Hiding Behind My Blog
January 20, 2008 by googtweetblog
Wow, yesterday was a huge one for me in blogging education. I cried out for help on whether I have a right as an educator to blog about my experiences, and was given many resources by my PLN. Here’s a sampling of links provided by readers:
PSEA Interactive — Caution: Blogging may be hazardous to your career
Pennsylvania Education Association warns teachers against blogging
At first, a very scary article about why employers shouldn’t let employees blog, but it does come around at the end to tell employers to embrace blogging. Not sure if most readers would get that far.
Found this book on Meg Spohn’s blog in the comments section of this post:
Meg Spohn’s account of why she was fired for blogging.
Ohio Education Association gives bad advice on social networking » Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Blog entry on Wesley Fryer’s blog
Irrational fear of blogging » Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Blog entry on Wesley Fryer’s blog about………..what else? Irrational fear of blogging.
I was also given a Twitter - transcript of a conversation (took out Twitter id’s):
A Our school district started blocking all blogs on Friday. I guess some move forward, some move back
B @A Why the change? My district blocks my gmail but I can access Google Reader, my blog, and Twitter. No consistency.
A Well there was a blog (not mine) last week that was critical of one of the district policies, Humm I wonder if that could be it.
C @B my school blks gmail, but i can have it forwarded to my school acct no prob. Cant greader @ school ethr. HATE head in sand attitd
D @A *ahem* freedom of speech? Honestly, for once I’d like to see a lawsuit (or the threat of one) by a student.
B @A I doubt very much if any of my administrators or BOE read my blog, tho they might check in occasionally, if they think about it.
B @A Pretty sure that I’m the only blogger in our district. That’s why I love my online community so much…it’s lonely here!
A One of my blogs that was blocked was a book study for the art and music teachers on Dan Pinks book “A Whole New Mind”
B @D When you’re a district employee there is no freedom of speech. Cannot say anything negative re. kids,staff,school,parents,community
A @C they had to unblock incoming gmail so parents could contact teachers (very few do) but I can’t get into acct to check inbox.
(if you’re reading this and you were a part of the conversation and would like this removed, please let me know. I only have it included because it’s an excellent example of the issue I’m having)
After reading all of this, my bravado fled and all the horrible images of being ushered into an administrator’s office and told I’m fired started flooding my mind. I tend to react to things fairly quickly, so I changed the name of my blog to Reflection 2.0 and changed the email address in the about section. The part that killed me the most was removing a bunch of the links (still some out there I didn’t have time to get) to my classroom blog - I’m SO proud of that, I hate not being able to link to it. I know there are still some things here that could lead back to a pretty definitive ID, but at least it won’t be quite so glaring. If you have a bit, check things out and do the legwork to try to hunt me down! Let me know how long it took 
For the record, though, I HATE doing it this way. I use this blog as a way to connect with my PLN and who knows, maybe make valuable career contacts for the future. I’d like to be known for my contributions to the blogosphere, and it just seems kind of wrong to be doing it without full disclosure. As you may remember, before all of this yesterday, I was all excited about putting my picture up on my About page! Now, I do know that if I were to change my content and just do a resource-sharing blog with one cool 2.0 tool a day it wouldn’t be such an issue. I don’t WANT to do that though. I probably wouldn’t blog at all if that was what I had to do.
Another poll: have you seen anything on this blog that would offend a reader?
Any more words of wisdom would be appreciated as I struggle with this…………
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
Since policies vary so greatly from district to district, you might want to approach an administrator about sharing some of your classroom resources.
On VoiceThread, you can set up a teacher’s account and let students comment with spin-off usernames. I uploaded pictures of wild animals and let each child choose one as their “identity”; only my name shows up on the site.
Talk with your union rep about your district’s rules and expectations. Be sure to protect yourself: teachers are, alas, considered expendable in many parts of the country.
Life is a challenge and an adventure. You’ll find a way to achieve your goals if you’re patient.
Sorry to sound like a fortune cookie! I enjoy your blog and hope to watch its growth.
diane
Yes! Yes! Yes! Being a teacher has always been a hard road to hoe, but that is part of the appeal.
I had a wonderful friend who put the idea of, “Am I doing right or wrong in many areas of a teacher’s life…as judged by the community who teach in…”
She said, “I was looking for a job when I found this one!” Have a great day;D
I enjoyed reading your post. It a caution to teacher bloggers. Thanks for writing this..
I was up front with my administrators about my blogging and signed up the curriculum director as one of the first readers of my blog. I asked her to let me know if there was ever anything she was uncomfortable with me blogging and she never has.
It is important to remain a professional at all times and never give away the identity of your students. However, just remember that there is great opportunity on the positive side. I’ve gotten over $80,000 worth of grant money in the form of software and services from companies who believe in what I’m doing that have benefited my students!
There is an incredible benefit including the new students that have come to the school because they are particularly impressed with our technology program. Parents expect technological excellence and you can be proof of that.
As long as you keep private internal issues and don’t air your “dirty laundry” you should be fine, however, I’ve been completely open with my administrators from day one. There is a lot of fear out there and I think it is unfounded IF teachers learn to blog as professionals.
I’d like to respond with words-of-wisdom and/or sage advice although I’m skeptical about that result. Your post has given me great pause for reflection too (Dennis Miller claims asking people whether or not they “get it” misses the point).
Certainly, there are liberties I have as I’m not currently working in a school. In fact, there are benefits to not being employed at all.
- As long as I’m not prepared to fire myself, I’ve got “job” security (wondering if this isn’t really “in” security).
