How do teachers thoughtfully and safely manage social media inside and outside the classroom? What is fair about these social networking guidelines? What is unfair about these social networking guidelines?

• Do not accept students as social networking friends.
• Create separate professional and personal sites.
• Do not discuss students, parents, or co-workers, or publicly criticize school policies or personnel.
• Do not post images that include students without parental permission.
• Check personal sites regularly if the public has access to them. Even if you don’t post inappropriate material, that doesn’t mean your “friends” won’t.
• If you plan to use texting, the Internet, or other technology to communicate with students and/or their parents/guardians, establish clear rules, and then follow and enforce those rules. Communicate only about classroom and school matters.
• If you plan to use texting, the Internet, or other technology to communicate with students, inform all the parents/guardians, and allow the adults to “opt-out” for themselves or their students.
• Limit personal information made available to students.