Education Laws

For my last post this semester, I wanted to find a website that could help me research education law.

FindLaw

This website does a very nice job of being a springboard of information assisting you with any legal question you might have.  The list of topics are fairly comprehensive, but please remember that the website does not give state laws.

Here is a link to a couple of state education laws that the FindLaw website has available:
http://law.findlaw.com/state-laws/education-law/pennsylvania/

Here is a link to a YouTube channel that is operated by someone in Pennsylvania:
Education Law Center

I am sure that I am going to be using this site an awful lot during the summer semester.  If you know of other websites or know where to look on the state's website, please feel free to share it here.

Thoughts on Blogging

I know that in yesterday's class I had expressed my concerns about blogging.  What I didn't get the chance to talk about was how I have thought about how I can use this tool in my job as a teacher.  Below is a short video on where ideas come from.  I feel that this explains why I can't just sit and write a post very easily.

I like the idea of having a blog to keep my students aware of resources available to them for free on the web.  I would like to find different YouTube videos that can help explain topics we are covering in class or can show the historical perspective on how these concepts were created.  During a regular school year, there is not enough time in the day to accomplish all of this.  However, if I can meet the students somewhere they feel comfortable, and get them to spend some time away from socializing, it will all be worth while.

I also like the blog for relaying information to my students.  This past winter, we had several snow storms in the middle of our exams.  Instead of having to answer dozens of questions, I could have posted on my blog what the schedule was going to be.  More importantly, if parents wanted to check out the blog, they could find out about homework, tests, etc. so that there would not be any questions about the happenings in my class.

I am aware that recently blogs and education have come under attack with a teacher in the Central Bucks School District and another one in the Philadelphia School District.  The media have given the public the perception that blogs are dangerous, and therefore we should avoid them.  However, my blog would not be my soapbox to voice my opinion about local politics or the community.

In the end, I am glad that I had the opportunity to have this trial run, and I am looking forward to bigger and better things in the future.

Programs for Athletic Directors

For this week's post, I wanted to explore what programs are available for A.D.s to use.  I remember life as an assistant athletic director all of the paperwork involved into a high school's athletic program.  From the time making phone calls to other schools looking for games,  the transportation of the teams to and from the contests, and the contracts that needed to be sent out to the referees.  It was a never ending cycle, work on the fall sports in the spring, the winter sports at the beginning of the school year, and the spring sports as soon as the fall seasons were completed.  The behind the scenes work that was necessary to make every coach's life as well as the lives of their respective staffs and athletes, was a very busy one at best.

During my tenure, the athletic director was working with a programming company to streamline and organize all of the paperwork.  This ultimately became League Central, a one stop shop for ADs and coaches to complete schedules, update player information, request officials and buses, etc.

For this post, I wanted to take a look at what is available today.  What I found was fairly limited, but I included links to them below.  If you know of any others that schools in the area are using please let me know.  I know that some of us in the class are looking to become ADs so I wanted to expose you to some of the products available, this is not an endorsement of any kind.  Hopefully, this can be used as a starting point.  Let me know what you think.

Athletic Director software

Park Enterprises cost $199.95

http://www.parkenterprises.com/samples/athlet.htm

Allows people to create budgets, control inventory, calendars of events, etc.  Not sure if the $199.95 is a one time only fee or if it is annual.  Each individual program there are 7 total.

Schedule Star 

http://dev2.schedulestar.com/Index.cfm

Another service, however, this one is web based and has programs for iphones, blackberry and other smartphones. 

Here is the link to the fees, which are annual.

http://www.schedulestar.com/PDF/ScheduleStarPricing.pdf

SportsPak

http://www.sportspak.net/sportspak-ad.php

Another software program that will provide ADs with all the necessary supports to operate and maintain athletic programs at the middle and high school level.

Websites that Educators Should be Aware of

For this post, I wanted to discuss one of my resources for my upcoming presentation on Cyberbullying.  The article titled, “Cyberbullying” by Caralee Adams, from Instructor, Fall2010, Vol. 120 Issue 2, pages 44 to 49, talks about the issues regarding cyberbullying and what we as educators can do to prevent it.

I won’t go into too many details here, but I want to share with you five websites that the article mentioned educators should be aware of.    I have included the links to the web addresses as well as a brief description about what each site does.  If you know of other websites that students in the past have used to bully or intimidate another student, please share them with me.  With technology moving so fast, once one site becomes “popular,” kids are looking to find the next “big thing” on line.

WocChat

Web Address:  http://www.wocchat.com/chatroulette

This website will enable users to video chat with random users across the internet.  Last year a website called chatroullette was made popular by a local radio station, people have no idea who they will meet.  According to RjMetrics, 13 percent of users are either nude or committing a lewd act (Adams, 2010).

stickam

Web Address:  http://www.stickam.com 

Another video chat, video conferencing website.  The main difference is the users can select the rooms in which they enter.  There is also a feature that will enable users to enter random rooms like chatroulette called “stickam shuffle.”  Some rooms will have almost 200 people participating.  This is at 9:30 on a Saturday morning.  According to the article, for the most part it is a safe place, however, 3 arrests have been attributed to this site.

foursquare

Web Address:  https://foursquare.com

This is a site where people can talk about events in their area.  This can be dangerous for children, since they will be giving information about landmarks near their home.  A predator could use this information to locate or meet a child.  This website can also be used on an iphone, blackberry, android, and most other smartphones or handheld devices.

4chan

Web Address:  http://www.4chan.org

A bulletin board site, where people may post comments or images based on a Japanese forum:  Futaba Channel.  Boards vary in topics, and you do not need to register in order to participate.  Originally, the site was created to share Japanese style cartoons called anime or manga.  However, users quickly have begun to use it for other purposes such as bullying.

formspring

Web Address:  http://www.formspring.me

This is a website where people can answer random questions, and possibly post dangerous information.  It is anonymous, which can make tracking offenders difficult.