Teacher Bytes

I know every large and political organization needs a press relations person to put the district in the best possible light to people who vote for bond referendums or spin bad news to make sound good. To borrow an old gag from the movie Airplane, if (God forbid) a school burned down, he would probably tell the press “fire makes way for a glorious new state of the art, high-tech, middle school.” So when one of our representatives on the district’s leadership forum told me the Press Relations Director sent out an e-mail regarding blogging, I cringed. This is the same person who wanted me shot (really, he was checking into a getting a firing squad from Paris Island) when a anti-profanity filter failed on a discussion board that had not been used for a long time. I could imagine the thought of teachers blogging their hearts out would give him insomnia not even Ambien could cure and an ulcer the size of Texas. In my mind the only message was no blogging in any way, shape, or form.

When the e-mail finally got to me I was shocked. He was actually suggesting a policy that made sense. The main concern was teachers participating in so-called blogs in local newspapers and using school-time and equipment to post to them. Teachers were also asked to choose a nome de plume that would protect their identity and be careful about what they write. I love the quote he used as a warning about newspaper blogs, “Playing in the blogosphere of the local papers is like running through a field of rose bushes and then deciding to swim with piranhas.” The community blog on the website of a local paper, Bluffton Today, is full of bloggers who will attack anyone remotely associated with the school district. Personally, I don’t participate very much in the newspaper blogs because I don’t consider them true blogs but more forums or discussion boards.

Reading from the book of Warlick (Classroom Blogging: A Teacher’s Guide to Blogs, Wikis, & Other Tools that are Shaping a New Information Landscape 2nd Edition by David Warlick. The Landmark Project, 2007) pages 94-95, David Warlick says blogs, “are about publishing….Blogging is about communication. It is about delivering a message, in order to affect that audience in some way, and receive response from that audience.” What Warlick says of discussion boards, “They are meant to be a conversation, a way of building ideas by sharing, assembling, and reacting to concepts.” In my opinion, the newspaper blogs are the latter, a free-for-all discussion on almost any topic with a few honest blog postings. At the time of this writing, the Bluffton Today blog had these topics: How do you get rid of a cold, a Bible scripture quotation, someone ranting about South Carolina not having vehicle inspections, some complaining about a teenage mother who abused her child being pregnant again, and a couple in Florida who always says good morning and good night to us in Bluffton.

At the risk of sounding like a snobby purist., I rarely every post to the newspaper blogs because of they way some bloggers treat others. The Education Reporter for Bluffton Today, Sara Wright, recently chastised one community blogger, “I know many wise, kind intelligent people who have given up bloggin on this SUPPOSEDLY community forum becuase of your venomous attacks in particular.” So if you venture into the blogs of your local community newspaper follow some common sense rules.

1. Don’t violate your school or district’s AUP by posting to these blogs on school time or school equipment.

2. Remember what you learned about writing in school. You will be under a microscope if other bloggers know you are a teacher. You might think you have annonimity but things slip out. Be professional.
3. A personal recommendation, don’t post unless you feel you absolutely must and make sure you have a thick skin. Do use the blogs to highlight good things happening at your school or special events. However, most of the world does not realize the amount of time and energy it takes to be a teacher and will never be convinced otherwise. Correct inaccurate information with documentation but don’t get dragged down into the gutter. Again, be professional.

4.  Have fun with it and laugh.