Better Show Some Respect

You can’t teach students respectful and courteous behavior in a lecture. Not even with a PowerPoint Presentation full of cool pictures. The one and only way to teach positive values is by demonstrating them. As their teachers, we will have may eyes analyzing our every move and in many instances, learning from our actions. Karen Richardson’s article titled Don’t Feed the Trolls examined the importance of civil discourse in online settings. “We must show our students what the rules look like in practice, by teaching and modeling civil discourse online and
face to face” (Richardson, 2008, p.14). The first step to respectful online behavior occurs in the classroom, demonstrated by our behavior.
Richardson points out that as much as blogs are effective tools for learning, they are also susceptible to hateful and disrespectful acts. Recently there has been a “general sense that incivility is just part of the culture of the Web” (Richardson, 2008, p.13). It is unfortunate that so many people think it is acceptable to behave in this manner, but with the abundance of similar behavior in the media, it’s not surprising (Richardson, 2008). What is compelling is that codes of online civility mimic the same principles as those in the real world (Richardson, 2008). Just like we wouldn’t tolerate bullying or bigotry in the classroom, we cannot accept it online.
I plan on creating a resourceful and positive blog for my classes to guide them through their studies during the school year. While this is my plan, I don’t picture the final product as detailed as the example from Mr. H’s math class blog at Sargent Park School. The amount of posts, hyperlinks, and uploaded video was impressive, and bit intimidating. It’s the amount of time that must be dedicated that scares me. Spending that much time (as Mr. H must have) on the computer is of little interest to me. At the same time, I do understand the extreme benefits of some sort of classroom blog.
The blogs for my students will feature lecture notes, handouts, assignment details, due dates, syllabi, and a homework schedule (for past, current, and future homework). The main purpose of my blog will be to answer questions students may have outside of class and to provide resources to aid the lesson plans. The behavior allowed on the class blog will be positive and shall follow the same code of respect as in the classroom.