Homework Because of the Filter: Thing 22

I knew this one was going to be a problem from the get-go. Not that I don't know how to use Facebook--I have a site; I have a picture on it; I visit it.

The problem was here was a post that I couldn't explore at school because of the filter system.

I thought about going and overriding, but then the fear of the dreaded "we know where you've been and what you've been doing" record stopped me. That and the idea that I would have to override every single freaking page. Who has time for that?

So I was going to wait to do this one when I was at home, figuring it would be easier; but then I thought "oh what the heck; I'll just override. This experience alone made me smile evilly. One of the threats the district gives is that if you override facebook you could face "change in employment status". Is that some kind of politically correct way of saying "fired" or terminated" or "canned"?--not to be confused with "caned" which wasn't a district punishment, but maybe should be . . .

So I did it anyway--took my employment status into my own hands, inhaled (just air), and overrode. (Dramatic music here). I explored some of my friends pages--especially former students. They still ask me questions about their essays, and facebook is actually an easier forum to do this than email. I decided to become a fan of Dilbert as our school system gets closer and closer to the business world model (see earlier post for my feelings on that, if you dare!). Somewhere on that page a woman comments that she gets more like Alice everyday, and I think I do too.

I guess as educators we need to know how easy communication between our students can be. I think this could also be a time to teach the old internet tact lesson. I noticed that some people can't communicate without four letter words. Of course I couldn't have written this sentence or the last without four letter words. HAHAHAHAHA! I like the wall to wall communication feature as it allows me to communicate with just one person instead of posting to the world. I find it annoying that some people have to update their lives--like we care--"Jane is going to bake a cake and then slit her wrists."

An educational application? I'm not sure. As you can't access this without risking termination here, I think it would be nearly useless. On the other hand, I guess you could do some kind of class help page, sort of like an on-line tutoring. But then you would have to keep up with that.

I'll have to let this stew awhile--and I may have more time on my hands if I get red-carded by the district . . .