- Morning is any time before noon.
- I generally agree and get along with myself.
- Ignoring bureaucracies that don’t make sense to me.
- Setting the barometer for sense-making.
Does this mean I’m free to blog with random disregard? Absolutely not.
In addition to being accountable to myself and my family, I’m accountable to teachers, both instructors and customers. My participation in the education community, by default, necessitates and deserves professional representation.
Not sure if I’ve helped you at all but garnered a whole new focus for me. Afterall, it is all about me, right? Thanks!
Being a teacher in Ohio, I received the newsletter mentioned in your post, being somewhat stubborn I promptly tossed it into the trash.
With that said, however, I do think it is important that educators understand their district policy on such issues.
My district has more-or-less everything blocked, so I purchased hosting and have put up a class site. I understand not everyone can do this, but for me it was something I felt was important. After the technology coordinator found out I had done this, magically all the URL’s from my host was blocked and a “rule” was emailed to all employees stating any website a teacher was using as a class site must be linked through our official site. Thus, I did the right thing and email the coordinator. That was four years ago and my site still is not linked.
The good news is I had the block lifted from my site as soon as I found out about it, and since then other teachers have asked about joining me. Just this year our football coach asked me if he could have a page.
Unfortunately all this is taking place because the coordinator does not embrace the technology he boasts about and has made the official site a bare bones informative site.
Hang in there and do what you know is right. Others will join, and eventually support, you and that is how change occurs.
I agree with Vicki…being transparent and encouraging your admin to do the same is empowering. I think her point about ‘not airing dirty laundry’ is an important one. How many folks complain ‘around the water cooler’. The blogosphere is like a giant public watercooler and that is where folks need to be careful and aware. But being careful doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thoughtful, question, think and reflect.
Wow, Kate! You’ve really raised some questions to think about. I’m not even sure I can wrap my mind around this one right now. (It seems to be my weekend to get my brain stretched…first the movie last night, Sunday School this morning and now your blog post!) It does seem rather “Big Brother-ish” to think we have to “hide” behind our blogs. I hate the fact that our freedom of expression is being hampered by those who don’t really understand the medium we’re using. However, I also feel that as bloggers we need to act grown up and responsible for what we put online. If we post it, we must be willing to own our words, pictures, etc. This is going to make me do some more thinking…..thanks for the brain stretch!
You’ve really stirred up a bit of discussion with this - and rightly so. have you seen vicki’s post about your post?
There is lots of blocking in Australian schools as well which is forever infuriating, but as yet I have never felt that blogging is something I shouldn’t be doing. My principal even sent a link to my blog to a few people in our region to brag she says! I am incredibly thankful for the support I have. Even the leadership team at my school bemoan some things that are blocked.
I don’t work in an American school district, so I don’t know enough to say ‘don’t worry too much’ exactly, but you know that you are a responsible blogger and will always do the right thing by yourself your school and your students, so be wary I guess (which is a responsible thing to do anway!), but not frightened.
All -
Thank you so much for your support as I was struggling with this issue. As you can see on my latest post, the issue is resolved for me, but I’m sure it’s not for many other teacher/bloggers. I’ll be sure to do my part in paving the way for new and anonymous bloggers in the future.
Last year, I started my blogging journey while I was on an educational leave. It was easy to write and reflect about what I was doing but I was constantly working on the balance between critique and cranky particularly with things happening in my local division. I had to be careful which is challenging for me. I tend to speak my mind. I did send my blog address to my Superintendent. I don’t know if she ever drops by. I do know I have some local readers but most are from afar.
I have slowly started to develop what it means for me to be honest and reflective and professional and public.
This year has made things even more challenging. I am back in the classroom. I have been too busy and tired and frustrated to blog most of the time. I have started to work on the balance again this time as a classroom teacher. How do I speak critically of my own performance in the classroom? I am very critical of myself. What will those criticisms mean to my employer but also to any member of the public who might run across them.
I take my guidance in part from Doug Noon. He writes honestly and eloquently about his classroom experiences. He reflects on his reading and his classroom and the challenges between ideal and real. He is honest and specific but never names names or outright complains. I am heartened, encouraged and challenged by his writing. I feel he is a friend though we have never met. I think my connection to him is stronger because I know his face, his name and his approximate location. These details make his room ‘alive’ to me. He could blog anonymously. He could blog under a pseudonym. I don’t know how I would feel about either of those or if it would change the connection.
I encourage you to find a comfortable place in the community. Perhaps as you blog you will find that balance between public and private, personal and professional and when you think you have it. Let us know. I’m still looking but I believe that my experiences finding that balance will be helpful to my students as I try to help them develop good online habits which will allow them to pursue both their right to free expression and need to have gainful employment.
Susan -
Thank you so much for your wonderful contribution to this post. That’s what comments are for, to add to the discussion. I look forward to hearing back from you as to where I can find Doug Noon’s blog!
Hi Kate, great discussion. Thanks for finding my book. Of course you should go on blogging! I got into very serious trouble with my university in London (the famous LSE) but I also managed to expose the hypocrisy of institutions that proclaim to believe in freedom of speech. The students supported me in an amazing way and in the end it was a very educational experience for everyone involved. My main conclusion was that I shouldn’t be working at the LSE anymore.
My book discusses my own cases but also a lot of other cases of people who have gotten into trouble for speaking their minds online. My conclusion is clear — they can’t stop us. We can say what we like and there is no way to shut us up.
More here: http://www.ringmar.net/bloggersmanifesto/
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