Teacher and Student Freedom of Expression

Yesterday Lily, David and I presented teacher freedom of expression and Dawn and Audry presented student freedom of expression. While there are a different set of standards that apply to students versus teachers; the restrictions that are imposed on our First Amendment rights are concerning to say the least. While we attempted to answer exactly who should regulate what is appropriate expression and what is not, we weren't fully able to answer that because there is such an inconsistency statewide, countrywide and court rulings wise. In 2 of cases we covered the teacher who said she blew her horn for peace was fired, whereas the teacher who posted homophobic messages wasn't even reprimanded. What does this say? In the case of the Pledge of Allegiance covered by Dawn and Audry, is it really that big of a deal that the student didn't stand? And what about the Tinker case that both groups covered, again I ask is it really that big of a deal to wear an armband. No one would have noticed that they were wearing armbands if they had not been reprimanded.

How do we judge if our expression is out of line or within boundaries? Should we judge by the times? Couldn't we accept that we as individuals have opinions, thoughts and statements that should be expressed within reason (atleast in the company of the little ones;))? So with that my conclusion is that yes expression can be offensive but only if we allow it to be.

This is my class reaction....too bad for me that I didn't react to previous classes. Sorry if it sucks!

Students with Disabilities

First of all I must start off my saying that the presentations these past few weeks have been not only great, but also very useful for us as future teachers. I just wanted to touch on a few points from the presentation that Mark and I gave regarding the Rights of Students with Disabilities. This subject is a very serious one that is not taken lightly, espeically by parents.I have to say that it requires a ton of patience to work with a student who possesses a disability. Last semester I worked with a student who was visually impaired in her physical education class. This task required not only patience, but understanding as well. I had the physical education teacher tell me numerous times that he did not have enough time to work with the student one on one in order for her to learn the required skills that are necessary for the class. Though he didn't mean to, he pushed this particular student in the corner a lot of the times because he could not neglect the rest of the class just to work with her the entire class time. He told me several times that I was a blessing to have because while I was working with the student he had enough time to help the remainder of the students. I just wanted to let you guys know that working with a student with a disability is going to be a hard task, but we must realize the situation of the student and do everything possible to give them the education that they deserve. It may be hard, but someone has to do it!