Class Reaction

Last night's presentations were very enlightening. I learned a lot about the different laws regarding Copyright. I had no idea that a teacher is only allowed to make a certain amount of copies of a specific work, only allowed to play a few seconds of a song, or show a few minutes of a video clip. It was great to learn the laws of Copyright because many of these laws will apply to us as future teachers. There will be many times where I will want to make copies of a specific work for my students or show a movie to the class, but now I see the importance of knowing and abiding by these Copyright laws.

It was also an eye opener to hear about the cases of teachers, and even future teachers, being fired or denied a teaching degree due to their Facebook or MySpace profiles. Yes, it is ridiculous what some people actually put on their profiles for everyone to see, but it is a great reminder for keeping any social website clean and professional. It is not worth losing your job over. I also found it quite interesting reading the "Professional Freedoms," or lack there of, for teachers in the early 1900's.

I found it quite interesting to hear about the religious freedoms of teachers versus students. I didn't know that students were allowed to wear religious clothing but teachers were not. I find it hard to understand that it is okay for students to pray but not okay for teachers to pray openly in front of students. I believe that it is a bit hypocritical. Yes, I understand there are other religions other than Christianity, but I feel there should be more of an equal road than the current one. Vincent made a great suggestion on how to handle a situation if you are asked a religious question by a student. He said to simply divert their attention and ask them a random question. This solution sounds perfect, especially when working with the younger children.

Many people feel as if America is a free country and they can say whatever they want. The Freedom of Speech for Teachers presentation proves this statement wrong. Teachers are not allowed to say whatever is on their mind or express certain opinions. They cannot wear or promote any political materials, cannot express certain opinions regarding politics, religion, etc. It is great to know and focus on all of the situations we will be faced with as future teachers. By knowing the particular laws from each presentation, it gives us a fair warning of what we legally can and cannot do.