Posts Tagged ‘social media’
February 9, 2012
Call me a prude but I am of the opinion that when you sign up to be a teacher you are making a commitment to act with a greater degree of responsibility than most other professions. Whilst it may perfectly alright for a tradesman or receptionist to have a double life as a porn star, a high school teacher should know better and act better.
What makes this story worse is that this teacher was filmed with a former student. I find it unsavoury for teachers to hook up with their former students at the best of times. To make a porn video with them just adds another layer to what is a clear breach of standard teaching protocol.
Or is it?
The graphic video of the teacher and the student, who graduated in 2008, went viral on social media websites after students discovered it.
A preview video shows the couple naked, in sex acts, and with the girl blindfolded.
The ex-student explained yesterday that everyone who knew them understood the couple were in a committed relationship. The couple live together and jointly own a business.
“We’re consenting adults,” she said.
Oberon High School principal Alison Murphy said she took immediate action when she became aware of the video on Tuesday, but said the video did not change her view of the “successful” VCE teacher.
“He is not here today. It’s uncertain when he will return,” she said. “The matter is under investigation.”
She said the teacher was “well regarded”.
Ms Murphy said it would be inappropriate to suspend the teacher until investigations were completed.
Could someone please explain to me why it would be inappropriate to suspend the teacher?
Tags:Alison Murphy, Education, English, Geelong, life, News, Oberon High School, Porn, professional conduct, Sex, social media, Teacher, VCE, Viral
Posted in Professional Conduct | Leave a Comment »
January 25, 2012
It sickens me to read about teachers misusing their privileges and being accused of engaging in inappropriate dealings with students. Similarly, it upsets me no end that these horrendous people end up making life even harder for well-meaning, caring and decent teachers.
Male teachers will be completely aware with what I am saying. It is hard to be a male teacher (especially Primary teacher) in an age where there are daily stories doing the rounds about teacher sexual abuse. We have to be careful to the point of obsession. Whilst female teachers wouldn’t hesitate to talk to a student alone behind closed doors, a male teacher cannot afford to. Whilst female teachers cuddle and get kids to sit on their laps without the slightest of hesitation, male teachers wouldn’t even extend their hand for a handshake. I am not trying to complain about this. In fact, I am a big advocate of these rules. It’s the fear of being falsely implicated that makes it a struggle.
And it’s not just male teachers who are effected by these evil people. They have also taken technology like social media, which I hear has incredible benefits as an educational tool, and prevented good, hard-working teachers from freely using it to assist their students.
One in 10 misconduct cases from schools involved teachers using social networking sites like Facebook to start inappropriate relationships with their pupils, it was reported.
n 43 of the 336 cases referred to the General Teaching Council for England last year for “unacceptable professional conduct”, teachers had used online forums, emails and websites like Facebook and Twitter to contact children.
The figures also revealed a wide variation in school policy over social networking websites with some banning teachers from having accounts while others allow staff to be “friends” with pupils.
The GTC registrar, Paul Heathcote, told the Guardian: “Often the use of social media by teachers can be positive and make a valuable contribution to a teacher’s practice, to pupils or to the school.
“Only if the use of social media by a teacher is relevant and serious enough to potentially affect a teacher’s registration is it likely to progress to a hearing.”
I would argue that it has become too risky to use Facebook as an educational tool between teacher and student. And we know exactly who to blame for that.
Tags:Beal high school, Benedict Garrett, Education, facebook, General Teaching Council for England, Internet, Karl Hopwood, Lee Butcher, life, Male Teachers, misconduct, Parenting, Paul Heathcote, social media, technology, Twitter
Posted in Male Teachers, Social Media | 2 Comments »
January 17, 2012
Last week I wrote a post on the challenges of teaching shy students. I gave an account of my struggles with one particularly shy student and the strategy I used to get him to talk. I have great empathy for the child that is too afraid to speak and understand the frustrations involved when teaching such a student.
However, I feel a bit uneasy about a recent study that promotes conversation via Twitter between shy student and their teacher.
