Private Pictures

In Teacher resigns after student exposes private pictures, a teacher left her cell phone on the desk while she was out in the hall between classes. Apparently, a student who got her phone and sent the nude pictures of the teacher that were on it to other students. The picture was supposedly for the teacher’s husband on Valentine’s Day.

There were many things that the teacher could have done to prevent this whole situation:

·      The teacher should have kept her phone on her at all times.

·      The teacher should have had her phone locked if she wasn’t using it.

·      The teacher should not have had inappropriate pictures on her phone.

·      The teacher should not have left her phone on the desk.

There were many things that the student could have done to prevent this whole situation:

·      The student should have respected other people’s property and not touched the phone.

·      The student should not have texted any pictures from another person’s phone to others.

·      The student should have stayed away from the teacher’s desk.

This was a really unfortunate situation where it could ruin people’s lives. The teacher resigned and may have ruined her whole career, not to mention the humiliation of having your naked body seen by the community. (Hopefully she looks better than I do because mine would just be a major comedy!)

Now the school and law enforcement is looking into punishments against the student. Conviction could ruin this student’s future.

The teacher is getting hate mail and threats. Why in the world does this warrant any kind of threatening action by anybody? Law enforcement is looking into these and made charge the instigators.

It seems like a moment of carelessness has great impact on some people’s future.

Boy, these times are sure a-changing!

Stop Judging Others

In defense of phones . . . or at least in defense of not judging others from Roman Reboot, Melissa wrote a great post about judging other’s phone use and here was my response:

“This was a great post!! I love technology and my phone and I’ve been criticized about both a lot by family and friends and even people who don’t know me. I was just on a cruise and paid for the internet ($99 unlimited for the week), which really make people’s eyes roll in the back of their head. What they don’t know is that I’m up around 4:30am and I play on the Internet while hubby sleeps and he is fine with that. I load photos, I write a blog, I email family and friends to see how they are doing and I read other blogs. There is nothing else to do and I can afford it so why not? Once hubby wakes up and we start the day, the computer goes in the closet until the next day. I use my phone as a camera too and share photos but that involves looking at it. Maybe the mom is taking photos and sending it to the dad so he can “share” in their fun day. All I know is that I have enough trouble keeping up with myself much less anyone else.”

We don’t know about someone else’s life so how can we judge what is best for them? Until we walk in their shoes, we don’t know what their needs or expectations are. When a mom is on the playground with her kids and is on the phone, how do we know that she isn’t an important surgeon who took the day off to be with her kids? Maybe someone texted her an important question and rather than going back into work, she takes care of it on her phone. Maybe the woman is dealing with a friend who is depressed and the attention she is giving the person may keep them from committing suicide. We really don’t know what the circumstances are so without knowing all the information, how can we judge someone?

I’m so tired of people judging others when it really isn’t any of their business. I saw this a lot in the school system. Too many teachers were watching other teachers who left school early or arrived late. Some didn’t teach the same way as others. I never understood why it was any of their business. I spent my time making sure I did a good job and that I showed up when and where I was supposed to. I didn’t have time to watch anyone else! I was too busy teaching!

When I find myself judging others (let’s face it, we are all human and can’t help ourselves), I remind myself that I don’t know what the situation it. When someone is having a bad day and their customer service stinks, I remind myself that they might have a serious situation at home they are dealing with. I think about all the terrible things that might be going on in their lives and it puts my present situation in a different perspective. It helps me to deal with my own behavior since I can’t change their behavior.

Maybe if everyone minded their own business and worked on being better people, the world would be a better place! I don’t know but it makes sense to me. Maybe too much sense.

How do you stop yourself from judging others? Please share.

Cell Phone Considerations

I need your opinion:

I am thinking of buying a new cell phone ((4G Samasung Galaxy SIII for $199) and giving my hubby my old Droid Incredible. This would also involve changing my plan. I need to know if you think it is worth doing or not.

