Teacher Wants to Use FB to Update Parents of Class News/info

I wouldn't do it. I'm sorry, but that would make me very uncomfortable. It would be easier for her to set up a yahoogroup or something.

I'm on the NO side on this. I wouldn't want this. I would rather be emailed than 'friended' on Fb. Some things just need to be kept apart, ya know.

No, I would NOT be comfortable with this. She can use a google acct and if she doesn't know about it, educate her. Inappropriate.

There are better ways for her to communicate that would protect the privacy of all of you. Many school districts have policies that prevent or at least discourage teachers and staff members from friending students and/or their families. See if your district has such a policy and bring it to hear attention.

You're right - she can create group page that the parents "like" or "join" without having to friend the actual person behind the page. I run a FB page for our middle school PTA and am not friends with all of the members who like or join us. Or, she can use something like Shutterfly to set up a class page.

I think you're not the only parent who has this thought and that she just really hasn't thought it through completely. I would gently suggest that she set up a group page or use a website specifically designed for this instead of Facebook friending. It's just not the most appropriate way to communicate.

NO
NO
NO
I work in a school district and it is very clear that Facebook is not really a good move for people in this profession. Particularly teachers. The Police Dept. actually sent a speaker who explained this and I am very careful. I would suggest that you talk to her again. It is definitely too open, not private and while she may be up to the minute on information it is really not a very safe venue. If she doesn't listen, then go to the people above her and communicate your feelings. Really.

I didn't read all of your responses.

I would NOT like this approach because the teacher is now privy to every post YOU write, and everything everyone else posts on your wall or posts and pictures that they tag you in. TOO close for comfort.

I try very hard to keep my personal life private from my professional one.

Did you know that everytime you "LIKE" a page, the person running that page can see all of your info? I realized that after I liked my preschool's page and had the director (whom I'd become decent friends with ...on a professional level) comment that she wanted to like my post from the night before, but couldn't with the preschool's personna. I'd posted something like, "The kids are in bed, where's the beer?" Of course, this is sooooo out of character for me, that it was funny. I'm sure she didn't know that.

It is NOT hard to make a distribution list for a class full of parents, and type one email and hit send. It sounds like she doesn't want to enter the email addresses (which she could ask parents to send her an email first and save them) AND that she is on FB very often.

My daughter's Teacher, had a PRIVATE group, class page/website... using Shutterfly.
It was safe and ONLY the invited, could join. ie: the parents.
It was therefore a "closed" website, being ONLY the classes' parents, could join.

MOST teachers, have their own classroom WEBSITE, to do, what your child's Teacher is wanting to do.

I personally, would NOT want, a FB... thing, from a teacher nor for the purposes she says.

i don't think you're wierd. you like to keep your privacy. i do too, and there's not a thing wrong with that. don't let anyone tell you differently. judgment and looking for reasons to find fault are exactly why i don't want just any joe schmoe peering into my life.

i would not friend her on fb. but not because strangers can see my stuff (you really can set your privacy to avoid most of that). but because i don't want my son's teacher seeing every little tidbit of my life, either. and i don't have anything inappropriate on there - my grandmother is my friend on fb.

teacher-student's parent is a professional relationship. my fb is personal. end of story. now if we hit it off and became friends and had a really good relationship, then maybe. but not just on the basis of her being my child's teacher, no.

absolutely not. FB is NOT private, even if she has her own page, anyone can "Like" and have access to your child's day-to-day in school. I second something like a Shutterfly page where parents need a code to access the group site.

Man this would NEVER fly at my school. We go overboard to protect the privacy of the children. I wonder if she has ok'd this with the administration. My guess is no. I would talk to the principal about your discomfort with this setup. It really is a violation of privacy to let thousands of people know whats going on in her class. And every time anyone comments it will send out to their entire network so it really could be thousands.

I would definitely make sure she doesn't post any pictures. If she is this FB happy then she probably will.

NOOOOOO!!!! Make it stop!

Please do not make an alternate account. It is against FB policy and they are about to close over 8 million bogus and secondary accounts. This teacher needs to have a FB "Like" page that is for her school kids only.

That way when you "like" her page she is not your friend but you basically subscribing to her posts but she is not allowed to see yours other than something you post to the public.

