# Teacher who wrote on blog bad stuff about students



## Sunshine009 (Sep 21, 2008)

Yes or no?


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## Cheesecake (Feb 2, 2007)

You have any details?


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## anonymid (Oct 16, 2005)

Is this what you're talking about?:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_hi_te/us_teacher_suspended_blog


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## SilentWitness (Dec 27, 2009)

I voted no. It is wrong on all counts.


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## Perfectionist (Mar 19, 2004)

I was friends with my chem teacher's daughter in high school. She told me he said at the dinner table that I was "slow on the uptake".

So yeah - I vote no. That was like six years ago and still makes me feel bad.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

I believe she had the right too. Not like she divulged any private information, she made general statements about her frustrations about dealing with this generation of students. People need an outlet to express themselves.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

It's one thing to tell one person; it's another to broadcast it.


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## Nathan18 (Sep 15, 2009)

I say yes, because she didn't pick on anybody, individually. She talked about her classes as a whole.


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## Nae (Nov 10, 2003)

The internets is profound. 
It is going to save, catalog, and broadcast the entirety of humanity.


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## room101 (Nov 5, 2010)

Should she have? No. Because it's stupid when anyone can stumble upon it, especially her co-workers or students. But she has the right to blog about whatever she wants. It's not like she was breaching some sort of confidentiality agreement by making general statements about her class. I would have been worried if she had actually divulged information about specific students.


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## SilentWitness (Dec 27, 2009)

The irony to this story will be when her own yet unborn child has a teacher who 'tells it like it is' in their blog or at parent/teacher interview. 
Of course, HER child will be a gleaming example of perfection, having perfect manners, no swearing, homework and assignments in on time, a straight A student. :roll
The most misbehaved kids I've known had parent/s as teachers. :no 

The fact is, teaching in some schools is tough, with very few rewards. Complaining in a blog is not doing herself or her students any favours. She should quit or transfer. 
She MUST have known her students and their parents will read it, otherwise what was the purpose of broadcasting on the internet? Can't she confide in her superiors and colleagues? :idea


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

She said her class was full of "disengaged, lazy whiners"

I find most teachers to be disengaged and lazy these days. When I had teachers like that I didn't take it seriously. It was the animated, passionate, teachers who actually taught on the fly, rather than following some ridiculous text book who actually held my attention and made me care. I'm pretty sure Pennsylvania has a statewide curriculum. That really makes talented teachers practically unnecessary.

If nothing else she's an idiot for posting it online. People should know better these days?


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## heroin (Dec 10, 2010)

Can't see anything wrong with what she did.


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## TenYears (Jan 15, 2010)

The 1st amendment is being butchered in the USofA. She didn't use any names. I recently had to sign an agreement at my job regarding blogging. One of the excerpts from the three page long agreement was to "not engage in any activity that might be perceived as embarassing". I'm not kidding, that was it, word for word. Not embarassing as in putting something on the internet that might tarnish the reputation of the company I work for...just...anything embarassing.

How would you interpret that? That's one of the clearest examples I can think of, wrt taking away first amendment rights.


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## sarafinanickelbocker (May 16, 2010)

Probably not smart of her to post this stuff on a public blog. Hmm, I never understand why these stressed-out types go for teaching. Did they think they'd like it and learn that they really don't know how to handle kids and got stuck? I dunno. I had teachers like this in school. haha They seemed to like me, but that's because I was quiet. But yeah, I always wondered. "What made you choose teaching?"


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## JamieHasAnxiety (Feb 15, 2011)

She didn't say anything bad, it was bad job judgment. BUT
she spoke the damn truth! School IS filled with laziness, and rude, pot smoking disrespectful kids, we live in the REAL world here!

Looks like they were too damn sensitive!


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## veron (Apr 29, 2009)

Everybody needs to vent sometime.


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## whiterabbit (Jan 20, 2006)

This reminds of a fluff piece I saw on the news a few years ago concerning a man who was sent from Newcastle to manage a chocolate shop in the town where I was born. He made himself a blog on which he wrote about his hatred for the town - it's really rough, complete ****hole, give me Newcastle any day, etc. Somehow the local paper got wind of this and published a story on it, which led some of the townspeople to boycott the shop and others to go round there and give him a piece of their mind. I think they had to call in police protection. Eventually, he was sent back to Newcastle and the shop had to hand out free chocolates for a while to entice people back.

