being a teacher, Decisions

Do Teachers Have the Right to Privacy?

Pernille Ripp

I owe this post to the excellent comment left by Jennifer Diaz on my So You Want a Teacher Job.  Thank you for bringing this up!

With an onslaught of teachers seemingly caught bashing their students on Facebook or being reprimanded by their school boards for sharing pictures of themselves drinking, I am starting to wonder whether we as teachers have the right to privacy?  Now don’t get me wrong, I think everyone should be careful what they post publicly and bashing your students is just idiotic.  But what about the more innocent pictures of you holding a drink?  How about you actually drinking at a public venue?  Or riding a motorcycle with no helmet (even if it is not breaking the law)?  Or smoking, swearing or wearing lowcut clothing?  Do teachers have a right to do this in public or is that considered morally corrupt as well?

I agree that as a teacher, we are instant role models for all children and that we must behave, dress and act accordingly.  However, what about in our free time?  Are we still expected to follow the same code of conduct outside of school walls as we do within?  Should we as teachers live the life of a seemingly flawless adult and do anything that could be viewed as “bad” by children only within our own houses?And don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about anything crazy here.  Just the act of having a beer at a bar or heaven forbid actually getting drunk.  What about pictures of you showing off you new tattoo?  Is that considered morally reprehensible?

As new teachers get ready to interview and ask for advice, I always tell them to check their privacy setting on Facebook and to Google themselves to make sure they like what they find.  View it through the lens of an employer and make sure their path is clean.  However, is it right for society to place teachers on a moral pedestal that no other professions, not even politicians, have to attain?  I don’t have the answer but I would love to start the discussion.  Are we as teacher allowed to have “a life” outside of school doing normal adult stuff that in any other profession no one would even think twice about?  Are we indeed allowed to have a private life?

twitter

The Case Against the "Thanks for the RT"

Pernille Ripp

Twitter logo initialImage via WikipediaFor some who are not on Twitter this post may bear no meaning to your life.  But for others who like myself use Twitter every day for professional development, I pose a question: do we really need to thank someone for retweeting a post?  You see, it is not that I am lazy, forgetful, or ungrateful when some decides to resend out something I have posted.  In fact, often I reach out to people to thank them for reading or leaving a comment.  But the “Thanks for the rt” post that I am bound and destined by some Twitter etiquette – well, I am over it.

I get that people on Twitter are trying to mimic real life; when someone passes something for you, you thank them.  And yet Twitter is not real life in that sense; I am not running to Canada to personally thank a friend every time they tweet out something of mine.  So instead we try to thank them with an inane statement that does nothing to bridge communication.  Does anyone ever write back “You’re welcome?”  Does anyone do anything more than skim the thanks for the rt?  I know we all want to be noticed and I know we all want to be thanked for our contributions on Twitter, but let’s thank in a different manner.  Let’s really thank people instead of taking the easy way out of the canned statement.  If you really do appreciate someone sent your post out, well, then tell them that.  Or don’t.  At some point there just is no keeping up with it.  Some of the people who write many posts a week probably have no way of thanking everyone, and I think that is ok.  I don’t think we need to bash people for not saying thanks.  I think we need to let this part of Twitter go.  Yes, it is nice to be thanked, but when it is a hollow oft-repeated statement then what is really the point.

So I will say it now; thank you for always resending my posts.  I notice and I appreciate it.  I apologize if I do not thank you that day but sometimes I forget and other times I don’t have time.  And I think that is ok, do you?

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being a teacher, new teacher

The Things I Said – Cringeworthy Statements From a New Teacher

Pernille Ripp

This summer the memories of my first year of teaching comes floating back and more specifically the insane things you would have heard me say.  So had you been a fly on my wall, here are some of most cringe-worthy….

Put your name on the board!

One more check mark and we are calling your parents.

You will have to stay in for recess since you did not return your test.

I am sorry your mother did not sign it, you will lose a recess and bring it back tomorrow.

I do not think he deserves to be in the talent show since he does not do his homework.

What do you mean you didn’t have time?  It was homework!