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Here's the article that tells of the August 1st announcement by FB officials about closing the accounts and the why. I do not necessarily think it's their right to decide if my account is real or bogus based on any criteria they feel is justified but there are so many people using extra accounts for game playing, for their businesses in an incorrect way, etc....these people are about to lose these accounts and when that delete button is pushed the account is gone, it is in FB limbo and can never be retrieved again.

http://www.examiner.com/article/facebook-to-close-83-mill...
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If she is using her personal page for her work business they may close her account down if it ever gets reported.

I suggest you print off this article and ask her to please form a like page that is in her name as a teacher. Then she can approve or deny anyone from having access at any time. At the end of each school year she can go through the list and delete each person off and in the Fall start all over again with the new kids.

I send out notices on the pages I manage about every 2-3 days. Sales, bonuses, who got professional awards, how to do a proper bun head, etc...I keep the businesses in their customers eyes.

The technical use of the page is for a business to reach more customers. The purpose is to obviously make money from these businesses buying ads and selling stuff over FB.

This is what she needs to do. It is not her business if you have issues with your child or what is going on in their personal life.

I would tell her to create a like page and that you would follow that. It would NOT have her personal information on the page, it is not a "friend" type page. You like it and if she posts something then it shows up on your own wall and nothing else is shown.

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=203955942973503&re...
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An even better option is to do a group page, such as "Mrs. XXXXXX's kiddo's". She still has the administrative control on her group and can delete anyone at any time. No one can see other people's information on these type pages either. It is like a subscription too. I get posts from groups that I "like" and am accepted into . Then I get posts from them just like if they were a friend. I can comment on them and everyone can see what other post.

For instance if she posts that she wants to plan a field trip on Monday September 3rd during the day since school is out and does anyone have any input....then each person that is a member of the group can post on that post and everyone can see it and read them.

http://www.facebook.com/help/search/?q=how+to+create+a+gr...
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If this were my child's teacher I would offer to do this for her and ask her if I could help out by managing it for her. Then when the current parent has moved on a different parent can become the class person to help her on the group page.

Well, I don't think that I have a huge problem with this although I do find it to be a bit strange that she wants to intermingle her personal/professional lives like that. However, I am also not a big poster on Facebook anyway. My personal rule is that I do not post ANYTHING that I would not want anyone at work to see.

I would prefer if she just set up a email distribution group in her Outlook for stuff like this. My son's first grade teacher just did this to inform us that school would be closed today. She also gave us the 10 spelling words that they would be working on this week so we could start at home. I LOVED that she was so engaged.

The thing is, a mass email is a one-time thing. She types everyone's email addresses in one time. After that, it's just copy and paste.

This afternoon I received an email from my son's teacher. She asked all the parents to respond to her email so that she knew she typed our address correctly. I was thrilled that she did this (the teacher he had last year was wonderful but did not use email), and wrote her back immediately.

It takes a little time to set things up, but then you're good to go for the year.

I would not want to be FB friends with any of my kids' teachers for any reason. I can't see how having her students' parents "friend" her on FB is a good idea on any level. There are lots of other ways to communicate. I would go with the "just get an email from her" option...you're most likely NOT the only parent who will choose this route.

I wouldn't mind but I got rid of Facebook as it was a time suck. And our district is handing IPads to first graders. I'm trying to get away from all this electronic junk (as I type, note). :)

Sounds like maybe she has a page for just parents and may have the settings such that you can't see things unless you are a confirmed friend. She could also create a closed group and do the same as she's proposing but it would limit access more.

NO WAY would I ever agree to this. I'm not a FB user for several reasons, some of which you have stated.

If she did choose to use FB then she should use it properly and set up a private FB page for the classroom. However, this still wouldn't solve the problem since not everyone has a FB account.

I do not like this idea, but with the way I have facebook set up, I might be willing to try friending her briefly. But, I would put her in my restricted list right away. You do that by clicking the little arrow in the very top right hand corner of the facebook page (on the very very top blue title bar that lists your name and "home" and things like that), and choosing "privacy settings" from the list. At the bottom of that page is a line called "Blocked People and Apps", choosing "manage blocking" on the right hand side of that line opens up the page you want. On that page, the very top thing is "Add friends to your restricted list." On the right hand side of that line, it says "edit list" and when you click on that, you can type in a name to add to your restricted list. Click "Finish" to save changes.