The Courier-Mail reports new research from Southern Cross University has found strong benefits for the use of Twitter by students too embarrassed or uncomfortable to ask teachers questions in the time-honoured raised-hand method.
Southern Cross business lecturer Jeremy Novak, along with Central Queensland University’s Dr Michael Cowling, studied the use of Twitter among university students as a method for asking questions and gaining feedback without having to stand the stares and scrutiny of fellow students.
The positive feedback from students, particularly international students, has convinced the research team the use of Twitter technology could also be embraced by classrooms at high school and even primary school level.
In my opinion, shyness is not a genetic disease or impenetrable condition. To me, shyness is a result of a lack of self-esteem. Shy children act that way because they don’t feel valued. Instead, they feel judged, ostracised or labelled.
A teacher can do one of two things. They can either enable the shy student by using Twitter, or they can actually attempt to help that student find their feet and feel good about themselves.
“But who has the time for that? We have the curriculum to cover!”
This line sums up my frustrations with current educational thinking (as perpetuated through teacher training programs). In my opinion, it is every bit as important for a teacher to assist their students in matters of self-confidence as it is for them to teach them the curriculum. In fact, I would suggest that it is more important. Facts are learnt and forgotten. The average person on the street has long forgotten calculus and how many chemical elements make up the periodic table. What they wouldn’t have forgotten is how they were treated and how their experiences at school have changed them for the better or worse.
Why placate a shy person when you can change a shy person? Why play the game when you can show them that they have a voice and it’s special and unique and something to be proud of.
And besides, receiving Tweets in class is so unprofessional.What, am I supposed to stop my class so I can check my phone for a Tweet?
Trust me, as good a feeling as it is to teach children new skills or concepts, helping a child discover that they are important and that their thoughts and opinions matter is so much more rewarding.
Tags:Central Queensland University, Child Welfare, Children, Dr Michael Cowling, Education, facebook, Generation Y, Jeremy Novak, kids, life, News, Parenting, primary school, Shyness, social media, Southern Cross University, Teachers, Twitter
Posted in Child Welfare, Social Media | 9 Comments »
January 15, 2012
I am a big believer in free speech. I consider myself very lucky to be in a country where my thoughts and feelings can be expressed freely without recriminations. But like all other laws and freedoms there are boundaries. I might have free speech, but I am also restricted by sensible limitations to what I can say.
When students use social media to call their Principals names like a “big fag”, “whore”, “hairy sex addict” and “pervert”, and the consequence for their actions is nothing more than a suspension, I think they should count themselves very lucky. To then sue on the grounds of freedom of speech and win says a lot about the judicial system and the difficulties educators face in earning basic respect.
A middle school principal in northeastern Pennsylvania was shocked to see his photo online along with a description of him as a “hairy sex addict” and a “pervert” who liked “hitting on students” in his office.
A high school principal north of Pittsburgh saw a MySpace profile of himself that called him a “big fag,” a “whore” and a drug user. And in West Virginia, a school principal found out that a girl had created an online site to maliciously mock another girl as a “slut” with herpes.
All three students were suspended from school and filed suits against the principal and the school districts. They argued the 1st Amendment protected them from being punished for postings from their home computers. And in the two Pennsylvania cases, they won.
Whilst these awful slurs may technically be classified as “free speech”, verbal bullying of any kind can also be defended under the guise of free speech. Is this what we want? People supported by the courts to demoralise, slur and denigrate others? How are principals supposed to tackle bullying when they can’t even deal with bullies who are attacking them?
The exploitation of free speech will see bullying, especially cyber bullying, continue to gain momentum. These students should never have been suspended. They should have been expelled!
