Week 10.1
What's the Consesus?
Today we had the pleasure of having Michele come to class and discuss the pros, cons and safety precautions that teachers need to take in order to maintain a professional reputation while accessing social media in their personal life. She gave us some important advice and eye opening examples of teachers falling into difficult situations and possibly damaging thier careers using facebook. These types of examples we can certainly generalize into other arenas of social media. While these tools keep us connected to our friends and family, I do believe teachers need to be hyper aware of their behavior and language presented on these platforms. Afterall, we are teachers...this is who we always are...this is NOT something we just leave beind at 3pm. Our reputation as nurturers, educators and role models, has to come first all of the time! We have chosen this profession, because we care and we want to make a difference. How better to do that, then to model the appropriate behaviors ourselves.
Please leave your feedback and/or opinions about the presenation on Social Media.
We had class last night? I thought it was online on 3/20, well it seems I have missed a good class.
ReplyDelete-Danielle
We had class last night? I thought it was online on 3/20, well it seems I have missed a good class.
DeleteSO DID I.
LBUNKER
Life as a teacher is not as private as one might suspect, given that the community in which you teach takes interest in your values. During my student teaching seminar as an undergraduate, the following terminology was seared into my memory..."the compelling interest of the state." Very simply, the state is required to provide education, so it has a "compelling" reason to educate its citizens. And, how does this relate to your personal liberties might you wonder? Technically, you don't give up your citizen's rights (i.e. freedom of speech or expression) because of entry into the teaching profession. However, any type of behavior that is unbecoming of a teacher (i.e. derogatory comments that go viral), have the potential to generate controversy. If your personal business becomes a disruption to the classroom, then it affects the state's compelling interest to educate its citizens. This seems to be the basic premise as to why unsavory comments/ photos shared through social media, result in severe consequences for educators.
ReplyDeleteGiven the uncertainty that currently plagues our educational system, teachers must act with prudence. Michele emphasized just how important it is to filter the types of information we share online, giving careful consideration to the way in which seemingly harmless statements can be misinterpreted by other parents, colleagues, or administrators. If there's any question in your mind about the potential outcome of posting a particular status or picture, then it might be best to refrain from sharing altogether. Facebook privacy settings are a must...I especially like the feature in which I can view and give permission prior to my name/ photo being "tagged" by a friend. This certainly eliminates those unflattering photos or tasteless comments! I only just learned of this feature after checking my own security settings. If nothing else (or, perhaps, ABOVE all else!, teachers must think about the community they are teaching in and what behaviors might be considered offensive. After all, the community has a vested interest in their educators' abilities to serve as 1) role models for their students and as 2)experts in their field.
Hi Andrea,
DeleteSecond time may be a charm. After spending 15 min. writing a reply the computer froze and wouldn't publish my comments and people wonder why I love technolgy. I think there is something in my fingers that repels it.
Anyway...I agree that we are constantly called on to be role models and that is part of our job. It's amazing that they hold teachers to higher principles than past and present presidents. We are expecting to be everything to our students along with being fantastic role models and with these expectations comes little or no respect from the general public. It is amazing to me because I know how much teachers care and give of their time and of themselves.
I agree with Michele that we should tread lightly when deciding to use facebook as her examples showed. I decided years ago not to have a facebook account and that was one of the reasons. I also think that many people spend hours of their day catching up and I don't want it to take that much time from me. Although I do have to say, it would be nice to see where certain people are and to catch up with others via soemthing besides e-mail but...
It is a catch 22 because I also believe that Michael has a valid point that we as teachers should be educating our students on how to properly use technology and if we are afraid of letting them use it in the classroom then they are missing out on a wonderful opportunity for learning. It is a double edged sword. I just had dinner with a friend last night that is working in the Tolland school system and next fall they plan on giving every 8th grader (I believe she said 8th grade) an IPAD. They are going to all technology based learning and texts. We discussed how this met the needs of all learners regarding having no text books and she said that the school felt that this was beneficial for the majority. She is part of Tolland's technolgy team due to how she incorporates technology in her classroom. She thanked St. Joe's technology and literacy class for that. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
Tina
Andrea, you make some extremely valid points. I concur with your analysis of the "compelling interest of the state." As an educator, especially in our sue-happy society, scapegoats are constantly being searched out. Unfortunately for us, teachers are the current target of our students "not learning."