I suppose you need to be careful what you write without complete anonymity on an internet blog, especially if it's anything to do with your job. Other modern day lessons include: Be mindful of who can see your Facebook account, think before you Twitter, and, for the love of god, make sure your microphone is switched _off_.


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## Resonance (Feb 11, 2010)

Hmm...in some ways it's unproffesional, but then she didn't name the school, any of the students, or use her own full name, so I think she has a right to express her opinion without having to worry about losing her job over it.

Students write much worse things about their teachers on facebook etc all the time...I can see why she wrote what she did, I don't think she should lose her job over it, or even that it was necessarily wrong, so I voted "yes".


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## rubyruby (Jun 17, 2009)

To Perfectionist: That teacher was an idiot to say something like that to his daughter. It is unfortunate but those kind of comments tend to stick.


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

It's wildly unprofessional. I don't know what wound up happening to the teacher, but I wouldn't be surprised if she were fired for it.

Also, this is why diaries exist. You know, a blank book that you write in. Personal blogs are kinda trashy and dangerous, imo.


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## anonymid (Oct 16, 2005)

bezoomny said:


> It's wildly unprofessional. I don't know what wound up happening to the teacher, but I wouldn't be surprised if she were fired for it.


Totally agree. The issue here is professionalism--not the validity of her opinion or her right to free speech.


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## anonymid (Oct 16, 2005)

TenYears said:


> The 1st amendment is being butchered in the USofA. She didn't use any names. I recently had to sign an agreement at my job regarding blogging. One of the excerpts from the three page long agreement was to "not engage in any activity that might be perceived as embarassing". I'm not kidding, that was it, word for word. Not embarassing as in putting something on the internet that might tarnish the reputation of the company I work for...just...anything embarassing.
> 
> How would you interpret that? That's one of the clearest examples I can think of, wrt taking away first amendment rights.


That is not a violation of the first amendment. The first amendment protects you from the _government_ ("Congress shall make no law . . ."). It does not prevent employers from holding their employees to whatever standards of conduct and professionalism they choose. Your company/organization you work for absolutely has the right to fire you if they feel that you aren't representing them in a professional manner.


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## TenYears (Jan 15, 2010)

anonymid said:


> That is not a violation of the first amendment. The first amendment protects you from the _government_ ("Congress shall make no law . . ."). It does not prevent employers from holding their employees to whatever standards of conduct and professionalism they choose. Your company/organization you work for absolutely has the right to fire you if they feel that you aren't representing them in a professional manner.


OK, maybe I should've chosen my words more carefully. In the state of Texas (where I'm from) you're employed at-will. *With very few exceptions*, I can terminate my employment at any time with no questions asked, no repercusions (well, no legal ones, anyway), and my employer can do the same. I work closely with our HR dept where I work, our job descriptions often overlap each. I don't do the hiring, or interviews, that would be way too much for me. You don't have to go so far as to "not represent your employer in a professional manner". You can be fired because they don't like the color of your tie or your shoes. I'm serious. Anyway, we have the option of firing employees, and we don't have to give a reason for termination. We do, and we implement a 90 day probation period, because it would be shooting ourselves in the foot to not do so.

So yeah, you can be let go in most states, with a few exceptions, at any time, with no notice, and with no reason.

Does that make it right? Because an employer can get away with it, that makes it OK?? More and more, employers are prying their way into the personal lives of employees. I find that very offensive, and to be honest, sometimes it crosses the line and infringes on peoples rights. If I don't like it, I can go find another job, sure...but that doesn't make it any less unethical.


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## Jnmcda0 (Nov 28, 2003)

I deleted the other thread and changed the title on this one.


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## SAgirl (Nov 15, 2003)

I think it was unprofessional the way she went about it. I think that the values a teacher should have are caring about their students not putting them all down and thinking less of them.


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## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

It was her private blog; it wasn't like she was committing some sort of crime. She didn't even name names!

I fail to understand how a teacher's blog can be readily read, but a blog from a Cho or Sodini is ignored until they go on a shooting rampage. *That* is what's messed up to me.

The teacher did nothing wrong here. It's her students that need to shape up!


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## straightarrows (Jun 18, 2010)

back in 2003 (graduated from high school 2002) my math teacher said to a friend(was a year younger than me) :I knew from the beginning that is worthless!! 

(he asked if I att college or started to work!! so my friend reply NO .......all that coz I'm a shy guy!! if I was a *** like oithers he wasn't going to say that about me!


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## so_so_shy (Sep 5, 2005)

This blog obviously wasn't anonymous as they say if her students knew who the author really was. Completely unprofessional. There are plenty of ways for a teacher to vent without being stupid about it like this and putting their job on the line. 

