The teaching post that wasn't
I just spent a half an hour writing a post about teaching in January. In it I aired some of my stresses. I scheduled it to post this morning and then I promptly reverted it to a draft.
Everything in the post was true. I even think it was appropriate, but there was that itsy bitsy feeling in my stomach as I went to move on to cruising facebook and pinterest.
What is the line between professional and personal? It is pretty blurry for me when it comes to writing about teaching. I want to maintain my student's privacy, so I very rarely write about them. In fact, I don't even feel comfortable telling stories about them without posting their name, because someone might know from the context who the students are. And this is really too bad, because some pretty fun things happen in my classroom! I also try to do my best to give my colleagues that same respect.
What does this leave me with? I don't feel comfortable writing about my relationships with my students or co-workers, so that leaves . . . writing about the curriculum. Obviously, I LOVE talking about math, but I am just not sure how exciting it would be to read about - especially if you don't LOVE math as much as I do.
Are we as a society becoming too worried about infringing on other people's rights? Or are we finally respecting them?
Everything in the post was true. I even think it was appropriate, but there was that itsy bitsy feeling in my stomach as I went to move on to cruising facebook and pinterest.
What is the line between professional and personal? It is pretty blurry for me when it comes to writing about teaching. I want to maintain my student's privacy, so I very rarely write about them. In fact, I don't even feel comfortable telling stories about them without posting their name, because someone might know from the context who the students are. And this is really too bad, because some pretty fun things happen in my classroom! I also try to do my best to give my colleagues that same respect.
What does this leave me with? I don't feel comfortable writing about my relationships with my students or co-workers, so that leaves . . . writing about the curriculum. Obviously, I LOVE talking about math, but I am just not sure how exciting it would be to read about - especially if you don't LOVE math as much as I do.
Are we as a society becoming too worried about infringing on other people's rights? Or are we finally respecting them?
Today I had a first in my 16 years of teaching and I wanted to post it on facebook as it is so crazy, but I hesitated because of possibly crossing the professional line...I had a parent take me to task over STARTING class ON time. When the bell goes I put a question on the board - similar to your 3 minute questions - the students have a couple minutes to try it and then we go through it. It is how I review previous concepts. She couldn't understand why it was important for her daughter to be in class ON time and why couldn't I wait a couple of minutes for the kids to get to class before starting. She really couldn't believe that something important could actually be taught in the first 5 minutes....I finally told her to call my principal...Really????? Anyways I'm not posting on facebook even though I know it would make some chuckle.... I don't know if all would find it appropriate...your blog post today says it all... and by the way - I would enjoy reading about math... I love it too!!!! Math geeks!
ReplyDeleteMy general philosophy is that I don't write about anything I'm not willing to share with others. When I post stuff about teaching, it's not a specific story about my students, but more about reflecting on teaching & how important it is to me. Sometimes I think we're so concerned with what we say that edit ourselves too much, but that's just my opinion!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously Carey? That is UNBELIEVABLE! That is the perfect example of the uphill battle we often fight!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Becky. I know off the top of my head the two times I have posted about students. One was just a general observation and the other was about how unfair life can be. Both stories I would share with anyone, but I am still not sure they were appropriate to write about, so like I said, I think I am done with posting ANYTHING about a student (specific or general).