Blog Post 2: E-sponsibility Follow-Up

1.) Is it fair to scrutinize teachers' private lives (either online or offline)?

As a teacher you obtain the job of being a role model for your students as well as your peers, but I believe that it is not fair to scrutinize teachers for their private lives. Everyone is entitled to a break from their day job in order to kick back, relax and enjoy their interests in life. However as a teacher you must uphold a certain professional appearance. It is your job as a teacher to find a balance between being a role model and what you do in your personal life. By this I mean that it is unacceptable for a teacher to create a romantic or deeply personal relationship with a student via email or outside of the class room. The same rules for interacting with students in school should still apply to teachers outside of school. For the teachers that are posting inappropriate things or acting out in public, then it is fare to scrutinize and punish them. They should be more concerned about their public appearance because they are a role models for our children and known throughout society.

2.) Should teachers maintain a presence on social networking sites? Why or why not? As a teacher, what steps can you take to protect yourself from criticism and/or sanctions when using social media sites?

I think that teachers should be able to maintain a presence on social networking sites because it can be another helpful method for students and parents to contact teachers. If a teacher is worried about sharing too much personal information they should be allowed to have a separate Facebook or blog. They can make a private blog for family and friends, then an open one for anyone to see. This is so that they have the ability to keep their work and personal lives separate. As a teacher it is all about thinking before you act. Just think, 'would this be acceptable to post for everyone to publicly see, or should I keep this private and to myself?' and 'how would this post, picture, comment, video, etc. affect my job?' If you are concerned with posting something, then don't post it! Teachers need to be more aware of their actions when they are in public and they must then act appropriately.