Tags:1st Amendment, American Civil Liberties Union, Bullying, Cyber Bullying, David L. Hudson, Education, facebook, Hermitage School District, Internet, James McGonigle, Kara Kowalski, Law, life, middle school, MySpace, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, principal, social media, U.S. Supreme Court
Posted in Bullying, Cyber Bullying | 3 Comments »
January 9, 2012
People who draw attention the benefits of teacher/student Facebook communication miss the point. There is no doubt that there are some fantastic innovations through social media that would allow teachers to respond to the educational needs of their students. But all benefits go out the window when one considers the dangers.
High school teacher Jennifer Kennedy has a prepared response for students who send her “friend” requests on Facebook.
No. Or, at least not until they graduate.
It’s a rule she said she shares with fellow teachers at Sacramento New Technology High School.
Increasingly, school district officials across the region and throughout the country are coming up with their own guidelines for what kind of online and electronic communication is acceptable between teachers and students.
Is it OK to be Facebook friends?
What about direct messages on Twitter?
Or text messaging from personal cellphones?
“We have a generation of kids who communicate this way,” said Kennedy, who teaches sophomores and seniors. “If you say absolutely no Facebook or texting, you are cutting off an important relationship with students.”
In districts with policies against such behavior, officials have said social media sites blur the line between the professional and private lives of teachers. And then there are the rare but widely reported allegations of abuse initiated or intensified through social media.
These allegations of abuse spoil any chance teachers and students have of communicating via social media sites. Perhaps this if for the best.
What is your opinion on this issue?
Tags:Cell Phones, Communication, Education, facebook, friend, Jennifer Kennedy, life, News, Parenting, Sacramento New Technology High School, social media, Students, Teachers, Technology in the Classroom, Twitter
Posted in Social Media, Technology in the Classroom | 8 Comments »
January 1, 2012
Cases of cyber bullying are exploding and schools need to wake up about it. Anti-bullying programs are not sufficient. Schools must treat bullying via internet chat and social media sites as every bit as important as bullying in the playground.
Experts say 10 per cent of all children now claim to have been cyber-bullied, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The enraged father of one teenage schoolgirl became so incensed by comments he believed a boy had made about his daughter on a social networking site that he accosted him in the street and threatened to “slit his throat”.
The man approached the Year 8 boy as he walked to a bus stop on the state’s mid-north coast and pushed and threatened him before boarding the bus, where he issued further death threats to the boy and other students.
In another disturbing case, a mum went to a school in western NSW and urged her Year 10 daughter to assault another girl after an exchange on a social networking site.
Both girls were suspended, police were called and the mum was banned from entering the school under the Inclosed Lands Act.
In the Tuggerah Lakes area on the NSW central coast, comments on a social networking site led to a Year 8 female being assaulted by another Year 8 girl.
One of the students, who sustained swelling to her forehead and complained of feeling dizzy and nauseous, was taken to hospital. The other girl injured her hand.
Schools increasingly are asking police to investigate serious student online bullying and have shored up cyber safety programs in a bid to head off more trouble.
The reason why parents get involved (and in some cases overly involved) is simple. When schools refuse to act citing that the offense was made outside of school grounds it limits any possible consequence for the bully. To prove my point, I refer you to the following pathetic quote from this very article.
The Department of Education said Facebook could not be accessed on school computers.
What it really means is cyber bullying happens at home and needs to be sorted out exclusively at home.
This is simply a lazy and unworkable approach. The only way to tackle bullying successfully is with full school involvement.
It must be so hard for the cyber bullying victims parents. Sometimes it must feel like there’s no one to turn to and nobody who will listen. This must stop!
Tags:Bullying, Children, Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety, Edith Cowan University, Education, facebook, Parenting, Professor Donna Cross, Schools, social media, social networking sites, The NSW Department of Education and Communities
Posted in Bullying, Cyber Bullying | 3 Comments »
December 31, 2011
Perhaps there should be a crime against stupidity. If there was, I would hope parents would be intelligent enough to think twice before injecting their disturbing sense of humours on the rest of us. To some, taping your children up and photographing them suspended on a weights machine is hilarious. To me it’s downright sick.
An Arizona couple remained in custody Saturday morning after police said they duct taped the wrists, ankles and mouths of their two children and posted the photos on Facebook.
