Associated Press Writer
"Disengaged, Lazy Whiners"
The Canadian Press
April 2, 2011
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5io9WOXQO_JQjg-zwgMWYdwR4leiw?docId=6433897
Topic: Social Media interaction
This article highlights the importance and professionalism of not ranting or posting pictures of students online. Kind of a tale of woe.
Key Points: Perhaps not all truths should be posted.
Relevance: Teachers must take care to separate themselves personally from students online. To be treated as a professional, you ought to act like one.
Yikes,I guess you really have to be careful what you put out there in the blogosphere! I wonder at what point a teacher's freedom of speech right clashes with the right of the school to determine behavior detrimental to the curriculum or to the students. It's a good lesson for all of us teachers- think what you want but be real careful what you write. I feel bad for this teacher because the comment might be true (but not wise) and the teacher might be good at his/her job.
ReplyDeleteWord. I read about the English teacher in Philadelphia and it reminded me of incidents here at Pacific. An RA was fired because he was in the background of a picture, that had a shot glass on the table. The RA was not near the shot glass or table, just in the background. The picture did not show students drinking, nor did the RA post or was tagged in the picture. An admin at Pacific came across it and after a week or so of investigation, they fired the RA. It really wasn't fair, because in my opinion, that was the best RA Pacific had. At that point I knew that if I were to take part of some professional group, I had to be very aware of what goes up on social networking sites and such. Very good lesson to take away from these stories, you are now seen as representing the organization you work for. You can still have your individuality, but it is always good to be aware of how others are perceiving you.
ReplyDeleteIt's a professionalism thing again. Good rule is to think like a doctor when it comes to talking about their patients. You don't post pictures or talk about your patients, in public at least...
ReplyDeleteJavier, yeah, I remember a similar thing in the Navy. It was a tailhook conference where all the tail hook pilots get together for a symposium. Unfortunately, the hotel antics got a bit out of hand. And because of the poor behavior of a few, a certain Senator made sure everyone at the conference literally got a black mark in their records and they didn't get promoted, which for most, meant a forced early exit from the Navy.
The draconian methods hurt a lot of people for no good reason. It's terrible when stuff like that happens. But also a great example of how appearances can be just as important as reality.