One aspect to teaching that I feel
can sometimes scare people a lot is how much of a public figure you become as a
teacher. Everyone will want to know
everything they can about you and within rights I agree. I want to know as much about my kids teachers
as I can, especially when someone new joins the staff. After all this is a pretty big responsibility
they have, working with the children and future of our planet. This plays into so many aspects of the
classes we have been taking but I honestly feel there has not really been any
concrete informed information about the idea of digital citizenship presented
to us. Some profs will tell you to
change everything about you on the internet so people can’t find you on there
while some more level headed ideas prevail with a pretty simple but striking
line – think about what you post and who really needs to see it.
I love some advice I got while just
getting started in the College
of Education - while many
of my peers were changing their names on their facebooks and hiding themselves
online a friend and established teacher and school administrator said to me,
"Why try and hide who you are in any parts of your life? It seems like a rather dishonest action for
someone who is in charge of teaching the future of our world. If it is not something to share with everyone
why share with anyone to begin with."
Yes the internet and all that entails can be a fun place to be connected
with friends from everywhere but at the same time this is just another
extension of who you are and is who you really are something that needs to be
hidden away? If so is this really the
profession you should be trusted to be in?
So to you, my readers, I ask…who are you?
Who I am
I am
Who I am
and
Who I am
I
am
I’ll never tell you
sorry
for being who I am
because
that is who I am
nothing less
always more
Just as you are
who you are
and they are
who they are
We are all the same,
as different as the
colours of the rainbow
I think the reason that some teachers change their names on Facebook is so that they are able to have a little bit of privacy. Teacher's lives are very well known, students always want to know everything about their teacher's. It was always a challenge to figure out "what is their first name?".
ReplyDeleteI do have a Facebook account, I do not use it very much, there is nothing on there I am trying to hide from my students or parents, but it is something that I do not want to share with the entire world, therefore I like to keep it private. This does not mean I shouldn't be trusted to teach our youth.
See I agree with you on the privacy bit but at the same time others would view anything on the internet as fair game and privacy is not applicable. These types of people would likely make it a pretty big deal when and if they discover the name change...peoples minds work in odd ways. Thanks for the comment, this is one topic I really enjoy seeing from as many vantage points as possible!
DeleteI think that being yourself is important, but keeping certain things out of the public eye is necessary. I have read articles about teachers who have lost their job due to a picture of them holding an alcoholic beverage on vacation. I am sure these stories might be extreme cases, but it has happened. There is a fine line between being yourself and keeping yourself professional. The information that you provide, could be brushed off the shoulder of one person, whereas the next might use that to end your career.
ReplyDeleteMuch in the same way changing your name for privacy could be viewed as suspicious and that you have something to hide. I really am not for or against the idea I find this idea intriguing and like to hear as many thoughts on it as I can! Thanks for the input!
DeleteAs we have joined into the College of Education. I think we took on the responsibility of being a professional in the eye of your students. When people have changed their name on facebook I don’t think that it is them trying to hide who they are. I think they are just trying to keep themselves looking as a professional. I will end up changing my name on facebook because I don’t want the students to see pictures of me in the summer having a alcoholic beverage with my friends because I believe if a student saw that they would think its ok to have it because they saw their teacher with one or even if your one of the students role models. They will want to “be as cool as you.” Also I don’t think it’s just the students we have to watch out for. It’s the parents because it goes back to not being able to give your students a pat on the back for doing a good job. Cause that students will go home and tell their parents and the parent will freak out. So I think just stuff like that is the reason why we hide certain things. Its not to try and hide who we are or because we are embarrassed. It’s just to protect the students and their decision.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at it from this side...say you end up teaching in a smaller community, everyone is going to know what you do in and out of the school and there is no way around that. I like to hear what everyones thoughts are on this matter and find it really interesting how the splits lie on who is on what side of it. Thanks for the input!
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