When I tried to "google" myself, I happily found that I really don't have anything out there on the web. The only link I had was to www.facebook.com, but you of course need permission to see my profile. Someone had already told me about spokeo.com, and I deleted my personal information a while ago. That website is really interesting because they had my address correct, but I was apparently a middle-aged man with children?!
As we become teachers, we become targets for parents, administrators and the public eye. Like we talked about in Shawn's class, we are held to a higher standard. "Whether we like it or not, teachers are held to a higher standard of moral behavior than is the population in general". This is the reality we face. Being responsible and acting as a role model for kids is part of our job description.
We need to understand the fact that what we do outside of the classroom could potentially affect our jobs in the classroom. To protect myself I think just being aware of what I do is enough. I don't have anything to hide anyways, but just being careful on your "facebook" site or the like is very important.
Some of the examples that we read about were just plain dumb mistakes. For example, the one teacher who wrote expletives about parents on her myspace website? I mean, c'mon. That is just not using common sense. Anything with public access should not be taken lightly because anyone can see it! Unfortunately, as teachers, we have to watch what we say, do and write not just in the real world, but the cyber world as well.
Common Sense is what it is all about! Even when we are chatting with fellow teachers, we need to use common sense. So many teachers have gotten in trouble with just casual talking, it is crazy!
ReplyDeleteI think most of those situations could have been avoided with a little common sense. First off do not befriend students on any social network and make your account private, and second do not post anything you would not want your grandmother to read!
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