Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Did you know there is a National Day of pretty much everything in the universe? February 23 happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day...when was the last time you were inconvenienced?

     This week's sinus/cold thing has been a pretty big inconvenience.  I hate when things mess up my plans.  But I guess the resting wasn't exactly bad for me. 


2. When a room in your house needs painting who does the job?

      Is it wrong that I laughed when I read this?  Since I live alone, the painting is all me.  I actually tested this out over the summer when I re-styled my bedroom

3. Are you friends with your cousins?

     When I was growing up, one of the cousins closest to me in age lived across the field from me.  We were best friends for most of our childhood.  She was the cousin at the center of my winter idiocy.  As I've gotten older and gained more cousins through marriage, I'd like to think we are all friends, too.  Particularly since we have all become adults.  One of my cousins is even (kinda, sorta) my boss.  She also is a reader of this very blog!  (Hi, Cousin!)

4. Do you use an alarm clock? If yes-is it an actual alarm, music, or something else?

     I do not use an alarm clock.  I use the alarm on my phone.  And it plays music (currently Pink's "Raise Your Glass"), because I despise alarm sounds. 

5. What do you put ketchup on?

     French fries, of course.  Also chicken strips.  Hamburgers.  Steak when I was younger (now I like A1).  pretty much anything that will stand still long enough.  I really like ketchup. 

6. What smells make you nostalgic?

     The first one that comes to mind is the smell of my maternal grandmother's house.  The Farmhouse has a very specific smell, and after you've been there a while, it seeps into your clothes.  There's nothing in the world more comforting than that smell. 

7. Have you heard about the high school English teacher recently suspended as a result of some things she wrote in her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn't mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.

What are your thoughts-If you're a parent is your child's teacher online and are you 'friend' or 'follower' there? If you're a teacher are you on facebook and do you accept or friend students on fb? How about their parents? If you're a student are you friends with your current or former teachers online? Do any of them have blogs you read? If you're a teacher or a parent do you ever use your blog as a place to vent your frustrations with our educational system? So much to discuss...

It's funny because Amber sent me an article about this woman last week, so I've had time to organize my thoughts.  While I don't disagree with what she said, I think if she wanted to say them all on her blog, perhaps she should have made it private.  As a rule I don't put negative things about students or work on my blog, and would never post a student's photo or tell a story without express consent from a parent.  It's just a good rule. 

As far as Facebook, I am very careful about the student issue.  I don't add students.  If one requests to add me, they have to be out of my classroom.  Even then, I try to be careful.  It's hard because it's a nice way to see what former students are up to, in particular those who have moved away, but it can also be an issue.  If a student overshares, I will remove them from my feed or delete them if necesary. It's a very tender topic for sure.   

8. Do something sweet for someone today.  You will never know the difference that it might make to them and to you.

4 comments:

  1. There are a lot of teachers on the Hodgepodge!
    I agree about the scent of a grandparent's house...I feel the same.
    Enjoy your day-hope you feel better soon.

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  2. Hi Bloggy Friend! This is my first time visiting your corner of the internet, and I am so happy that I came! So, without reading your profile, I gather that you are a teacher? I am in my first year of teaching, although I subbed for two years before that. I had one student who wanted to friend me on FB. He was a good friend of my daughter's. I told him that once he graduated, he could friend me. He's such a sweet kid that nothing would have ever been thought of it, but I wanted to be very careful. It was scarcely a week after graduation before he friended me. Overall, I think this is a great policy to have!

    Have a great day!!

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  3. I completely agree about the teacher issue. I think if you are a teacher and have a FB, you should perhaps go by your maiden name. My cousin had to delete her FB (as in, was made to by the school) because students were requesting teachers as friends.

    Part of professionalism is not talking about your job in public venues. I agree, the teacher should not have blogged publicly even if she didn't name names.

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  4. I like your answer to #8, so true!

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