Thing # 18 - Social Networking

I have to say that I really don't like social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. I also don't see any uses for them in the classroom either. At the beginning of this school year, the attorney from the state dept. of education spoke to our district. She strongly advised against using it as well. She did say, however, if we did use it, we should never add students or parents as friends. In her recommendation, this was not the appropriate site for this type of communication.
Since I don't have an account on either site, I have not been able to view anyone' s page. However, I only know through comments made at school about certain situations. For example, I was told by one parent that she viewed the Facebook page of a teacher that I worked with. On it, the teacher had pictures of herself with friends out drinking and partying. Personally, I don't think this sets a very good example for her students. Another incident I have heard about at our school from several people involves a teacher who goes on daily and posts comments about things that happen at school. Those who work there and know the situations know exactly who and what she is talking about. At the beginning of this year, she was finally granted tenure. I heard that she posted something like...I guess those CSES teachers are stuck with me now! To me, both of the previous incidents are completely unprofessional. Due to hearing about incidents like these and much worse in the news, I really don't see a need for a teacher to have a Facebook page. I do suppose its like anything else. It's what you make of it. You either use it appropriately or not. So, instead I joined another site called Linkedin. Hopefully, this site will serve as my social networking site just as well as the other two choices. I am not sure if it has all the same features as the other two, but it works for me. Here is the link to my public profile page: Lisa Bunde on LinkedIn.