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=**School Law**=

Week 1
Our school/organiztion does not address cyberbullying directly. It does address bullying in general, and the misuse of electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, and cameras, that are being utilized to threaten or bullying a student. It is part of our AUP's and it can be found in our District code of conduct for students. The way that NCLB has changed the way my school operates is that before, PPCD students will remain in their classrooms and sped teachers worked on reaching the student's goals (IEP's), now, whether a student is bilingual or not, they need to be for a certain amount of time in a regular/inclusion classroom. The only ones that still remain in their classroom are those with severe disabilities or autism. Some of my colleagues felt ok with NCLB because there are some students that after a year of being in a PPCD classroom they are able to work and follow some of the instructions that the rest of the kids in the Least Restrictive Environment. However I also heard that some of them are not capable to perform some of those classroom activities and they would be more benefit from life skills classes or other self care programs.
 * The federal legislation known as No Child Left Behind has created radical change in America's classrooms. State and local governance bodies must align their goals to meet NCLB criteria, including meeting AYP benchmarks on standardized testing and ensuring that special education students are achieving at higher levels.**
 * How has NCLB changed the way your school operates?**
 * How do your colleagues feel about the legislation? What has been the most positive, and most negative, impact that NCLB has had on your school and its teachers?**

Week 2
**Discuss a scenario you have experienced that has blurred the line between student expression and school safety or discipline.** **How did your school handle the situation?** **If you have not experienced such a case, think of a fictional situation and use the cases we discussed this week to come to a conclusion about the proper way to react.** Our students can't really say alot because they are pre-kindergartners but they parents/guardian can.We had a situation two years ago with a family at my campus. Usually for easter we work with ovals (eggs shells/eggs made out from different materials) and we decorate them in many ways. We also talk about animals during that week and we use every now and then bunnies. The family that I am talking about sue my school because we were using a religious theme to teach our students. They didn't win nor the school. But, we don't do anything related to the easter egg hunt, or easter egg bunny anymore, we now have a petting zoo at our campus for that week so we can talk about animals. Is pretty sad, because we lost a really good chance to teach our kids math and science concepts by using recycled materials and other stuff that we can find at home or school. Same as Matthew K., we are not allowed to use facebook to communicate with our parents/students. We can have pictures of our students (without names) and ours as long as they are professional pictures.
 * Balancing the rights of students to express themselves and the need to maintain discipline and order is a difficult dilemma for school administrators. As we learned this week, students do not give up their right to free speech at the schoolhouse gate, but schools must also ensure that their educational goals are not compromised. The three cases discussed in this week's lecture highlighted the delicate balance that both schools and the courts must consider when deciding just how much student speech is protected.**

There was a situation I would say last year. A teacher who had a facebook account was hacked by a group of high school students and personal pictures of the teacher were "modified" in a relly inappropriate way. The school district suspended the teacher while they were investigating the case. Finally, one of the "hackers" talked and confess what they did to the teacher account, and he was put in front of a class again. Since then, we were informed that facebook (for personal use) will not be allowed in schools as a way of communication among students, parents, and teachers. We can access facebook from our schools now (after passing several filters/passwords) but only if we are working in a professional way.
 * Does your school, district or organization have any guidance or polices concerning employees personal use of social networking sites? Please discuss.**

Week 3
I would ask several questions before even talk to the teacher. First of all, are the second-hand reports official or just things that other staff members are saying? if the answer to this question is official or comes from the assistant principal or another leadership member then I will proceed to talk to the teacher and ask if everything is ok. If the comments come from just a few staff members I would take notes for further reference in case is needed. I think is better to talk and found out what is really happening rather than just take action based on rumors. This is a tricky question. The digital divide is nothing else but the fact that some of our students don't get the appropriate technology they need in their schools due different factors, while other schools get enough or even more technology that they can handle sometimes. In order to prevent the "injustice" our district is always trying to get the latest technology that we can use in our classrooms to deliver a better teaching-learning experience. I haven't seen ELL, low income, or disable students out of the technology based experience. I work as a bilingual-inclusion teacher in a low income school, where the majority of our students are african american or hispanic that come from very poor/disfunctional families, and fortunately we have access to the internet, cameras, ipod's, ipad's, smart boards, projectors, and all that technology stuff is for them to use in the classroom. They can't take it home, but they can explore and learn the basics of how to use computers. I think my school district is making a really good job providing all of our students with technology infrastructure so they won't become part of the digital divide. I would like to use a multimedia that will allow my students to see the letters, listen to their names, and their sounds, and have the opportunity to do so in both languages, English and Spanish. I would ask the following questions to see if the project falls into the four "fair use" factors: Is this multimedia used for a non-profit and educational purpose? yes Is this a nonfictional work or its been published before? yes, so it will not affect the author of the work. Is a large portion of the work been used, or is a part of the work been used but is not permitted by the author? no because is just one part of the multimedia been used and the work itself has not restrictions in terms of use. Does it affect the sale or value of the work? no because is a free multimedia that can be used for anybody. So, based on the answers to these 4 questions, I can tell that the use of the multimedia tool is totally under the "fair use" policy and can be used at any time by any teacher in the school.
 * You are the new principal of a large middle school. You are receiving second-hand reports that an experienced teacher in your building is saying things to other teachers on your campus, as well as to other district employees, that are both false and potentially damaging to your reputation. This teacher was extremely loyal to the principal who preceded you, who was transferred to another position in the district. From what you have observed, she is an excellent teacher, but you have concerns about the things you are hearing.**
 * Ch. 5 - With today's accountability standards, schools have a responsibility to provide all students with a rich technology based experience and ready access to the vast educational resources on the internet. Explain the "digital divide" and what role your school/organization plays in preventing this injustice at your school.**
 * Ch. 6 - Under the "Fair Use" policy, create (describe) a fictional copyrighted item that you wish to use in your classroom/organization. Briefly evaluate the project using the four “fair use” factors and document your findings for all four factors. After documenting your steps, determine whether your project/item falls under the "Fair Use" policy.**

