The teaching profession is one that centres itself around modelling students to become engaged citizens of their society that have integrity and think critically about the consequences of their actions. Teachers’ actions are held up to the public eye on a regular basis, so we are expected to model acceptable behaviour for our students and keep their personal information completely confidential. All of these measures help teachers support students’ development as learners and people also contribute to a sense of safety in the classroom.

Artifact #1: Email to parents about student plagiarism

I sent this email to the parents of one of my students after multiple instances of plagiarism. This was a difficult email to write at the time, because this was my first instance of dealing with plagiarism as a teacher. Following this incident, I also made the conscious effort to teach my students a double-sided note-taking skill (inspired by Cornell two-column notes) that encourages them to write things in their own words and respond to them right away. This will help eliminate instances of plagiarism in the future. This email connects to the role of the teacher to ensure that standards of professionalism and sound reputation are upheld. Not only are teachers held to high standards within our own lives, but we are also responsible for teaching valuable lessons to students about data security, professionalism, and integrity in the digital world. As I continue teaching, I would like to emphasize integrity as a cornerstone of learning by continuing to teach my students practical ways to avoid plagiarism, practice writing things in their own words, and develop their skills and convictions around the idea of data protection and integrity at school. It will be a vital mindset for my students to adopt in this growing digital age.

Artifact #2: Data Security forms for the Writing Club

In the Writing Club I started at Yale, my student volunteers highly encouraged me to use a new platform called Discord – an American digital distribution platform that many students already use with their friends for gaming, E-Sports, or other online hangouts. I knew Discord has its server outside Google Suites and Canada, so I got in touch with the English department to get this Supplementary Digital Learning Services Consent Form for students to sign with their parents/guardians. For our first meeting, our club met via a Google Classroom server and on a Meet call, but I gave students the form immediately to ensure we could switch to Discord right away by week 2. Before the club even started, I hosted several meetings with my student volunteers to establish professional guidelines on the Discord server, as well as create “bots” that regulate privacy settings, profanity filters, and other flags to make moderation on this new platform easier for me. From the very beginning, my student volunteers and I were determined to keep the club professional, safe, and well-regulated, while still allowing students to use an app they prefer for a school club setting. School is a working environment, so teachers are responsible for regulating an environment that is professional, conducive to learning, and prepares students for the workforce. School-related activities should uphold levels of professionalism. More specifically, especially when data privacy is at stake and technology is being used in a less structured setting (like in a club), school should become a way to model good digital citizenship. Throughout the quarter, I needed to establish a culture of professionalism, safety, and fun on the server. Despite using a more relaxed platform, it was important to me that everyone on the Creative Writing server upheld school expectations of appropriate conduct.

Conclusion

In our growing digital age, professionalism and integrity are words that gain a new dimension. As a teacher, I value maintaining a professional atmosphere and culture of respect, and I would like to develop a habit of addressing breaches of professionalism immediately as they arise. In all subject areas, I’d like to grow in my professional tool-kit of coming up with ways to emphasize digital citizenship in the classroom: whether it’s by teaching students to cite their sources, write a Works Cited page, use note-taking techniques, evaluating sources, or simply show maturity in how they use tech tools in the classroom. As a teacher, I know these principles start with how I model the behaviour.