DeleteWhat I believe, and here I will share some of my political views, is that as teachers, and, more importantly, as humans, we OWN our WORDS. However, the issue, as you and our colleagues know, is not educators but the societal and cultural acclimation we have established over the past five decades. So, instead of solving an issue that needs major surgery, we cover the wounds with bandaids and hope they don't get infected. In order to avoid issuing systemic change our bandaids come in the form of scapegoats to distract from the real implications of our system.
If we continue on this path, it will be no one's fault but our own, the public's, the politician's, the policymaker's, the administrator's, and the teacher's. We no longer exist in a compromising society. To create a positive paradigm shift, it is imperative to compromise on what is BEST for the STUDENTS, not what is best for teachers, for the administrators, or for the politicians. I fear that we are losing that focus. I teach my students to listen, analyze, and respond based on what they know. Maybe I should invite elected officials and others who have never been in a classroom longer than a single day to sit with my class for a semester.
MCC
Last night’s class really was eye-opening. Michele said that there is always something that a person does not know while she is giving this presentation. Sure enough, I had several of those moments. There are some things that I just have not thought about or maybe would have never thought about. From now on I am going to think twice before I post something on the internet. I do not update my status on Facebook that often but every once in a while I will. I need to make sure that what I am posting is not going to be misinterpreted by anyone.
ReplyDeleteI also was worried when she said that Facebook changed the privacy settings quite often, I rarely go back and look at my settings. I was under the impression that everything on my Facebook was private, I was somewhat wrong. Anyone could see my tagged pictures and a few of my photo albums but not every single one was private. I believe now the only thing they can see is my profile picture. I am most likely going to even change my name on Facebook so students cannot find me.
I was also a bit worried when she said you shouldn’t have anyone under 18 on your friends list. For the last four summers I have worked at two different summer camps where I have met so many new people. This past summer I was working at an overnight came with 13 and 14 year olds. They all wanted to add me on Facebook as soon as they got home, which they did. I have met their parents and spoke with many about them. Some of the parents even said to make sure that we add each other on Facebook so we can keep in touch for next summer. I am not sure how I feel about having them on there anymore. None of these children on my page are my actual students, just my campers. I really do not know how I feel about this. I know I would never have a student who goes to the school I work at on my page either. Does anyone have any thoughts?
Melissa R
Here's my two cents with respect to your FB predicament:
DeleteFor those campers whom you rarely correspond with, I'd take the de-friending route. It might seem harsh, but your career comes first. Since you've already established communication with campers' parents, email might be a better option as it allows for a more controlled forum. I too am at the point where I need to trim my so-called "friend" list...
Facebook also offers an option where you can group your friends and select specific privacy settings that apply only to those selected users. This might be a potential way to prevent teens from viewing your photos, statuses, etc, if you would prefer to maintain those FB connections. Unless you carefully censor the commentary that your friends post on your wall, unintended challenges might arise.
Hope that helps!
Ellen is awesome at getting the point across! The interview was great and it really shows the effects that bullying could potentially have on a family. Also because I thought we didn't have class this past tue could anyone tell me if we talked about the assignment and some more information on that? Thank you everyone.
DeleteThe effect that bullying has on families is that some families may take their student out of school and possibly home school. Parents may aslo change schools, leaving thier childrens freinds and startting all over.
DeleteThis is a comment not a reply to student.
Lbunker
Friending and defriending is a really sensitive topic. To friend or not to friend. Will you hurt someones feelings and possible ruin a relationship by not friending them? Will you hurt someone's feelings or ruin a relationship by friending them and then defriending them? If you have any doubts in your mind about whether you should be friends with someone- you probably should not be friends with them. But be prepared to respond if you need to. When responding, just be straight and to the point and don't use emotion. I would simply state that I've made a personal decision to not friend people who are (Blank)or (blank), thank you for understanding and respecting my position. I think most of the time you would not be confronted, however. It's better to be safe than sorry.