When you add someone to your restricted list, they see that they are friends with you, but they don't see anything more on your page than what a stranger who is not your friend could see. I don't know if their information would still show up on your newsfeed, though, so you might have to go to her page to get those updates. Whether I intended to use facebook for updates or not, I'd probably still request an e-mail for notification because I'm more certain to get those e-mail updates, she can use it to send more private information that wouldn't be ok on facebook, and it would be a better way to contact her in return if I had questions.

I would likely choose not to Friend her, as that mingles private life an teacher life. I don't know why she doesn't have a private group instead. I would ask. If you are not comfortable, you can also talk to her about alternates for those who do not use FaceBook - some people (like my DH) do not use it at all. I think she may consider it hip and convenient, but there is something to be said for a paper trail or something like email.

FWIW, the teachers were NEVER allowed to friend students at my sks' schools and we used things like edline and email to communicate. Every teacher in our system is assigned a phone number and an email address and uses edline. All private ways to communicate with the school about school business. We have never used FaceBook and I would simply ask for email if it didn't sit well.

No way.

It's not easier than email, and it invites all kinds of comments back on every post. Dumb dumb dumb.

An email allows parents to reply back to her but not to see everyone else's comments. It's no different that private messages and it's actually easier to manage.

Also FB has been hacked big time.

I doubt very much that her school really allows this. I'd contact the principal and find out.

Don't say that you're weird and you don't use bumper stickers. That's not the point. This is her issue and either she's trying to let everyone else out there (her other friends in her life or previous students) know that she's so awesome (which I find problematic) or she doesn't know enough about FB to see the hazards.

One of my kids' teachers has a Facebook page for her class. It's mainly for students, so they can get a hold of her at any time, see what's going on, get pictures from things in the classroom, etc. Since none of my kids have Facebook pages, I hit "Like" and am on the page. She's very careful about what is posted (for instance, you can't see any photos, unless she gives you permission).

I asked why, and she said it's easier to type a quick message and hit post and have everyone instantly see it rather than find everyone's email address, worry you missed someone, or have it go into their spam mail. This way the kids can check regularly, and she doesn't get as many emails from parents. Made sense to me.

ETA: She can't see anything I post on my page. My FB is private, and she's not my friend on there. I just "Liked" her page, so I get the updates.

Has she considered Edline - it is what our school uses. And I have no intention of friending my son's teachers. They are not actually my friends.

Absolutely not.
If she had a group page, I would be kind of OK with that, but I really think that she should not be using facebook as a way to reach parents of her students. Facebook has had way too many issues with hacking and things being seen by people that shouldn't be.

My 3rd graders class team (grades 123) has a Facebook page where the parents can join and see updates. It does not bother me.

My kindergardeners teacher has a Shutterfly class share site set up where she puts class pics and sends out reminder emails from the calendar.

Maybe suggest Shutterfly instead of Facebook if you are uncomfortable.

I don't FB so I would not be comfortable doing that. Like you said, a mass e-mail is just as easy once she's input the mailing list.

And don't think she'll spend any "extra" time teaching because you have gone out of your way to make things "easier" for her. They have a union; the union says what they have to do and what they don't have to do. They are not doing anything above or beyond that.

I think that she should set up a group page just for this purpose and not use her personal FB page. Otherwise, things get blurry. That way you don't have to be friends with her; you would be friends with the group, and you could limit the access that "the group" would have to your stuff. The only difference that I see that it would make is that she would not have to type out each name or any name at all to send it out.

My uncle is ill, and his son created a private group page and included only certain family members. He uses it for updates.

Ask her if this page is for the class info only. Even if you already know the answer, you can use this to open the door to letting her know your concerns. She might not have considered all of this.

Nope, I would not friend my child's teacher... and she is only in preschool...
I don't post anything crazy on facebook and my privacy settings are pretty restrictive, but still... I use facebook to communicate with friends and family exclusively and I would not want to be friends with anyone that I know in a professional context, whether that be a co-worker, teacher or whoever.
Why not suggest she open a private group instead and cite privacy concerns?

If she doesn't go for it, just ask for updates by email.

Tell you that you only friend very close friends and family, and then suggest she opens a group page.

Most teachers I know would not be comfortable with that. Some even use aliases so students can't find them.

Our teacher made a shutterfly page. It was great and private. She posted updates, information and homework. There was also a tab to get emails for other parents. As room mom, it was super easy and convenient. And when our teacher needed volunteers or donations, you could sign up online and see exactly what was needed. I don't post anything of worry on my page, but I wouldn't want my son's teachers seeing what's going on with friends and family. I'd have a problem with this. Besides, there are many people who have no interest in FB, what does she do to stay in contact with those families?

