teachers and technology… especially social networking...
TRANSCRIPT
Inside this issue:
2
3
Teachers and Tech-
nology Con’t from
page 1
4
DoDDS-E/OFT
Joint Training
Con’t/Reading
Streets Data Forms
5
Results of OFT Sur-
vey Shows Improve-
ment…/GIFT Tech-
nology Tools Class
at Vicenza
6
Letter from Af-
ghanistan
7
Rota News
8
The last issue of The Overseas Teacher carried an article on “Professional Boundaries.” Here is more information on the same sub-ject, specifically with regard to tech-nology and social networking, a field ripe for misunderstanding, mis-information, and misinterpretation of intent. There’s a simple rule-of-thumb you can use. Before the current explosion of technology and social networking, we communi-cated by telephone much more than we do now. When in doubt about the appropriateness of a message, ask yourself, “If current technology and social networking did not exist, would I say this to a student on the telephone?” If the
answer is NO, don’t write it either! Using good judgment and common sense will enable you to reduce the risk of problems. The informa-tion below is taken right from the AFT website: www.af t.org/y o u r w o r k / t o o l s 4 t e a c h e r s /t ea c h 2 t e ac h / t ec h r i s k s . c f m . There’s more too. Check it out.
Be aware.
Remember that federal law
requires schools to monitor and
archive any and all e-mails that are
sent to and from employee ac-
counts.
Teachers are legally responsi-
ble for whatever they post online
(pictures, text, video, etc.).
“Anonymous” is rarely actually
anonymous. Your identity is al-
most always accessible online.
Law allows schools to monitor
key strokes and personal e-mail on
school computers.
Know what’s out there
Google yourself! Type your
name into the Google search in
quotation marks, e.g., “Sally
Smith.” This will list all sites that
mention you or anyone who
C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 4
Teachers and Technology… especially Social
Networking. Rights and Responsibilities and
Good Old Common Sense By Marie Sainz-Funaro, President OFT
December 2010 Volume 46 Number 1
Dr. Marie Sainz-Funaro
New Executive
Committee Meets
DoDDS-E/OFT
Joint Training
New Executive Committee Meets
Pam Cleaverley, Editor
December 2010 Page 2
Last year three members of the Executive Committee left. Robert Kunis decided not to run for office, Pam Cleaverley retired, and Vera Morgan accepted a po-sition with DDESS. When the committee met on October 19, it was pleased to welcome three new members: Dr. Thomas Birch, Rota HS, Virginia Parkinson, Rota ES, and Tina Lake, Aviano HS. OFT expresses thanks for their service to the departing members and congratulations and best wishes to the new members. Tom has been in the Mediter-ranean district and a member of OFT since 1989, working in Izmir, Bahrein, Lajes, and now Rota. The Birches are truly an OFT fam-ily; Tom’s wife, Anne, works hard to make local OFT social and fundraising events a success, and their son, Tom, is a first-year member in Lajes. Despite a heavy teaching schedule, includ-ing running AVID, and coaching soccer, Tom has always found time to support OFT. He was president of the Rota schools’ local and is now the high school LUR. As a member of the Execu-tive Committee, he is looking for-ward to seeing the impact of our union on schooling in the district. Virginia has been in DoDDS since 1982. After four years teaching in Lake Jackson, Texas, she decided to have a five-year
adventure living and working overseas, and has been with DoDDS ever since! Until recently, she was a special educator, start-ing in Okinawa and continuing in Madrid until the base at Torrejon closed. Since then, except for a two-year educational break, she has been fortunate enough to be based at Rota Elementary School
in Spain, where she is now a Lit-eracy Support Specialist. In addi-tion to her “paying job,” Virginia has served in a leadership role for school improvement since 1997 and has taught several graduate level courses in Rota. Through-out most of her time in the Med District, Virginia has been an ac-tive member of OFT. She served as LUR for two years at Royal Oaks Elementary School in Ma-drid and has been LUR at Rota Elementary for the past five years. She has represented OFT on sev-eral groups, most recently on the Assessment Task Group, Profes-sional Development Steering Committee, and the K-3 Reading Assessment Technical Evaluation Board. She is looking forward to the new challenges and opportu-nities that come with being a Member-at-Large on the OFT Ex-ecutive Committee. Tina, the newest member of the committee, is the Information Specialist and Virtual School fa-cilitator at Aviano High School,
where she has worked for the past six years. She was vice-president of the local and is now HS LUR. Tina sees her ability to develop positive relationships between teachers and students as an im-portant aspect of her job. Being on the Executive Committee gives her the opportunity to see the “big pic-ture” and ways in which OFT can influence positive change within the schools. Tina is ready to work with management to solve prob-lems and sees herself as solution-oriented rather that confrontational. Her mantra is, “Let’s get the job done.” The other members of the com-
mittee are Marie, Linda, Margie
Lally, Colette Grillo, Serra Coruh,
and Eileen Kless. Unfortunately,
Colette was unable to attend the
October meeting because of an
automobile accident. Luckily, she
is doing much better than her car!
