The Guilford County Schools Social Media Policy is quite clear as to what constitutes proper use of social media by an employee of the county. One of the many interesting rules and guidelines has to do with a teacher should always consider themselves a school employee, even if they are posting pictures from the beach, a vacation, or a party that happens on a weekend. If you have a Facebook page, an Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter account, it is important to remember that your students, their parents, your colleagues, and your administration can be viewing them. An employee should not be friends or follow any student or parent as well, and should make that known to the class, if they are older, or the parents at a back to school night, if the students are too young to have a social media presence. An innocent or fun picture can be construed differently by different people. I remember when a picture went around my middle school of our assistant principal and several teachers playing beer pong at a party, it made the students look at them differently, and the pictures were promptly taken down. A good rule of thumb is to think, if I were a parent of a student in your class, would I think this post was appropriate or not? Another interesting point is that it is not ok to use e-mail, text messages, or any other instant messages to talk about anything not school related with a student. I would further recommend that any communication to a student be through the school email or messaging system and not from the teachers cell phone directly, that way the district has copies and the messages cannot be manipulated in any way. While it might not seem fair, as a teacher, you lose the ability to post whatever you want, and as an elementary teacher, it is further restricting as the students are so much younger.
This does not mean that social media is bad, quite the
opposite. Social media can be used very effectively to praise students and
build confidence or interest. A teacher named Gregg Breinberg has his own
Facebook page where he posts videos of his PS 22 Chorus in New York. Mr.
Breinberg is the director of the chorus, and his postings are wonderful and
confidence building for his students. Here is a video of his children singing
with Carrie Underwood, imagine how great his students must feel! Here is the
video with Carrie Underwood, and the look on her face is of pure joy.
This video has over 191,000 views, absolutely incredible. With music programs needing funding to continue in many schools, Mr. Breinberg is maximizing social media exposure to show how important music and the arts are. His chorus has been on Oprah, played at the White House, and almost every morning show. Another use of social media was a page established at Lake Brantley High School called the “Be Kind Crew.” http://www.tbktobekind.org/about.html This group established the TBK program in Florida to promote anti bullying and wants to prevent all bullying, not just teach students how to react to it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if students were not bullied in the first place? This group established a very positive website and has over 4,000 likes. A teacher named Ms. L in Surrey British Columbia has set up a Twitter page for her K-3 class that is connecting them worldwide. https://twitter.com/MsLsClass This page has over 2,200 followers and has sent out 3,385 tweets. Ms. L posts pictures of her class doing various activities and learning new things, and it has been very well received. These are three strong examples of how effective social media can be at all grade levels and these teachers should be commended.
Although teachers need to be very careful posting about
themselves online in any capacity, social media should be used as a tool in the
classroom to promote learning in a positive atmosphere. Social media posts
should only be done within the guidelines of the school districts rules, making
sure parental consent is also obtained. If done within the guidelines, posts
should be positive in nature, show the students in a safe and caring
environment, and have a point and message. Mr. Breinberg, the TBK student
group, and Ms. L all reach different audiences and have different messages, but
as a teacher, I would look at those examples and try to emulate them as they
are making a difference for the students. I learned that as a teacher, I have
to make sure my personal posts are within the guidelines of my employers’
policies, are in good taste, and would be something that you could show an
elementary school class. A picture from Disney is ok, a picture from the beach
would not be. In addition, once something is posted, you have to assume that
even if you delete it, someone can find it, or there is a copy somewhere.
Lastly, communication with students is an important part of a teacher’s job,
but teachers need to be careful of content, and how that communication takes
place. Social media can connect students to the world and be an effective tool,
but there are many pitfalls that need to be considered every time you post.