Sit in your chair and listen.

Wake up!

Put that chair down.  Put that table down.  DO NOT SLAM MY DOOR!

Stop sharpening that pencil.

Don’t you have your own school supplies?

Do you see these zeroes?  That means you are failing 4th grade.

I am doing this for your own good.

The goal?  Well for you to do this assignment.

Ah yes, the plight of a first year teacher.  I barely recognize myself in them and yet I know who that person was because if I didn’t then I wouldn’t know who this teacher is today.  We all have our journeys as teachers, mine took me far away from this, and for that I am thankful.  Where does your journey lead you?

being a teacher

Hey It’s Ok!

Pernille Ripp

Hey it’s ok!
…to smile widely on the first day of school

…to spend your summer vacation getting excited about the upcoming school year

…for your brain to keep thinking about teacher stuff even when it shouldn’t

…to sing, dance, and goof off with your students

…to make mistakes and discuss them

…to think students need to have a voice in education and give it to them

…to not be worried about grades but rather about learning

…to not have rules posted

…to be the techy teacher and still not know how a computer works really

…to think teaching is the best job, even if it is grossly underpaid and underrated

…to love your life even when it is not working out the way you thought it would

What else is ok?

Thanks Glamour for the inspiration

being me, connections

Too Much of a Good Thing – I Am Over-Connected

Pernille Ripp

I am over-connected.  This weekend I added Google + to my ever expanding social media use and I can tell that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  While I absolutely love the concept of it, I just cannot connect this much.  I cannot share my life and thoughts in 3 different places and have a normal life.  I now feel obligated to be witty and helpful on Twitter, sarcastic and joyous on Facebook, and smart and non-repetitive on Google+.  This introvert just cannot muster all of that.  Alas, it is not the mediums fault.  I love social media; social media, particularly Twitter has absolutely changed my life for the better.  I wish I could blame the products but I cannot, I can only blame myself.

In a typical day I wake up and check all of my networks right away.  Being the creator of the Global Read Aloud means I have quite a few emails to answer as we gear up for the next attempt in September.  Some get answered right away, others before I go to bed.  Then on to Twitter to thank for rt’s and mentions, and say something smart and pass something on.  There are always people to speak to and things to read.  Facebook allows me to see where my friends are at, how my brother in Afghanistan is doing (he is ready to come home) and put something about Thea on there.  Now onto Google +; who has added me, what have people shared that I haven’t already seen and do I have anything to share.  This is an hour of work at least.  Throughout the day I continue my quest to connect.  I check in with them all to see what have happened.  I have a smartphone so that I can stay connected while at the park with my daughter or even while stopped at a light.  My poor husband communicates more with me through instant messaging than in real life sometimes.  I blog as well, which I would never give up, and yet that takes time away too.  As we speak my daughter is sitting next to me waiting for me to finish.

It is taking a toll on me.  Life is becoming about connections with people that I have yet to meet, and even though I would love to meet everyone that I have connected with, I have to start facing the connections I already have here in Madison.  If I devoted at least one hour to connect with my colleagues on a day-to-day basis, can you imagine what we could accomplish?  We tend to push the face-to-face connections aside because they take more time, and then we say we do not have the time to pursue them.  Well, we do, because we choose to invest the time somewhere else, so I am re-evaluating my time spent connecting for the upcoming year.

Now I am not one to be extreme, I don’t plan on unplugging or going connection free but I am aware of it.  I am aware of the choices that I make about the time that I spend on my computer every day.  I am aware now of what is worth it and what does not pay off in the end.  And that is what is important here.  We have to find the balance and not let the people in our lives suffer because of our choices.  There is such a thing as being over-connected, let’s face it, and let’s own it.  I am grateful that my husband has not complained of me being so into it all, yet, however, I wouldn’t blame him if he did.  I wouldn’t want to be married to me when I am in work mode (which I am most of the time).  Beth Still wrote a great post on what being so connected does to our relationships and she is right, they do harm and it is something to be taken serious.  We have to rebalance and refocus on making strong connections globally but also locally.