Have you searched your handle lately?

Although I've searched my name and location from time-to-time to see what's out there about me, I have neglected to put much effort into searching my handles. This was quite an eye-opening experience. A relic from 2005 showed up from visiting a "honeymoon theme park" in South Korea. It was the online photo album that my wife and I created to share the "interesting" aspects of this park with friends and family while having a different main photo account for more conservative viewers. I also found a link to my "That's Good Engrish" blog that I maintained for a while while living overseas. This blog highlights improper uses of English in South Korea.

Seeing these posts gave me a good idea of what is available for my students to find. The Photobucket album is now deleted, but darn you Google cache. I'm considering a modification of the blog. Overall, I'm just happy to restructure what is accessible now so that going into the classroom in a couple months will coincide with a purging of any unprofessional remnants. I don't think that these pieces are unbecoming of me as a teacher, however, there are certain parts of my private life that could be interpreted in the wrong way.

As a teacher I want my students to see me as a human being, but I also want to make sure that my life outside the classroom doesn't cloud the learning environment. To accomplish this I feel that teachers should be held to a high standard of personal conduct. The TSPC already has a set of rules that fulfill this to some extent (Although there was minimal educator input in crafting them.). With these considerations teachers are held to higher standards than the general community. This includes a diminished freedom of speech. I'm fully aware of this going into the teaching profession and plan to act accordingly. To preserve the learning environment in my classroom and to preserve community trust in the profession is more important than a little self-expression.

While reading the Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately article, the section titled "Professional Life Meets Life Online" was an interesting glimpse into the career pitfalls that face teachers online. One teacher used her MySpace account to criticize parents in general for not holding their children accountable for anything that they do. The teacher was investigated...but how did the student that found the comment feel? Furthermore, why was a student one of the teacher's "friends" in the first place? By friending the student, I feel that the teacher turned her personal page into a classroom of sorts. In the same way, teachers need to control their personal information that's available online because it will travel into the classroom.

There are a few things that I've done to protect myself and my job. First, I deleted my Facebook account a few months ago. Second, I'm removing anything I wouldn't want my students to see attached to my name or handle. In the future, I plan to limit my blogging except for that used at school. I'm OK with this. In fact, I'm finding that moving my life back off-line provides more time to enjoy other hobbies. Sometimes life is better without being connected to everyone all the time.