The children in the photo were a 2-year-old boy and a 10-month old girl, according to a Coconino County Sheriff’s incident report. One showed the boy hanging upside down by his ankles from a weight machine.
A friend who saw the photos called the state child abuse hotline Wednesday, prompting the sheriff’s office to arrest the parents, Frankie Almuina, 20, and Kayla Almuina, 19.
The mother told investigators the photos were “all in fun” and that the children were unharmed and were smiling afterward.
She also showed the reporting officer, Sgt. Michael Curtis, several other photographs on her cell phone that showed the little girl similarly bound.
“They indicated they did this as a joke,” county Sheriff’s Commander Rex Gilliland told CNN affiliate KTVK. “But there was fear on the children’s faces in the pictures.”
“I don’t know how anybody can rationalize taping a child’s mouth and then binding their hands and feet,” he added.
Police would not release the photos, saying they were too disturbing.
In her Facebook page, Kayla Almuina describes herself as a “stay and home mommy and wife” and jokes she studied at “harvard :)! jk.”
She told investigators that the reason the girl was appeared to be crying in the cell phone photos was because she had received some shots that day.
Authorities placed the children in the custody of their grandparents.
The parents, charged with two counts of child abuse each, remain in jail with bond for each set around $25,000.
Last week, a 21-year-old Chicago man was charged with aggravated domestic battery after he posted a picture of his 22-month-old daughter bound with painter’s tape across her mouth, her wrists and ankles.
The caption on the Facebook photo read:
“This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back. ; ).”
No, this is what happens when collecting “likes” and “shares” becomes more important than being responsible parents!
Tags:Arizona, Children, Coconino County, facebook, Frankie Almuina, Kayla Almuina, Parenting, Rex Gilliland, social media
Posted in Parenting, Social Media | Leave a Comment »
December 24, 2011
Some teachers must live under a rock. The only thing worse than calling your students names is calling your students names on Facebook. Any teacher found to be insulting their students on Facebook deserve what is coming to them.
Two teachers have quit after staff allegedly called pupils “thick” on Facebook.
Headmistress Debbie Johnson and teacher Nyanza Roberts resigned when comments were printed off and stuck up near the school they worked at.
Teacher Stuart Clark sparked the tirade after he declared he was “fed up of bumping into pupils in town”.
Nyanza Roberts replies: “By town, do you mean top end of holderness road? That’s bout as far anyone goes. No wonder everyone is thick..
“Inbreeding must damage brain development.”
Head Debbie Johnson jumps in and says: “You’re really on one today mrs… !! Xx.”
Colleague Jane Johnson posted: “Massive queue of year 5/6 kids in poundland! x”
Parents found out about the conversation by staff at Westcott Primary School in east Hull when copies were attached to fences in the streets surrounding the building.
Mary Wallace, chairwoman of governors at Westcott Primary School in Hull, said the two had “decided to relinquish their posts”.
Hull city council added: “We’re supporting the school and will focus on ensuring children get the best possible standards of education.”
There are thick people in this incident, but they are not the students.
Tags:Debbie Johnson, Education, facebook, Jane Johnson, life, News, Nyanza Roberts, Parenting, professional conduct, School, social media, Stuart Clark, Teachers, Westcott Primary School
Posted in Professional Conduct, Social Media | Leave a Comment »
December 19, 2011
The very worst teachers usually spoil it for the rest of us. A prime example is social media. Social media is designed to aid communication and make interacting much easier. However, it can also be exploited and abused. Never a day passes where there isn’t a story about a teacher that acted innapropriately by saying or doing something on a social media site. These teachers have single handedly prevented other teachers from using these sites to help support their students.
My colleagues and I recieved an email from my boss a few moths ago, warning us not to have any communication with or about our students on Facebook. This is not an issue for me because I don’t have a Facebook page (I have a Twitter account but my students are unaware that I do). But the trend is clear. Schools don’t want their teachers in a position that could cause negative attention to their establishment.
