Blurred Lines

Exactly one month ago, I resigned from my job. The decision, while some may think was made in haste, was well thought out. Being an educator this day and age is scary enough before adding in inconsistent expectations, bendable rules, and unpredictable responses from administration. Then top off with a little common core, student preformance based evaluations, a blood thirsty media, and it is a recipe for burnout.

Last fall  I, along with the rest of the teaching staff, attended a training by legal counsel on the topic of teachers, first admendment right, and social media. The jist of the seminar, educators are not afforded the same first admendment rights promised in the Constitution. Educators, somewhere between the licensure exam and first teaching assigment sign, away these rights, and are given the cape of a super hero. Perhaps, there is a vow of celibacy from being real that should be added at the bottom of the exam or licensure application. 

The seminar warned of how what is posted on social media can cost one their job. A single picture of a professional enjoying a glass of wine cost that individual her job. The decision of termination was upheld by the supreme court.  To be honest, this was somewhat concerning, yet really didn't apply to me. I am always careful. I don't want to be offensive. My theory is, if I am friends with my aunt who is in her 90's, with my pastor, with my family, what I write is nothing I will be ashamed of sharing. It isn't out of fear of retaliation or even of offending someone, but more because that is who I strive to be. Not that I am always successful, but it is my goal. You can only imagine my surprise when I recieved a call saying that something I posted had caused an uproar in the local school district. 

By the sound of things, you would have thought I had unveiled the district's most well protected secret, condemned the district to Hell,  or had posted pictures of me pole dancing at the local Hooters while wearing a ripped up shirt with the school's name on it.  Nope, I wrote that I had mixed feelings of being moved to a new position. I posted that my students were made of aware of this move before I was given the official word.  So, why the uproar? The issue was one of my FB friends is a parent of one of my students.  Was I really portraying the district in a positive manner? 

My faceook page is not linked to the district I taught in nor the agency I was employed by. It is not linked to what city I live in or even what school I graduated from. Why? Because I like my privacy. After that seminar,  I came home and deleted all of my coworkers from my account. But, as the year progressed, these coworkers crossed the line and became friends. Friends that I spent more time with than I did my own family. Friends that were my support system at work and in my life. Apparently they too forgot to take the oath of professional relationship only, no mingling as friends. Then there were the students and parents. I have always upheld the rule, "if I am your teacher, I cannot be your FB friend." So after students left my class,  I would get requests. This happened with family members,too. To be honest it was a case by case decision whether or not I accept. While an educator is not supposed to show favortism, there were definitely some students and parents that I clicked with more than with others.

I always knew that I would teach. I guess it is in my blood. In 1915, my great grandfather, a recent graduate of Miami University,was awarded his first teaching certificates--one in Ohio and one in Florida. . He taught in the community he grew up in. He taught his siblings, he taught his friends' siblings, he even taught his own children. While I am positive he was well respected as an educator, he was also well respected in the community. I bet he knew the students' parents' names, their siblings, and even what was going on in their lives. I bet he strived to not only teach academics, but the importance of being a responsible citizen. I know he had compassion and I am sure there were more times than any one knows that he went over and beyond what is expected.  In 1946, my great grandmoher was awarded a teaching a certificate. Their daughters went on to teach. My cousins, second cousins, third cousins, and cousins once or twice removed have been educators.  Not only is there a desire to teach that runs in our genes, but there is a strong gene of compassion that runs through as well.

I wonder what my grandfather would say if he knew that it was a test score, that he had little influence over that now defines who is and isn't a great educator. That it isn't about the relationship you build, the compassion you give, or the reputation you have built in the community, but a score. One score. One score, determines the worth of a teacher. Would he have advised me to "kill and drill" my students? Or would he have advised me to carry on the way I was teaching? Would he still have been considered an outstanding educator?

I was faulted for blurring the lines between professional and personal life. I was faulted for being too involved. But, this past weekend, when our family experienced a sudden emergency, it was the families that I blurred this line with, that came to my rescue. These are the people I trusted with my children when I had no one to help me. These are the people that brought us hot meals, that are praying for our son's recovery. These are the people that pulled strings and asked for favors to make sure some other issues were taken care of. I am glad that I blurred the lines and took a chance to get to know these families. I am glad that I can call them friends outside of a classroom.  These are the people that have become part of my family. And I have a sneaky suspicion that my great grandfather would tell me, this is how a supportive community works, regardless of one's role!