Topic: Warning to Prospective Teachers

10-second review: Prospective teachers should dismantle “My Space,” ”Facebook” and other social networking sites.

Title: “ ‘I Gave Up My Space for Lent’: New Teachers and Social Networking Sites.” W Kist. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (November 2008), 245-247. A publication of the International Reading Association (IRA).

Summary: Administrators are Googling social networking sites before allowing student teachers to work in their schools. Teachers are not allowing students to blog as part of their class assignments for fear that the students’ words could cost them their jobs. This “fear factor” can be protected against by monitoring the site carefully. One student teacher used a combination of nicknames for her site to protect against other people finding her.

Comment: I don’t know much about these sites because I don’t use them. I am registered on “Facebook” because a friend of mine posted some pictures on it and I had to register to see them. I will take heed of the warning to monitor the site.

However, in giving notice of this warning, I am doing nothing more than I have always done with my composition assignments—warn the students not to write anything that could be embarrassing. I stay away from assignments that might lead to such personal expression. RayS.