Teachers and Bloggers: Can They Be One and the Same?

So sometimes I read the news.

My google homepage will show me headlines and I occasionally click on the ones that don't have to do with Martha Stewart riding a Harley or Kris Jenner's music video from the 80's that recently resurfaced. Because apparently those aren't considered "real" news stories.

Not just because I am curious,  like to be informed, and enjoy being the life of the gathering at a cocktail party with conversations about the national debt. ( I guess the imaginary cocktail parties I'd like to be invited to are boring.)

But, I'm also an educator. And since I'm a teacher and kids just assume that we know everything, I usually feel as though it's my duty to at least try to do so.

Within the last year there have been a lot of headlines that have to do with the education world. Sometimes good, and mostly bad.

This weekend an article really caught my eye:

"Suspended blogging teacher to return to class"

(By Christina Kristofic Staff Writer PhillyBurbs.com)

Go ahead, click the link and read the article for a quick catch up in case you haven't heard about it.

Back? Okay.

So this headline probably grabbed my attention because it had two buzz words that I tend to pay attention to these days: blogging, and teacher.

This incident, was a case wher a teacher who happened to have a personal blog ended up blogging about some of her students in a not-so-very-flattering manner. She blogged about comments that she wished she could put on report cards, the types of students she does not enjoy teaching, and gripes and groans about her daily job. Her blog was small with very few followers and she didn't think anyone would find it or care.

This story started in February when the teacher's blog was found by students and parents who complained to the school board. The story is just now popping up again because the school could find no way to suspend her, and decided late last week that she was allowed to return to her job.

I was surprised that I hadn't heard this story earlier but then realized that in February I was A) not a "blogger" yet and B) kind of busy planning my wedding. But after I read the first article this weekend I spent an hour reading other articles about the original event, reader comments, and even dug up her blog to read what she had first written and maybe even her side of the story.

Do I think she should've made the blatantly rude comments she did on her blog? No.

I get point the people are making that she should be able to have a blog and blog about her feelings because of freedom of speech. But just like it's not a good idea to bad mouth your boss in public, it's probably a bad idea to call kids stupid and imply that there's no hope for them to exceed in life.

A much as I come home on certain days exhausted and sometimes even frustrated that lessons hadn't gone as well as I hoped, I don't think it's right to insult students in a public forum. I also understand that my students are not always how they behave.

They are adolescents, still figuring out who they are and making mistakes. They all have potential to succeed, it's our job to inspire them to do so and even display and model life skills even manners. Because I don't just teach English, I teach Life 101.

End of story.

But after making my own judgments on the situation it got me thinking....could this happen to me?

Could this blog cost me my job? And is running the risk of doing so worth it?

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When it comes to teachers and blogging there seem to be two types.

There are the "Teacher Bloggers", those who blog strictly about their professional endeavors, what they do in the classroom, and keep it as a way to share with other educators about the effective tools and strategies that they use in the classroom.

And of course are the "Personal Bloggers who also just so happen to have a career as a teacher", those of whom blog about their day to day lives or hobbies, and some of which let the topic of their career seep into their blog as it is a part of their day to day life.

I, with my bouts of sarcasm, jokes about reality T.V., and numerous pictures of my dog in hats and my family frolicking in the lake clearly fit into the latter title. But as I scrolled down my page to view the tags that apply to the posts that I've written, I realized that the tag "Teaching" was one of the "biggest" ones.

I am officially a personal blogger who casually mentions portions of my experiences as a teacher in posts. From the looks of it, a good number of them.

Yikes! It was time to do some digging in my archives.

When I looked through my all of my posts about teaching, some are completely about the topic, and some have a mere mention of it embedded within a post. I've posted before about things as small as packing up and planning new units to the school budget debates and how hard it would be for me to loose my students of two years.

As I read the post about the school budget I remembered how I tried to explain the situation and my worries without sounding like I had an opinion on those involved. And as I read the post on how much I was going to miss my students and the last day of school, I also remembered how careful  I was while writing not to mention students specifically or reveal any personal information.

After many minutes of investigation, I don't think I've posted anything about school that a student, parent, or anyone else that may know who I am could could take as offensive, rude, or unprofessional like Ms. Munroe did. So that worry was gone.  This is something that I believe I've been pretty careful with.

But even though  I respect my student's privacy, and take my job very seriously as a professional,  it is tough not to post about something that takes up sooooo much of my life.

I didn't start this blog to write about only teaching.  I guess I started this blog as a way to write all of the crazy things that are always pumping through my head. Like a diary for grow-ups that everyone is allowed to read. I'm sure Dave loves the fact that I have a blog since now I'm not talking his ear off all of the time.

Just most of the time.

But I digress, like I said, it's tough not to write about things like my worries for the new school year, what I'm excited to do in the classroom, and general day-to-day happenings as a teacher. They take up so much of my brain space.

And I mean let's face the music here folks, if students or parents found this blog would it matter if I blogged about school at all? Because maybe, if parents and students found this blog and there was absolutely no mention of my teaching at all, they would still be freaked out by the fact that it's kind of an open book to a person that society can sometimes place on a pedestal of not being a person at all.

So, what do you think?

1) Do you agree with me that what Natalie Munroe wrote on her blog was wrong and disrespectful to her students, or do you think teachers should be able to write whatever they'd like to based their First Amendment Right to Freedom of Speech?

2) Is there a place for talking about teaching on a personal blog, or should it be harbored only on the blogs specifically set up as a professional space? And if it does have a place on a personal blog, what is appropriate? Paint color? Lesson Plans? Anecdotal stories? General feelings when the day is done?

3) Should teachers have a public and blog at all?

4)Based on past posts I've done on teaching previously, do you think the way I've written about school warrants any worries if someone whether a colleague, administrator, student or parent came upon it? If you were a parent or student that came upon this blog, what would you think?

5) Do you think teachers are held to a higher standard when it comes to their personal lives than people in other professions? 

 

6) What rules do you follow when writing about your job and your blog?

I would love any and all opinions that I get on any number of these questions, whether you answer just one or all 6. 

Let's get this conversation started!

And for good measure I shall leave you with a few of my favorite Pintrest teaching Pins:

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