Virginia Parkinson, Tom Birch, and Tina Lake
Nancy Bresell, Director DoDDS-E, Marie, and Linda
Amy Ney, alt. LUR Vicenza HS,
Elizabeth McLean, LUR Vicenza
MS, Philip Andre, LUR Signonella
HS, Harry Atkinson, LUR Sig. ES
Marie and Elizabeth Walker, Med District Superintendent
Page 3 December 2010
DoDDS-E/OFT Joint Training
Pam Cleaverley, Editor
Nancy Bresell and Marie Sainz-Funaro opened the day with their usual sense of humor. Nancy joked that her anxiety level is sometimes raised when Marie gets emotional but that she un-derstands that she is only ex-pressing the teachers’ sense of urgency. Marie agreed that they work together to find a position that both sides can accept. She also added that she and Linda would use UDDI to do the day’s training and that they would model differentiating content, process, and product. Before the training, however, teachers and administrators were treated to two high-ranking guest speakers. The first was Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Fed-eration of Teachers, our parent organization. Randi was elected in July, 2008, after eleven years as vice-president. As soon as she took office, she courageously made educational reform and in-novation priorities on the nation’s agenda. Her efforts led to the creation of the AFT Innovation Fund, an initiative to support sus-tainable, innovative, and collabo-rative reform projects developed by members and their unions to
strengthen the public schools. Randi is also devoted to making sure that teachers are treated with respect and dignity, have a voice in education, and are given the support and re-sources they need to succeed. Randi thanked teachers “for what you do and for doing it right.” She then launched into an examination of the current situation in the U.S., which is suffering the worst recession since the Great Depression and where many feel that the Social Contract has failed them. Forty-four million are living in poverty, including one in seven children nationally and one in three in Washington, D.C. As many as eight states are basi-cally broke. There is a feeling that the best days have gone, and an anxious, fearful feeling pervades the country. Some of this is fueling the current at-tacks on schools and espe-cially, teacher unions. Randi agrees that the old industrial model no longer works and that schools have to change. How-ever, she disagrees that all that is needed is to “shake people up.” She sees a model based on the diagnosis and solution of problems rather than on punish-ment and a rush to charter schools. Schools have to teach 21st century skills rather than test preparation so that all stu-dents can participate in the American Dream. This is no easy task; it will take collabora-tion, a focus on teaching and learning, common standards, sufficient resources, and a teacher evaluation system that focuses on continuous improve-
ment. Above all, we have to con-centrate on seeing each other as responsible partners, who are solving problems rather than win-ning arguments. Many of Randi’s remarks were echoed by the second guest speaker, Marilee Fitzgerald, act-ing director of DODEA. She views herself as a collaborative manager, making decisions with input from the field and seeing no room for argument in the class-room or between labor and man-agement. The center of gravity is moving to the school level with the analogy being that of a star-fish rather than a ladder. Our military members make sacrifices every day, but they should never have to sacrifice their children’s education. Our school system also has to reform and technol-ogy offers the potential for cus-tomized learning rather than the industrial model. Schools have
to advocate for their programs and staffing. One size does not fit all. Marilee addressed the mixed group and, as promised, the LURs alone, on a variety of top-ics. She understands the frustration with the cumbersome C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 5
Randi Weingarten, President AFT
Marilee Fitzgerald, Acting Director DoDEA
December 2010 Page 4
Teachers and Technology…especially Social Network-
ing. Continued from Page 1
shares your name. If any misin-
formation exists, contact the
website owners immediately.