**Week 4**

As an administrator, I would like to know both sides of the story, or in this case, the 3 sides. I would talk to the student who was supposedly harm why did it happen. If it happens that he didn't do anything to become a target, then I would look for witness that can corroborate or give more information. Then I would talk to the teacher and see why he act out in that way, why he left, why he didn't seek for assistance. Finally I would talk to all of the students that tried to hurt the student. I would make a decision based on the information gathered, the injuries, and other damages. I would let the parents know about the incident and also if is necessary, I would provide training to staff members on how to behave in this type of situations. I think in this particular scenario, the school is liable for the harassment situation, according to Davis v. Monroe, a district can be held liable for conduct between students if they had actual notice of student harassment and they were deliberately indifferent.
 * A freshman at your high school comes running into the main office claiming that he was assaulted by three upper-classmen in the restroom. He said that a teacher came in and saw him being pushed down to the restroom floor, but the teacher quickly left. The student says he can identify the three people who assaulted him.:**
 * How do you go about investigating this student's claim?**
 * If it turns out that there was an assault, can you or the school be held liable?**
 * What about the teacher who entered and then left the restroom?**

Chapter 7: Checklist regarding policies and procedures 1. Made an assessment of legal risks arising from use of classroom technology? The district has a very simple but clear AUP of technology resources in a way that if for some reason a student or teacher is in contact with materials that are not appropriate may result in disciplinary action in accordance to the teacher or student code of conduct. 2. Communicated clear expectations and boundaries with regards to all uses of technology in the classroom? The district states in the AUP of technology resources that the use of technology (network, internet, infrastructure) is intended to be used for educational purposes and only some limited personal use is permitted. 3. Enlisted student, staff, and parent input in drafting school technology contracts? As far as I know, every school determines what to include in their technology contracts, and they decide if parents, students, and staff members are part of it. However, at elementary school there is a general contract that allows the school to publish pictures from classroom activities or field trips on the internet, but it was designed by the school administration and the district, it didn't include parent or student input. 4. Established training requirements and policy acceptance procedures prior to allowing use of technology resources? at my grade level, we teachers are responsible to provide training to our students prior to allowing them to use technology resources. Teachers, administration, and other staff members receive the proper training to use and teach how to use such resources before they are introduced to the students. In fact, a teacher has to have at least 1 training related to technology resources within the school year. 5. Incorporated parent education into your school's technology strategy? At my campus, parents are informed of new technology used in the classroom, so they talk at home with their children. Also, they receive a handbook where all the policies and regulations in regards of technology and student conduct at the beginning of the year, in the way when we have parent conferences or meetings they can ask questions or support. 6. Established a chain of command for reporting incidents? The AUP of technology resources establishes a chain of command in case of an incident. It also states what consequences will this violation of the code bring, and other disciplinary actions that will be taken if needed. supervisors, administrators, technology department staff, chief technology officer, and the district superintendent are part of this chain and they get involved depending on the incident reported. Chapter 8: Checklist regarding ethical issues 1. Designed and instituted ethics training for all computer and internet users? I teach pre-k, so we don't really teach our students ethics. However, we teach our kids that they don't have to destroy other's people work, that they need to share materials and work as a team, and we always tell them not to hurt anybody with their words or actions. We talk about what a bully is and what they should do in case that somebody bothers them. I know that my district curriculum has certain classes where cyber ethics are taught in middle and high school as a way to address bullying situations at school and how to approach them, whether is a real face to face situation or a cyber issue.
 * Please respond to these questions about Chapter 7 & 8 from the Cyber Law textbook.**
 * 1. Using your district or organization as a frame of reference, please comment on each of the six checklist items regarding policies and procedures in chapter 7.**
 * 2. Discuss your district or organization's procedures concerning ethics training for computer and internet users.**

Week 5
I believe in the open marketplace of ideas. Children learn so much from exploring the world around them, asking questions, and making their own conclusions, that all what we have to do is guide them to make the right choice. However, it is also our job to be a little of "value inculcators" because sometimes our students are in touch with values at school; sometimes they come from houses where gangs, drugs, harassment, and other situations are seen every day, and our job is to make sure that at least at school they feel loved and safe.
 * This week's lecture included a discussion about two competing viewpoints on education. Those who support the "marketplace of ideas" view believe that school is a place where students are exposed to free and open discourse. Those who support "value inculcation" feel that public education should stress the values of the community.**
 * Which of these views do you feel best represents your view of education's role in society?**
 * How will you balance these differing views as a school leader?**

I work in pre-k and we only use computers to teach our students the basics, and motivate them to use web and multimedia applications for extension of lessons according to our curriculum. However, the technology department, the district, and our campuses are in constant contact when something has to be changed or when new technology is going to be implemented in our schools. We always look for the most appropriate materials/tools for our kids, and the technology department is in charge of finding what they think is best. However, if we don't believe that is the best for our students we always have a list ready of things/software that we know is going to be perfect for our kids. I think the campus that I work for is very proactive, and we monitor legislation and infrastructure, as we know these affect directly the learning process of our students. The district has an electronic newspaper and every single legislation changed (whether is related to technology or not) or about to be changed is always informed, and the district is always open to receive suggestions, comments, and concerns from teachers, administration, and the parents/community.
 * The final chapter, chapter 9, in the Cyber Law discusses the concept of being proactive in terms of potential legislation concerning K-12 schools and in the area of educational technology. Determine if your school district or organization has an active effort to monitor proposed legislation and discuss this process or the lack of one.**