Who saw the article in the digital section of the Sunday Times? [Go flip through your newspaper pile if you haven't] Not a new issue of course, if I remember, this has been talked about before, though I can't remember the exact occasion.
Frankly, I don't know why people even think teachers should not blog at all. Please, just add blogging to the long list of human activities that teachers are not supposed to engage in already, including having a life outside of school that does not involve education or children in some way.
I thought being in the education line would've taught people one thing by now: that the more you stop the kids from doing something, the more they want to do it. I should know. The more I try to stop my kids from jumping on the tables and chairs, the more they do it somehow, despite obvious danger to life and limb. [sigh]
So why should we teachers not blog? I think there's nothing wrong with blogging, if you know where the lines of slander are drawn. [hee] If you're going to write about what a pretentious prick your principal is, for example, [not that mine is one!!!] obviously you're going to get into trouble, the same way you would if you were to troop into his office and call him a dumbass to his face.
What's missing is an atmosphere of open maturity. You gotta accept that from time to time, people do have grudges about their job. Even if we're in a vocation, where the standards are higher, you cannot except people to be 100% happy all of the time. If the blog does not slander, does not use foul language, what the heck is wrong with it? Besides, don't forget the sheer number of students who blog these days. If you're not familiar with it, risk losing touch with a large number of your students.
I never believed banning ever solved anything. Teach people to use things responsibly, instead of just taking it away from them.
And anyway, with more blogging going on, won't it help to raise the standards of English that Big Moe is so concerned about? ;)
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