Monitor social networking
sites (Facebook, MySpace,
e t c . ) r e g u l a r l y f o r
“inappropriate” images, posts,
etc. If a friend “tags” you in a
photo, that photo is searchable
and potentially viewable by
anyone. You can remove
the tag from any photo you
have been tagged in. .
Learn how. http://www.aft.org/
yourwork / too ls4teachers/
teach2teach/techrisks.cfm#tag
When communicating with
students via the Internet, use
sites like Blackboard or
Ning.com, and avoid Facebook
and MySpace.
Only use school-provided
equipment to communicate
with students electronically.
REMEMBER: Teachers do not
have privacy when using any
school technology.
Schools can be held liable
for failing to detect “indecent”
material. Therefore, teachers
are not guaranteed privacy
when using any school technol-
ogy.
Federal Rules of Civil Pro-
cedures require all public enti-
ties to archive electronic docu-
ments for legal proceedings. If
they are unable to produce the
documents, juries are permitted
to assume that they contain in-
criminating evidence, which
makes it prudent for schools to
archive ALL e-mails.
Employers are not required
by law to disclose to their em-
ployees that they are being
electronically monitored. The
only places where employees
can expect to be free from sur-
veillance are in bathrooms and
locker rooms.
Electronic Monitoring may
include video surveillance, tele-
phone monitoring, e-mail and
voice mail monitoring, computer
keystroke tracking, Internet
website monitoring, location
tracking in badges, and satellite
tracking of company vehicles.
REMEMBER: Teachers are
held liable for much of what
they post online, but are of-
fered minimal protection in
return.
Nearly every state imposes
a “conduct unbecoming” stan-
dard on teacher behavior both
inside and outside the class-
room.
There is no official definition
for “conduct unbecoming” and
local definitions are rarely con-
sistent. What may be accept-
able in California may not be
acceptable in Alabama, and
what may be acceptable one
year may not be in subsequent
years.
Governments are able to
fire employees if their speech is
deemed to harm the work-
place’s mission and function.
Most states let the local govern-
ing authority determine if harm
was done.
Use Alternatives to Facebook
and MySpace to Communi-
cate with Students.
There are several alternatives
to using Facebook and
MySpace to keep in touch with
students through the Internet.
Two popular options are Black-
board and Ning.com. Black-
board even has a Facebook
Application and mobile phone
application that connects stu-
dents’ Facebook profiles and
mobile devices with their class
information on Blackboard.
Ripped from the Headlines
Dozens of teachers across the
U.S. and Canada have been
reprimanded, suspended and
even fired for legal, personal
activities away from work. Real
stories revolve around the con-
tent of teachers’ Flickr, You-
Tube, Facebook and MySpace
accounts. Each teacher was
confronted with content that
parents, students, or adminis-
trators felt was inappropriate,
and in each case the teacher
was reprimanded, suspended,
or fired. Yes, you can fight
back and maybe even win, but
at what price?
REMEMBER, ask yourself,
would I say this to a student
on the telephone?
Page 5 December 2010
DoDDS-E/OFT Joint Training
Continued from page 3
accordance with Executive Or-der 13522. The latter was led by Cheryl Teare, AFT, and
Quinn Anderson, Labor Spe-cialist, DoDEA. The aim of the order is “to establish a coopera-tive and productive form of la-bor-management relations throughout the executive branch.” This process is recog-nized in an MOU between OFT and DoDEA. Linda, Phil, Marie, and Lenoir Graham, HRO DoDEA, showcased their acting skills in skits illustrating the old confrontational way of bargaining and the new collabo-rative method.