DeleteMelissa,
DeleteI wouldn't take any chances when it comes to facebook and friending people under a certain age. I agree with Jen that de-friending someone can be a sensitive topic, but at the end of the day, we all need to be careful about what we do online. I actually went back onto my own facebook and de-friended some of the people I was "friends" with because of their ages. They were one of my friend's younger sisters, but given that I hardly talk to them anyway, I thought it was a safer choice to just delete them from my friends list. Jen said it right, "better safe than sorry."
Hi Melissa,
DeleteIt's funny, Michele left me with questions as well. I don't have a facebook but I did write to 3 or 4 of my students from Wallingford at Christmas time to see how their first year of college was going and then after having the conversation last class I wondered if it was a good idea. What happened to being able to establish relationships with our students? Isn't that part of being a good teacher? Do we always have to worry about everything being misconstrued?
I think that as long as the parents are aware that you are on facebook with their children that it should be okay. They are looking up to you as a mentor/role model. We are so worried in this day and age about "getting in trouble" it is ridiculous that people can't be kind anymore and not worry about the repercussions.
Tina
In this regard I agree with Jen I. The issue of de-friending is often a touchy subject (who knows why). However, in the case of your campers, I would merely state that due to your career you choose to only friend those over 18. Thank them for the memories in camp and for their understanding. In this sense you are creating an ample precedent for your future students. For my students, I simply tell them when they graduate high school they can send me a friend request.
DeleteMCC
Mrs. Feeny Response to your post.
ReplyDeleteI feel that teacher have a responsibility to be a role model and teach not only education materials but social skills, and the prevention of negativity. Some may argue that it takes money to provide programs to teach these skills, however I feel that it does not cost anything to teach polite manner. It just takes acting with polite manner and children will model the same behavior.
LBunker
Good point, Lorena! As teachers, we are responsible for educating the whole child. Modeling respect inside the classroom is a crucial piece of the puzzle, but I also think there is something to be said about explicitly instructing students on how to develop positive peer-to-peer connections. I do know of some districts that have included this important skill-set as a part of the curriculum.
DeleteI agree with you! I also feel that this type of information should be taught in the beginning of the year. That way, students understand your expectations and will rise to them. I feel giving them real life examples are a great way to keep them connected. Students sometimes need to hear the reality before jumping into a unit to help them understand how this connects to their lives. They are the future and it is part of our job to help us prepare them for real world situations.
DeleteWorking in a special education school we spend a lot of time teaching students about pro-social behaviors. The topics in this course have made me realize how important it is to also explicitly teach how pro-social behaviors translate into using technology and I have started to incorporate this into discussions that are planned and just naturally arise regarding maintaining positive and appropriate interactions, regardless of them being person to person or through tech. I agree with everyone above, that these topics need to be shared in the public school domain.
DeleteAnna Grabowski
Students don't remember what you say, they remember HOW you say it. I'm not sure where I first heard this quote, but it has truly been one of my career objectives. Students, especially in the elementary and middle grades, are scientifically proven to learn primarily through osmosis of their surroundings. Students pick up mannerisms and language from their home environment. While I believe it is vital to set social expectations in the middle of the year, it takes consistent instruction and modeling for students to truly integrate social skills into their daily normalcy and mindset.
DeleteMCC
I really enjoyed the presentation. I am and always have been super paranoid about facebook and the things that I post and who I become friends with, so the presentation was not all that shocking to me. I have never once posted a facebook status, the people that need to know what I am doing or what I have to say will know without me posting it on the internet. I rarely use facebook so I am not too worried about it getting in the way of my teaching. As we discussed in class, I don't think there are any great benefits of using facebook in school when there are so many other educational platforms similar to facebook that we can use as educators. Michele was incredibly informative and her presentation was thorough. It would be great if she could present again on some of the other social media. She said that she hasn't come across or observed anyone using facebook in a innovative way in the classroom, so it would be nice to discuss some of the other social media that she has seen as beneficial in her experience. It's important to understand the dangers of the use of social media, but it's just as important to know the strengths.
ReplyDeleteJen, I agree when you say you are not worried about facebook getting in the way of teaching. I rarely update my status and when I do it's somethin to do with teaching or education in general. Although, In high school and college I was one of those people who updated my status WAY too much, but I realized I was being stupid and no one really cared! My mom would always yell at me if I posted something stupid so I learned quickly what I post on the internet could come back to haunt me.
DeleteMelissa R.