A private group page would work well, otherwise, I don't know how this is a workable idea.

Added - Excellent information, Gamma. It's like opening a new FB account, yet within the rules.

Original:
I would open up a different facebook account for just this purpose. Otherwise, it's too hard to see her stuff anyway.

She should open up a separate facebook account too, by the way.

It's easy to miss stuff on FB, to be honest. If you can't open up a separate one, I'd opt out.

Dawn

I agree a private group page makes more sense..

That way only she can approve who is part of the group.

We have some of these for different groups, I have not had any problems maintaining them and keeping them private.

I taught preschool a long time ago, and although we didn't have Facebook then (that I can remember), we did have email. I found that as well as journals for each child an effective way of communicating with parents.

Facebook is too open and informal for school information. Plus, what kind of message is she sending her students? It can be an effective way of keeping in touch with friends and family, but personally, I feel it shouldn't be used by young children. It can become too public too quickly. And, as someone else mentioned, every post will be open to comments from the community using it, which leaves it open to drama that shouldn't occur in connection with your child's classroom. It's not a professional decision on your child's teacher's part to choose such a form of communication. Personally, I'd stick with email or a hard copy for updates--or even just face to face communication when the opportunity arises.

As someone without Facebook, and who has zero intention of ever being on Facebook: I would politely tell her, "I'm sorry but our family does not have Facebook and we can't get it solely for class updates. Please e-mail us. If we find we're not getting class news that is available to those who do have Facebook, we will have to revisit how you are getting out the word, because Facebook is not an option for us and we do not want to be left out of the loop because we do not have it."

If she is very insistent about using only Facebook, I would have to get stronger and tell her that it is not an appropriate forum and is too open to hacking and to misuse. If she REALLY is insistent I would go to the principal and say that he or she must deal with the teacher and the teacher needs to use e-mail.

Does the school have a school web site where she can post? Does the school use a school system such as "Blackboard" (available nationwide) to post assignments etc.?

I would be totally against any teacher basically telling me I MUST participate in a social media web site in order to obtain basic information about my child's classroom. This is not acceptable. It's bad enough that already some organizations insist you reach them only via Facebook and not on a regular web site. But she cannot treat non-FB parents differently from parents who do have FB -- and if she insists on using only FB, that is exactly what she is doing.

My daughter's teacher has a class blog on blogspot.com -- only members can see it (she moderates it) and it doesn't link through to anyone's personal page. Only the teacher can post (although the students can respond to posts). Much more secure than facebook, in my opinion.

Other than that, my book club has a "secret" group on facebook -- completely unsearchable and accessible only to members of the group. There are some new members I haven't friended yet, and I don't see their pages at all -- only their comments on that page. Could this be what she's doing? I wouldn't want to see her personal page, nor would I want her seeing mine. I know when my friends comment on a non-friend's page, it sometimes will show up on my page -- I'd be concerned that would happen there, too.

I would prefer it than getting multiple copies of EVERYTHING the school has. Or email would be great too. I have to throw away so many things it's not even funny.

With that being said, I don't know ANY teacher who would want to be friends with parents on FB. I know some who are, but I don't know them personally and don't think it's a good idea. My kids teachers are all on FB. I am friends with my middle son's para-educator on FB, but we made that connection once she was no longer teaching anymore. I think certain aspects of our lives need to be private. That is why I am also not friends with any of my coworkers on FB...even though mine is 100% about my family...I prefer they only know what I tell them.

I do not and will not Facebook, so I am totally against this idea personally.

No. I am a teacher, and our district doesn't allow this. Many teachers here use www.edmodo.com . It's much like Facebook, but it was created for educators. I use it with my students and parents. I teach juniors and seniors, and will only friend them on Facebook after they graduate.

My opinion - I think that's really strange!!! There are many other ways for her to communicate. To me, FB is for FRIENDS. That's it. I bet there are other parents who feel the same way. I know there are ways to set up all the privacy stuff, but to be completely honest, I don't know how to use all of it. I'd be afraid I'd do it wrong and the teacher would see personal stuff I don't want her seeing. I mean, I don't post anything crazy on my FB page, but once in awhile I *might* go to a party, and alcohol *might* be served and one my friends might tag me in a picture....... Uh, no thanks.