McCorked ISD Always Connected First Amendment Protects citizens speaking on matters of public concern Contains Exceptions to free speech Obscenity Invasion of Privacy School Speech ID: 574113
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Slide1
Professionalism Through Social Media
McCorked
ISDSlide2
Always ConnectedSlide3
First Amendment
Protects citizens speaking on matters of “public concern”
Contains Exceptions to free speech
ObscenityInvasion of Privacy
“School Speech”Slide4
Professionalism
The skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected from a person who is trained to do a job well.
In education, one is expected to be a good role model for the young people surrounding them each day.
Even in off-duty hours, a teacher is expected to maintain the positive influence they have on students.Slide5
Activity
Located at each end of the room are signs that say “Strongly Agree” and “Strongly Disagree” respectively.
As different scenarios are presented, you will move to around the room to show your level of agreement with each statement or situation.
After the room settles, you will discuss the reasoning behind your agreement/disagreement with others nearby.Slide6
Scenario #1
After a conflicting few weeks with an assistant principle, a teacher voices frustrations by posting “My boss is such an ass…” to a personal profile. In the brief post, the teacher avoided the use of names and specifics.
T
he administrators cannot discipline the teacher because she is merely voicing her opinion?Slide7
Posting about School or Employees
Tara Richardson was a mentor for beginning teachers who sued the Central Kitsap (Washington) School District claiming that she was demoted because of comments she posted on a personal blog. She described one administrator as “ a smug know-it-all creep” who has “a reputation of crapping on secretaries….” Last June, a federal appeals court rejected her First Amendment argument, finding that her nasty, personal comments interfered with her job because they “fatally undermined her ability to enter into confidential and trusting mentor relationships” with beginning teachers.Slide8
Scenario #2
In the week leading up to a big rivalry game, a teacher gets into the spirit by posting negatively about the rival school. Comments were posted to an account used for school purposes and visible to many students. While the posts were about a school sponsored event, the posts mentioned specific players from the opposing school.
The teacher should be disciplined for the post.Slide9
Scenario #3
After a frustrating conversation with a student, a teacher decides to take out some frustration by posting about the situation. However to avoid any repercussions, the teacher avoids using any names or identifying information in the post.
The teacher crossed the line, and should be disciplined.Slide10
Posting about Students/Parents
Suzanne Hutton has been removed from the classroom after posting: “
Well I have an annual IEP this morning with lawyers and crazy parents. The student is a hot mess but so sweet! So after work I'm hitting happy hour at least I have something to look forward too!!
!”
Even after arguing for her free speech rights, she was dismissed due to her history of inappropriate posts.Slide11
Scenario #4
After a long week, a teacher posts “Rough day…going to get some drinks tonight” to their personal twitter account. While it is possible the post will never be seen by students or parents, an assistant principal sees the post.
The post needs to be addressed, and the teacher deserves disciplinary action for this post.Slide12
Posts containing inappropriate information
College senior
Stacey Snyder who was dismissed from her student teaching position because of “unprofessional” postings on her MySpace site, which she urged her students to visit. Her site included comments criticizing her supervisor and a photograph of her wearing a pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup with the caption “drunken pirate.”
Because she did not complete her student-teaching practicum, Snyder was forced to graduate with a degree in English instead of Education. The lack of student-teaching experience also prevented her from applying for a Pennsylvania teaching
certificate. Snyder
sued, but a federal court found no First Amendment violation. Applying the Pickering case, the court ruled that her MySpace postings dealt only with purely personal matters, not issues of public concern.Slide13
Scenario #5
On a personal
F
acebook page, a teacher harmlessly teases a student about his girlfriend. The back and forth jokes began at school, but progressed to an online conversation. The conversation concludes with the teacher saying, “I just like to have fun and goof on you guys. If you don’t like it. Kiss my brass! LMAO”
The teacher should be disciplined for the online posts.Slide14
Friending Students
Teachers should not have online interactions with students outside of the sites dedicated to school use.
Contacting students off-hours should be for solely for school purposes.
T
he use of the “private messaging” feature does not guarantee discretion, and should not be used with contacting students even in contacting them for school purposes.Slide15
Posts “Likely to disrupt school activities”
In many of the court cases cited, the courts reject the First Amendment argument because the posts may “disrupt school activities.”
Trouble arises when a post disrupts a teachers ability to maintain a professional relationship with students, parents, other teachers, or school/district administratorsSlide16
Pitfalls
Posting about a student or parent
Posts containing pictures or information without the consent of the students or parents.
Posting about school, district, administrators, other teachers
Any posts containing inappropriate language, attitude, or behaviorPosts likely to “disrupt school activities”Slide17
Solutions
Create separate accounts (professional and
personal)
Maintain privacy settings on all personal accountsNot 100% effective
When in doubt, refrain from posting.Slide18
Professional Accounts
Creating official school/district accounts must be created as a “Business” or “Place” account.
Content must not violate and district or school policies
Content must not violate copyright laws
Each site needs to be monitored and maintained daily by the teacher overseeing the accountAccounts must be documented with the districtSlide19
Social Media AuthorizationSlide20
Authorization (cont.)Slide21
Personal Accounts
Always be mindful that any internet information can be easily accessed by anyone
Please familiarize yourself with each site’s privacy settings so as not to jeopardize complete professionalism
N.B. – Even when using privacy settings, online information may still be found, and is easily found by students and readily reported to administrators.Slide22
Facebook PrivacySlide23
Facebook PrivacySlide24
Facebook PrivacySlide25
Facebook PrivacySlide26
Twitter PrivacySlide27
Twitter PrivacySlide28
Twitter PrivacySlide29
Twitter PrivacySlide30
General Privacy Tips
Avoid sharing personal information such as phone numbers
, addresses
, etc.Avoid linking multiple social media channels togetherWhen using a shared computer, always log off of your social media accounts when you are done
Never use the “Save my password” feature on a shared computerAlways remember anything posted online is permanent