Forbidden chat!

So, during a classroom session on Tapped-In that I actually held IN my classroom with a cart full of MacBooks--4 were stolen. (The ins and outs of this are too complex to lay out here--except to say I rushed a sign-out procedure I should have followed and trusted a person I shouldn't have.) In the subsequent investigation, I received one and only one urgent communication from the principal: "YOU ARE TO CEASE ALL CLASS CHAT ACTIVITY IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE." Following this edict to the letter, I have removed the chat from class. I still require the blog assignment and--on Tuesday nights (not in the classroom)--I am still on-line for homework help. I have not been given a chance to respond, nor to ask "why now?" The principal gave me one moment of explanation: No one can convince him that chat can enhance the teaching and learning of reading and writing at any grade level--elementary, junior, or senior high level! You know from this blog site, that he and I have been discussing this for almost three years, but it seems--because of the theft--now he realizes I always meant to follow through and actually use web learning. Perhaps there are more legal issues than I am aware of? I'll be back . . . .