People...People who teach People...
We are more than student and teacher. We are human beings. As the teacher, I need to decide how much of my human side I am willing to share with my students.
When I first started teaching, the adage was...Don't smile until December. There was some wisdom in that....particularly for young teachers. It was, and is, important to set down the roles and the boundaries in the classroom. But times, and students, have changed.
So how do I know how much to share? That is a question that each teacher must answer for him or herself, based on his or her unique situation.
In this day and age, an enormous amount of information is available to our students with a few keystrokes. They can easily find out our first names, ages, birthdays, address, phone number and more. We have little control over that. What we do have control over is how often (if ever) that information becomes part of our classroom interactions. For those of us who use TPRS, this is very important.
One question can help: Can they use this information to hurt me?
If they can, do not allow it into the classroom. Even if they can find out the information on their own, you do not have to allow it to be part of any discussion in your classroom ever. And we are better safe than sorry.
I live in a small community. My sons attended the high school where I teach. Everything I allow in my classroom could potentially be dinner table or coffee shop conversation that evening. The fact that I have a chocolate addiction? No problem. My financial problems? No way.
It's easy to say too much. It's tempting to say too much. We harbor hopes that trusting students with information will build trust. It won't. It tells them that we do not understand the boundaries between adults and adolescents. It tells them that privacy has little value. It gives them power that they really shouldn't want nor need. It is not our job to do that.
with love,
Laurie
When I first started teaching, the adage was...Don't smile until December. There was some wisdom in that....particularly for young teachers. It was, and is, important to set down the roles and the boundaries in the classroom. But times, and students, have changed.
So how do I know how much to share? That is a question that each teacher must answer for him or herself, based on his or her unique situation.
In this day and age, an enormous amount of information is available to our students with a few keystrokes. They can easily find out our first names, ages, birthdays, address, phone number and more. We have little control over that. What we do have control over is how often (if ever) that information becomes part of our classroom interactions. For those of us who use TPRS, this is very important.
One question can help: Can they use this information to hurt me?
If they can, do not allow it into the classroom. Even if they can find out the information on their own, you do not have to allow it to be part of any discussion in your classroom ever. And we are better safe than sorry.
I live in a small community. My sons attended the high school where I teach. Everything I allow in my classroom could potentially be dinner table or coffee shop conversation that evening. The fact that I have a chocolate addiction? No problem. My financial problems? No way.
It's easy to say too much. It's tempting to say too much. We harbor hopes that trusting students with information will build trust. It won't. It tells them that we do not understand the boundaries between adults and adolescents. It tells them that privacy has little value. It gives them power that they really shouldn't want nor need. It is not our job to do that.
with love,
Laurie
Comments