Texas Teacher Law

Need TShirts?

If you need tshirts or other logo items for your school group, consider using this new shop - Possibili Tees.  Located on Staten Island in New York, this company is primarily an employment training program for young people with autism.  They work with several local schools to provide vocational education for the students while operating a professional, high-quality business. 

From their website:

"This is a very ambitious project and we hope that you will support our efforts. We believe that employment, as well as the socialization, is one of the most important aspects in a person’s growth. We promise to serve our customers with the highest levels of quality and professionalism. 

We thank you for your support and patronage. 

The Staff of Possibili Tees "

Your "Friends" May Be Everyone

The Wall Street Journal has an article today with yet more examples of why you need to think very carefully about what you do and say on the internet.  Social networking sites make keeping in touch with many far-flung friends easy and fun - but you might as well be standing on stage in front of all the TV networks at once with a microphone for all the privacy you can expect.  

When you talk to groups of people at once on social sites, you should expect that everyone, including your mother, your spouse and your boss, can see what you say.  There is little to no boundary between public and private on these sites.  And if you are not tech savvy enough to understand the privacy settings, then act as if you have no privacy at all. Say only what you would say if you knew that everyone in the world were listening.  

Kids and Sex and Teachers

First off, no this is not another post about staying away from your students.  It IS a post about a new study that has implications for your interactions with your students.  

The journal of Sexual Health, as reported by Salon.com, surveyed adults to determine how they define sex.  It turns out there is little concensus on what acts are included when you use the term "sex." It's fascinating and a little baffling, especially the 95% number (you'll have to read the article yourself to find out what 95% percent say - and what 5% DON'T).  

As the Salon article points out, the results are important because they have implications for how we talk about sex with each other and, in the case of educators, with students.  Teenagers in particular are already very good at being as literal as possible when you give them rules or instructions, so if you have reason to talk about sexual behavior with students, or anyone else for that matter, it's vitally important to know that we don't all share the same definition for the word "sex."

And in the interest of clarity, I'll just say that intimate contact between a teacher and student is always inappropriate and usually illegal, no matter what word you use to describe it. 

When the Teacher is the News

Last week I was riveted to the news for a while after the shooting at Deer Creek Middle School in Colorado, right down the street from Columbine. 

The news, while horrifying, had several bright spots, including the fact that only two people were shot and no one was killed. Another one was a story of teacher David Benke, hailed as a hero for tackling the gunman and probably preventing far worse consequences. 

The story of David Benke appeared in the LA TImes, on Fox News, at the Huffington Post, in the New York Times, on CBS, and pretty much every other news outlet in the country. 

While you probably read the stories and thought about what you would do if something like that happened in your own school, what you might not have thought about is what you would do if you found yourself in the middle of a big news story.   

If you are involved in a big news story, the press will call you.  If you are involved in a story with national interest, the national press will call - and they will keep calling.  You will get so many calls you will not be able to answer all of them and your voicemail box will fill up.  Then the press will track you down on Facebook, at your work email address, and if the story is big enough and you are important enough to it, they will track you down at your house.  They will want you to tell your story, to comment on the event, to say something interesting. 

And you will be totally unprepared, unless you take the time to prepare. So here are my best tips for dealing with the press:

1. Take a moment and decide whether you want to talk.  You are not obligated to talk to the press. 

2. Enlist the help of a friend or family member to field the phone calls and relay your message - either that don't want to comment or that you will comment and what your rules are.

3. If you do want to talk, remember that it is up to you who you talk to and how you do it.  You can do live, pre-recorded, phone only, or stick to print media. You can also release one statement to all the media outlets at once. It is up to you.  Just because you talk to one, does not mean you have to talk to everyone. 

4. Before you open your mouth, decide what you want to say.  If you are not clear on what you want to say before you start, you risk saying something you didn't mean to say, or worse, saying something that is misunderstood.