After a long but productive
day, participants still had the en-
ergy to dance the evening away
on the Venetian pirate ship. As
always, Barbara Ferg-Carter did
a wonderful job of arranging this
extravaganza. We are just sorry
that it ended so badly for her
with a fall and a trip to the hospi-
tal. Get well soon, Barbara!
CSI process and agreed to work cooperatively with the OFT task group. She also understands the problem of lack of time and promised to look at any new ideas, ”even the wacky ones!” Finally, Marilee reminded teach-ers not to lose their passion but to control their anger when fight-ing for their causes. The afternoon session contin-ued with contract training by
Marie, Linda, and Phil Brown, Labor Relations Specialist, DoDDS-E, followed by a session on pre-decisional involvement in
Cheryl Teare, AFT
Ship Ahoy, Maties!
Ann Mitchell, AFT
OFT and Admin Create Reading Streets Data Forms Pam Cleaverley, Editor
OFT and Management demonstrated their ability to work cooperatively when they spent several hours cre-ating standardized data forms for the Elementary Schools’ Reading Streets program.
Serra concentrates on Read-ing Streets
Cooperation in action.
The class format is open lab
with guidance, instructor facilita-
tion and peer interaction. Stu-
dents who have taken this
course in the past may receive
credit under a different title if
desired. The cost for an OFT
member is $185.00 per semes-
ter hour of credit. The cost for a
non-OFT member is $240.00
per semester hour. For more
information contact the instruc-
tor, Terry L. Smith at
[email protected] or the
GIFT director, Marr Shan Cagle
at [email protected] >
The OFT’s Graduate Insti-
tute for Teachers’ program is
offering a class at Vicenza, It-
aly. The class, Technology
Tools Computer Course, will be
offered February 19 - 21, 2011.
This course may be taken for 1,
2, or 3 semester hours. Stu-
dents who register for this class
should come with the intention
of working on a self-selected
project that will be of benefit to
their own educational situation.
OFT Survey Shows Improvement Needed in CSI
Process
Linda Hogan, European Director
December 2010 Page 6
A t the Executive Commitee and LUR Assembly, Linda Hogan shared the results of May’s survey, which was completed by 75% of the possible respon-dents. She reminded mem-bers that the results should be considered as trends and indi-cators rather than in terms of absolute percentages. The
questions on atti-tudes to CSI show little improvement over last year. There is a 7% increase in the number of teach-ers who feel that there is enough teacher input, but on the questions of suffi-cient time and train-ing, the increases are very slight. The need
for professional develop-ment is significant. There
is a perception that about a fourth of the administrators are not actively involved in the CSI process; however, there is an increase in administrator in-volvement from last year. Per-haps the most significant find-ing of the survey is that 40% of teachers still believe that CSI has had little or no impact on
GIFT Technology Tools Class at Vicenza Pam Cleaverley, LUR, Rota HS
student learning, with an addi-tional 9% seeing a negative im-pact. Since these results indi-cate a compelling need to im-prove the school improvement process, Marie asked Serra and Virginia to co-chair an OFT task force to study the problem. The survey also addressed
OFT communications, and both
the Update and the JLMC Min-
utes received high marks. It
was decided to experiment with
limiting the Minutes to the elec-
tronic copy this year. The
newspaper will continue in elec-
tronic and printed forms. The
survey was created together
with the specialists at AFT, who
congratulated OFT on the high
marks they received on mem-
bership involvement.