Don't get me wrong, what she said is probably bang on but broadcasting it on your public blog is dumb. I mean any idiot would have known that an outbust like this would happen if the students caught wind of it..


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## Daktoria (Sep 21, 2010)

People are just looking for an excuse to blame someone.

That's what happens. We live in a world of people, not a world of robots. Demanding that workers package up frustration without end is a ridiculous standard to hold anyone's dignity upon. When labor culture becomes tense, consumer culture becomes tense. When consumer culture becomes tense, labor culture becomes tense. It's a vicious cycle, and democracy (or politics in general) doesn't make it any better because it reinforces the popularity contest.

A teacher is paid to be a role model within the educational system. Demanding professionalism beyond the workplace is an infringement on who she is. If this was a private school, then it'd be understandable because the reputable definition of a "teacher" would be market based, but it's not.

Demanding that taxpayers offer and comply with contracts for educators to educate beyond the specifically dedicated environment violates their autonomy.


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## Daktoria (Sep 21, 2010)

Well yea, liberals are pro-union, and conservatives are pro-family values.

The values of the taxpayer and individual get thrown out the window in exchange for a battle between collectives.


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## Daktoria (Sep 21, 2010)

It's a shame because the people who really suffer are those who are ignored due to unruly, undisciplined cohorts. This teacher obviously cares because in order to get frustrated like this, she has to be making enough of an effort to realize the people she's training aren't willing to concentrate on the task at hand.

There are students who are willing to concentrate. If anything, the proper solution to this situation is investigating and punishing the students who she commented on, finding the students who are being neglected, and reassigning her to engaging students who appreciate the chance to learn.

Likewise, any of her peers who criticize her for being unprofessional should get those undisciplined students assigned to them.

I mean any conservative who supports disciplinary crackdowns (such as corporal punishment) or opposes cultural relativism yet criticizes this teacher ought to be ashamed. That's demanding her to do her job with the hand tied behind her back you want to untie.

The same thing goes for liberals though. Unions advocate schools becoming centers of community pride so teachers get paid more credit as role models for cultivating model citizens. Well guess what? In this case, you would neither have students who want to become model citizens nor would you have a teacher who's willing to be a role model.

The situation's all completely inside out, and unfortunately, the teacher is going to get blamed for being a problem where she's the last person who created it.


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## Colhad75 (Dec 14, 2009)

If I had a child attending her classroom and then she goes and insults my child on the internet, I would be down there what I think of her. It is wrong on her part sorry, there is no need for her to publicly insult students as was portrayed in that article. I think once you resort to verbal abuse as a teacher, you are no longer able to handle running a class.

She should lose her job.


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## Daktoria (Sep 21, 2010)

It's not verbal abuse. She's a person, not a robot. What she does on her own time outside of the educational environment is her prerogative. It's not like she's a celebrity parading down main street here. The whole wide world didn't know about her blog before she was sensationalized.

If you were a parent of one of the students she was commenting on, you should be ashamed of yourself for wasting taxpayer resources. A teacher is not a babysitter. If anything, she's being abused by the parents who refused to cultivate their children to be respectful, responsible, and well mannered.


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## so_so_shy (Sep 5, 2005)

Daktoria said:


> It's not verbal abuse. She's a person, not a robot. What she does on her own time outside of the educational environment is her prerogative. It's not like she's a celebrity parading down main street here. The whole wide world didn't know about her blog before she was sensationalized.


lol so what, only robots can verbally abuse others? She stooped to her students level, that is a no no for somebody in her position. She is an adult, they are kids. Kids are immature little brats. I done things back then I wouldn't think of doing now.

If she did this outside of school in private, then she wouldn't be in crap over it. But she did it on her public blog out in the open for her students to read. If she had any shred of common sense, she would have known she'd be in **** if it was found and that the repercussions would not be anywhere near worth it.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

> Munroe *did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog*, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family. Last week, she said, students brought it to the attention of the school, which suspended her with pay.


WTF happened to the 1st Amendment?

If this is the standard then all of you with jobs had best shut the hell up as anything you say could get you fired. Lucky for me I'm permanently unemployed, so I can be an opinionated jerk who expresses unpopular or 'offensive' views.

Wasn't there some other teacher a couple years back who got in trouble with her school for having a pic of herself online pointing a gun at the camera? Even though I'm not aware of any law against bearing arms in the direction of a camera, a great offense that I'm guilty of too.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

millenniumman75 said:


> It's one thing to tell one person; it's another to broadcast it.


