope that this project contributes to that mission.

You can visit and make a contribution to the AI Mirror Project here. If you have any questions, please contact 24th Century Education’s Chief Learning Officer, Brian Baker – brian@24thcenturyeducation.com.

About Rachelle

Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s Next in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle received her Doctorate in Instructional Technology, and her research focus was on AI and Professional Development. In addition to teaching, she is a full-time consultant and works with companies and organizations to provide PD, speaking, and consulting services. Contact Rachelle for your event!

Contact Rachelle to schedule sessions about Artificial Intelligence, AI and the Law, Coding, AR/VR, and more for your school or event! Submit the Contact Form.

Follow Rachelle on Bluesky, Instagram, and X at @Rdene915