Here is what I have:

Droid incredible (unlimited data which I use about .2G last month), text msg, 450 min. unlimited Verizon to Verizon), Ipad (3G data plan which I used 3G last month). I pay $127 per month. I used about a total of 3.2G of data last month. I also pay $50 per month for a landline.

New plan:

Unlimited min. and unlimited texting, 4G of data for all devices, my phone and Ipad can be used as hotspots. This would cost me $146 per month and I would get rid of my landline.
I’m just worried about giving up my unlimited data plan on my cell phone that I don’t use much but I would be adding an extra G on my Ipad which I use a lot.

Are there other options I should consider?

What do you think?? Help!

My 10 Favorite Droid Apps

Many of you know that I now have a new cell phone, the Droid Incredible, which I have named Dumbledore. This phone is much smarter than me so I figured the name was appropriate. I have been learning how to use the apps on the phone and have been really enjoying them so I thought I would share with you the ones that I like. If you know of any free apps for the droid that are worth checking out, please share them with me so I can check them out.

1. Pluroid – I love being able to keep up my plurk karma while I am on the road.

2. Twidroyd – easy to use and stay connected to my twitter friends.

3. Facebook – came already on my phone.

4. Easy Phone Tunes – makes my phone into my ipod

5. Evernote – great for sending myself reminders

6. Gesture Search – easy to look up names in my phone book

7. Geo Pointer – gives altitude and gps points for geocaching

8. Grocery IQ – scans bar codes of my favorite groceries so I can add them to my list and I can also type in items.

9. ShopSavvy – great way to do comparison shopping right there in the store

10. Where’s My Droid – able to locate phone even if it is on vibrate by sending a text message from another phone.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

original image: Droid Incredible by Pat Hensley

New Cell Phones and Teaching

It has been years since I have upgraded my cell phone. Lately I’ve been reading about all the great ways to use a cell phone in the classroom and I realize that I was being left behind. I feel like when I was a little kid and just learned to ride a bicycle. I had a small heavy bicycle while my friends were riding 10 speed bikes and going much faster than I was. Now I have to pedal hard to catch up.

I now have a Droid Incredible and I can only hope that it will do incredible things. I have never used the internet on the phone or checked my email. Apparently this has a GPS system and lots of other toys on it. It has been years since I have sent any text messages or even taken a picture with my phone so I need to get back to all of this and it is exciting.

I think I will start by learning how to use all the “stuff” that comes with the phone before I start downloading any apps to play with. I need to learn how to use the basics before I start adding anything. I also want to do a lot of research on the best free apps to get and the implications of getting them.

Sometimes I wonder if I forget that I need to teach this way. I need to make sure that my students have the basics before I start adding all the bells and whistles. This can be overwhelming to them because I know it can do the same thing to me.

Of course, I am impatient and want to skip the basics so I can get to the bells and whistles but I need to hold myself back. I need to do the same thing with my students and not let their excitement let me push them too quickly. Like surfing, it is easy to get caught up in the tide but if we don’t know how to get on the surf board, we can easily get swept away and drown.

I can see this new phone being a great tool but if I don’t learn how to use it than it won’t be as effective as I hope it would be. I need to learn how to use it in the most efficient and effective way in order to get the most bang for my buck. But if I get frustrated or discouraged, I won’t use many of the things on the phone that may benefit me. In this same way, I need to help students come to the same realization about their learning.

If you have any suggestions or know of any good free apps for the Droid Incredible, please share. I would love any tips that you can give because I am a firm believer of not trying to reinvent the wheel and would love to learn from your mistakes/learning curve/ or whatever you may call it. Hopefully by modeling my new learning experience, my students will be able to see the importance of taking one step at a time and also asking for help when necessary. We all need to be open to suggestions and ideas from others because we can only benefit from someone else’s experiences.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Picture: Droid Incredible by Pat Hensley