10.1
DeleteI completely agree with you girls, however, for me, I got off Facebook completely. It seemed like I didn’t want to take the chance. However, Michele just reaffirmed why I did it. Even if someone did see my profile, they wouldn’t be able to find anything. However, I feel safer knowing that my life is still private.
I think social media is such a big part of our lives- it’s everywhere we turn. I loved those phrases that mentioned the different medias and how they are different. Social media, especially Twitter, is being promoted as the best PD for teachers. After taking Marialice’s class last semester, I see why people around the world are promoting it. Teachers from my school went to the free workshops that Teacher’s College this past weekend and they are promoting Twitter to teachers as well. I feel that if you are smart with how you use it, then you will have no problem. Michelle’s presentation was great to help keep us all aware of what we are doing and how we are going it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you. And it was very interesting to see the political side of it from Michelle when as educators, we do not really get such insight unless you are lucky enough to have good PD or you see it on the news.
Delete-Chelsea
I really enjoyed listening to both parts of Michele's presentation in class. It was hard to keep silent toward the end. I pray I was not upsetting to my classmates but I could not sit still any longer. Malloy is a G W Bush Jr with this terrible plan. I guess this plan will be the final nails in the coffin.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michele!
Mike Hatzikostantis
I think by the end of the presentation we were all feeling that way! I can't even read the paper any more without spittin info and opinions from her presentation.
Delete-Chelsea
I found Michele's presentation very insightful and I completely agree that the internet can pose sticky situations for everyone. Everything she said made so much sense to me, especially about how teachers must be very careful about what they post online. I kept thinking though that there are still many people out there who are not careful about what they use the internet for. In this day and age we can't really be too careful. I also like what Nicole suggested; that it's better to vent using our words instead of posting all of our frustrations and feelings online for everyone to see. I've seen people using facebook like an online diary and I just don't understand why you would ever want to do that...
ReplyDeleteA few months ago the school where I work had a guest speaker come in and talk to our students about internet safety. He narrowed in quite a bit on facebook and stressed how important it is to only friend people you truly know. Some people even have "friend" wars to see who can get the most friends on facebook. I actually went back into my own fb page and deleted a bunch of people that I just don't really talk to. I think more people need to get in this mindset.
A lot of what Michele discussed really paralleled the issues this guest speaker brought up to our students. Unfortunately, I saw that some of them were not taking the presentation very seriously. However, I'm sure that his presentation reached many students and I think we all have to do what we can to promote internet safety and awareness.
Michele's presentation was both insightful and actionable. As a new teacher, I am astounded not only by the mixed opinions about social media in the classroom and by its immediate negative reaction by administrators and politicians. For me, the "think worst, first" mentality has trickled into our classrooms. If we are trying to promote our students to be creative, abstract, and out-of-the-box thinkers, than politicians and administrators (who have never been in the classroom) should not stymy educators' methodologies. While there are isolated incidences of inappropriate use of these sites by teachers and students alike, it is no reason to automatically say, "No, you CAN'T use it." As humans, it is in our nature to be afraid of what we don't understand. On the other hand, overcoming our fears and progression occurs through us not entirely understanding things. Social media is not going away, it grows exponentially everyday. If we do not meet our students halfway, then, like most policies that currently appear in education, we'll be fighting an uphill battle.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michele for an enlightening presentation!
MCC
I really enjoyed Michelle's input and advice as to the use of social media for educators. I think that many cases that have been seen and probably many more to come are just from an ignorance of policy and digital awareness by educators. I find it so interesting how digital safety and technological awareness are finding themselves into students' curricula, but I think that educators need this information just as much if not more that students. What I found surprising as well that I have observed with teachers even after this presentation is how many teachers do not know of their social media and communications policies or that such policies even exist. Unfortunately, I think that many educators only discover these once Union reps such as Michelle step in after the fact. I believe that this could definitely be addressed with relevant professional development and preservice trainings. My school just had a PD on bullying that incorporated bullying online; bullying is such a big issue right now but the one facet that I found to be lacking was the importance of digital safety and policy awareness. How are educators going to be able to help monitor and eliminate bullying if they are not able to utilize technology appropriately-especially when it is the key medium in which bullying is taking place now?
ReplyDelete-Chelsea