Linda Hogan, European Director
It’s been two months now that I have been in Kabul teach-ing EFL to young Afghan Air Force officers. This odyssey started last spring when I re-plied to an email to DoDEA teachers asking for volunteers to teach English in Afghanistan. I was one of five teachers who were selected. Following a month of language training at the Defense Language Institute in San Antonio and two weeks of “ground training” in Indiana, I found myself in 150 degree heat in Kuwait waiting for a flight to Afghanistan. Once “in theater” I was as-signed to the ISAF base at the Kabul airport. Our school is lo-cated on an Afghan training base (I can walk to school). Though this is a war zone and there is a lot of hostile action going on in other parts of the country, it has been very quiet here. We are confined to the base and can’t “go out the wire” unless it’s in an armored con-voy. Accommodations are sim-ple but clean. I share a small room with another teacher and communal showers and toilets are down the hall. We have about forty stu-dents and five teachers in our school. We work long hours – twelve-hour days, six days a week. It sounds like a lot, but there is really very little to do here outside of work. I teach from 8:00AM to 2:30PM and then teach another two-hour class in the afternoon. With the benefits that come with working in a war zone, the pay is gener-ous, but then you must take into account the danger, being
far from your family, the isolation, lack of privacy and being con-fined to a very small area.
The bright point is the teach-ing. My students are in their twen-ties and early thirties and hope to go on to advanced aviation train-ing, maybe in the US. They are a joy to work with; extremely friendly, outgoing, enthusiastic learners, with a great sense of humor and an inborn cultural re-spect for their teacher. They are also very grateful that we are here to help them. Thirty years of war have destroyed most of the country’s infrastructure and dev-astated the educational system. They know that education is the key to rebuilding their country and culture. It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with them. Despite being in the military, they enjoy benefits that most Af-ghans don’t - a well- paying steady job, free lodging, food, clothing, medical, etc. Many of
Letter from Afghanistan by Steve Osborne
Page 7 December 2010
them come from very poor back-grounds. One student told me that his extended family of twenty plus people lives in four rooms, including the kitchen. Some of those who come from distant provinces have not been home for months or years because as Afghan military, they would be at great risk if they returned. Though I usually avoid discussing religion or politics, one day we were discussing the theme of one chapter in our book which cen-tered on military life. I asked them why they joined the military and to a man they replied, “Because I want to serve my country,” or “I want to help my people.” Most of our students are male, but re-cently five young women in uni-form joined our student body. Kabul is located in a high val-
ley surrounded by arid brown
mountains. So far it’s been
warm, but it’s supposed to get
very cold and snow in the winter.
Not being able to explore this fas-
cinating country is one of the big-
gest drawbacks. There are many
negatives associated with this
assignment, but they are far out-
weighed by the rewards of work-
ing with these wonderful young
people and feeling you are doing
something to help them achieve a
better future.
Steve Osborne, former LUR, Naples High School
Let us know what is hap-
pening in your school.
Send photos (clearly la-
beled) and articles to
Pamela Cleaverley
Pam Cleaverley
Editor
PSC 819, Box 63
FPO AE 09645
The Overseas Teacher
The Overseas Teacher is published four times a
year by the Overseas Federation of Teachers, an
affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers,
AFL-CIO.
President Marie Sainz-Funaro
European Director Linda Hogan
Vice-President Margie Lally
Treasurer Colette Grillo
Editors Pam Cleaverley
David Wass
Change of address form. Please cut out and send with
new address to: David Wass, PSC 819, Box 63, FPO
AE 09645 or send to [email protected]
School News Pam Cleaverley, Editor
Is anyone retiring in your school this year? Do you have any special news to share? Do you have an opinion on an
educational issue? Let us know what is happening in your school. Please send
articles and clearly-labeled photos to [email protected] or
OFT Member Kathleen Tierney poses with the top six students and the judges at the first DGF Science Symposium. Con-gratulations to Kathleen and her students for a job well done.
Dr. Nancy Bresell and Dr. Elizabeth Walker prepare to cut the ribbon on the opening of the new DGF High School.
The sun shines brightly as DGF cele-brates the official opening of their new High School. This photo collage by OFT member Linda White shows many as-pects of the morning’s events.
Vicenza ES/MS also has a Grand Opening Ceremony for their new school.