I'm not talking about students in this case. Teachers are being forced to use social media to communicate and sometimes the message does not get received well. Another issue is teachers communicating with each other through social media, email, text. Collaboration is a huge facet of what teachers do. They collaborate with parents and each other daily. I'm a mom, and so far communication with my children's teachers has been going great. On my part I go out of my way to not give subliminal feelings or use the communication pathway too frequently.
I have seen in the news, every month and sometimes multiple times a month, a teacher is in the news for using social media to inappropriately communicate with students. It seems like common sense that a teacher would know the line, and not cross it, but obviously that is not the case. I asked a professor why we do not have a one credit class just pertaining to the use of social media, apps and texting. She agreed that it would be a good idea. We practice dressing appropriately for school, lesson planning, accepting diversity, time management, but there is also a huge expectation from parents to be compassionate and communicate through pathways that are still new to the teaching profession. There is also an expectation from the community that a teacher knows not to privately communicate with students, but yet these same tools are used in the classroom to learn. Teachers need instruction in ethics of technology just as much as they do for lesson planning. We cannot assume that every teacher is on the same page with standards in this regard. For instance, I recently took a class on diversity in America. I consider myself an accepting person, especially of other cultures, I'd say I am pretty good at it. Other students in my class were learning some things for the first time. We all live in America, we know people of different races, but the class is a requirement so that we are all on the same page to really understand issues of other races and disabilities. We all left that class at the end of the semester with the same foundation to accept and be sensitive to the diversity in America. Likewise, just because a teacher has a smart phone and has used Facebook for five years does not mean they understand boundaries and have clear standards for using technology. I hope this changes soon.
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AuthorSpecial Education major in a university teaching program. Substitute teacher, previous homeschool mom, wife. Archives
September 2019
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