So it's an issue of number, John? Would it be OK to tell two people? How about three? What exactly is the specific numerical limit? All I can tell is you deem too much to rest somewhere in the range of between two and everyone with an Internet connection who can read English.


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## Daktoria (Sep 21, 2010)

so_so_shy said:


> lol so what, only robots can verbally abuse others? She stooped to her students level, that is a no no for somebody in her position. She is an adult, they are kids. Kids are immature little brats. I done things back then I wouldn't think of doing now.
> 
> If she did this outside of school in private, then she wouldn't be in crap over it. But she did it on her public blog out in the open for her students to read. If she had any shred of common sense, she would have known she'd be in **** if it was found and that the repercussions would not be anywhere near worth it.


Only robots can be held to a standard of unemotional and undeliberative character.

The question boils down to the definition of privacy, and the fact of the matter is her blog was not a famous place of interest. You had to choose to seek out her website, it wasn't something you had to notice in passing along your experience along the internet. Privacy =/= secrecy.

The only reason this would happen is if you wanted to get her in trouble. You would have had to taken initiative to uncover her opinions, opinions she's entitled to have because again, she's a person, not a robot.


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## so_so_shy (Sep 5, 2005)

UltraShy said:


> WTF happened to the 1st Amendment?
> 
> If this is the standard then all of you with jobs had best shut the hell up as anything you say could get you fired.


You don't need to shut the hell up, you just need to have some common sense about it and speak your mind in the right places. Publicly online is dumb on her part. The students are basically like her "clients". So yes, you can be assured that if a professional writes a derogatory blog about their clients(even if it is true) and those people read it, the boss is going to be pissed and the person is probably going to get canned.

Daktoria: If you talk crap about your clients on a public blog and they read it, see how your boss reacts when you use the excuse "but..but.. but I am a human, not a robot!". Guaranteed you will be looked at like you have ten heads and be told to clear out your things and don't let the door hit you on the way out.


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## Roberto (Aug 16, 2004)

anonymously, I also would have denied authoring it. her comments make her look like she hates her job though and probably isn't the best teacher. :lol 

What teachers are really thinking, "I hate your kid!" :rofl


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## TenYears (Jan 15, 2010)

I totally agree this is butchering the 1st amendment...if her rights aren't being violated, I have to ask what further proof you would need in order for someone's rights to be violated. As Ultrashy mentioned, where do you draw the line. Is she not allowed to *speak* to any of her friends in a negative way about any of her students? No names were mentioned in the blog, so what is the real difference here?

Not sure why I keep thinking of the Patriot Act when I think of this thread. That was was the single most dangerous piece of legislation I've ever heard of being passed into law. It's funny how most people don't really care, some don't even know what it is, some actually agree with it, which boggles the mind. The principle is the same, if you can somehow justify in people's minds that it's OK to take away their rights, it's a done deal. They're called *RIGHTS*, not PRIVILEGES, not REWARDS FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR. It's called the Bill of *Rights* for a reason.

I guess IRL the trick here is to not let on that it's you who's doing the blogging. No use of first, last names, initials, anything that can bring it back to you.


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## Zeddicus (Apr 1, 2009)

JamieHasAnxiety said:


> She didn't say anything bad, it was bad job judgment. BUT
> she spoke the damn truth! School IS filled with laziness, and rude, pot smoking disrespectful kids, we live in the REAL world here!
> 
> Looks like they were too damn sensitive!


:ditto


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## Charlaine (Feb 28, 2011)

Wow, national news huh. I think she's been getting way too much attention.
I went to this school, CB East, up until last October. I know some of the kids that she wrote about.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

TenYears said:


> The 1st amendment is being butchered in the USofA. She didn't use any names. I recently had to sign an agreement at my job regarding blogging. One of the excerpts from the three page long agreement was to *"not engage in any activity that might be perceived as embarassing"*. I'm not kidding, that was it, word for word. Not embarassing as in putting something on the internet that might tarnish the reputation of the company I work for...just...anything embarassing.
> 
> *How would you interpret that?* That's one of the clearest examples I can think of, wrt taking away first amendment rights.


That's clearly open to very broad interpretation. What if someone who works for a company is gay. What if they put up pictures on Facebook that show them kissing their domestic partner at their wedding? Some segments of society would deem that embarrassing (even disgusting & sinfully wicked to the Religious Right). Likely couldn't get fired for that specific one though as it seems sexual orientation is a legally protected class.


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