My position on this is unclear. I am slighly leaning towards backing the school, as I am not fully aware of the benefits of Facebook for teachers and students. Whilst I can clearly see the disadvantages of such interactions, I don’t really understand how such a ban would effect the quality of teaching.
Clearly, there are teachers that swear by it:
Faced with scandals and complaints involving teachers who misuse social media, school districts across the country are imposing strict new guidelines that ban private conversations between teachers and their students on cellphones and online platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
The policies come as educators deal with a wide range of new problems. Some teachers have set poor examples by posting lurid comments or photographs involving sex or alcohol on social media sites. Some have had inappropriate contact with students that blur the teacher-student boundary. In extreme cases, teachers and coaches have been jailed on sexual abuse and assault charges after having relationships with students that, law enforcement officials say, began with electronic communication.
But the stricter guidelines are meeting resistance from some teachers because of the increasing importance of technology as a teaching tool and of using social media to engage with students. In Missouri, the state teachers union, citing free speech, persuaded a judge that a new law imposing a statewide ban on electronic communication between teachers and students was unconstitutional. Lawmakers revamped the bill this fall, dropping the ban but directing school boards to develop their own social media policies by March 1.
School administrators acknowledge that the vast majority of teachers use social media appropriately. But they also say they are increasingly finding compelling reasons to limit teacher-student contact. School boards in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia have updated or are revising their social media policies this fall.
To those that have used social media with their students – is it really worth the risk?
Tags:cellphones, Charol Shakeshaft, Department of Educational Leadership, Education, facebook, Jennifer Pust, Lewis Holloway, Parenting, policies, social media, Teachers, Twitter
Posted in Social Media | Leave a Comment »
December 8, 2011
The teacher who swapped the word “gay”with “bright” so that her class wouldn’t giggle during their rendition of “Deck the Halls” was always going to draw the ire of at least one parents. As much as she may have made the change with the best of intentions, I am sure if she had her time over, she wouldn’t have fiddled with the lyrics:
A Michigan teacher chose to censor the word ‘gay’ from the festive holiday tune ‘Deck the Halls’ and was met by a frosty response from parents.
Parents thought the Cherry Knoll teacher had been naughty and not so nice when the elementary instructor replaced ‘gay’ with ‘bright’ after her students wouldn’t stop laughing when they sang the word.
They took to the school’s Facebook page ranting about the teacher’s decision to change that word in the traditional holiday carol.
Cherry Knoll principal Chris Parker told 7&4 News in Traverse City that he was disappointed the music teacher decided to change the lyrics, saying she could have used the moment for a learning opportunity on tolerance.
‘This would have been a great opportunity to teach that “gay” has more than one meaning and is not a bad word,’ he said.
Enraged parents took to the school’s Facebook page, which has since been disabled, to voice their complaints over the word-swap.
A teacher’s poor choice is not the real story here. The real story is the way the parents handled the situation. Instead of confronting the school or teacher with their displeasure, they did what many parents are now choosing to do, and turned their disapproval into a large-scale Facebook campaign.
I have no doubt that a few quiet phone calls from concerned parents would have been sufficient to provoke this teacher to revert back to the original lyrics and make a profuse apology to all offended. Instead, this teacher had to contend with a barrage of negative comments on Facebook, and now, worldwide media coverage.
This sends a shocking message. It says that whenever parents are upset over the actions of a classroom teacher they can turn to Facebook for a fully fledged smear campaign. This amounts to bullying of the worse kind.
Teachers make mistakes. Some small, some huge. But no well-meaning teacher deserves to be pillaged on Facebook – ever!
Tags:Bullying, Carols, Cherry Knoll, Chris Parker, Christmas, Deck the Halls, Dr Jane Mohr, Education, facebook, Gay, Lyrics, Michigan, Music, News, social media, Teacher Welfare
Posted in Social Media, Teacher Welfare | 2 Comments »
Topical Teaching 