Posted by Dinah on October 27, 2004, at 17:53:59
In reply to It's a two edged sword, posted by Dinah on October 27, 2004, at 16:09:34
Teachers and managers don't generally feel that they need to have specific rules for any possible situation that arises. They understand that their job is to maintain order and foster the atmosphere to work or learn. I think we should empower Dr. Bob to feel a similar ability to be flexible in the face of unique challenges. To not feel that a rule needs to be in place for every possible contingency.
So if little Fetlock is raising his hand every five minutes to use the restroom, the teacher doesn't have to make a rule limiting the number of potty breaks per child. The teacher can simply tell little Fetlock's parents that once the possibility of an organic disorder is ruled out, that behavior that is disruptive to the class will result in consequences.
Or if little Venezia likes to use purple ink on pink paper to write her homework assignments, the teacher doesn't have to make a rule about purple ink or pink paper. The teacher can just tell Venezia that she's getting a headache trying to read the assignment, and that to better be able to teach her, she has to use colors with more contrast in her assignments in the future, however much the teacher appreciates her creativity.
Or if Malvinia likes to paint her toenails at her reception desk, the boss can ask her to please paint her toenails elsewhere because it's distracting to customers. The boss doesn't have to make a rule about grooming oneself at one's desk.
Dr. Bob, you have a general mandate to moderate. You don't need specific and byzantine rules to do that. Your authority is sufficient. So if you find a behavior disruptive to the stated objective of the board, you can ask the poster to contact you by email to discuss it, or you can use every ounce of creativity you posess to balance appreciation of the poster with a request to change a behavior in a public request. And failure to change the behavior can be sanctioned as a general failure to follow the instructions of the moderator, which I recall as being a sanctionable offense under every teacher I ever had.
poster:Dinah
thread:407882
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20041027/msgs/408056.html