paranoid

So last night at our Student Teaching seminar, we had a speaker that was an attorney for the state education association (ISEA). AKA they represent you if the district wants to fire you for silly reasons, etc.

He told a story of a 2nd year teacher who had always gotten glowing reviews in her first 2 years. She was still on her temporary license, and at the end of the 2nd year if you get a good recommendation from your administration and have successfully completed all of your artifacts you get your permanent license. She had done all of these things and was a great teacher.

In early May of her 2nd year she contacted the ISEA attorney because the district wanted to fire her (and not give her a good recommendation, which means no permanent license). Why, you ask when she is a good teacher? Because she had a blog.

So the attorney went and started reading her blog from the beginning and saw nothing. So he went to more recent entries and saw nothing. It was just funny to him. Downright hilarious. Turns out that even though the teacher had never mentioned the school district by name, nor any students by name, they found it to be unprofessional because she told stories about a nitwit freshman who asked if lava was hot and referred to another student as "the spawn of satan." And while every other teacher laughed and said "OH YEAH, I HAD HIM!" it made her a poor role model (even though no one knew names, etc.) And according to the Supreme Court, teachers are role models and have to always be aware of their actions even outside of school time.

It was ludicrous. BUT, it was either fight it or resign and try to get a job somewhere else so she wouldn't lose her license entirely. This was a great teacher. And they wanted to kick her out of the classroom for something so silly! No one would know who or what district she was talking about!

So now I'm at a crossroads. While this seems to be a 1 in a million case, I don't want to ruin my career before it starts. Granted, I haven't told anybody about my blog except family and friends. But still. I HATE BUREAUCRACY!!

So while I ponder what I should do here...I'll let you know that it's been a crazy week.

I found out that a student of mine has had an extremely rough,rough past two years. Drugs, alcohol, suicide attempts. A mess. But I like this girl a lot. She is so smart, has a ton of potential, and I just generally like her. She participates in class, works hard. Hopefully she finds the right path.

AND, I broke up my first fist fight today. Fists flying, hair pulling, clothes being ripped off. Happened right outside my room during the passing period. It was INTENSE! I'm having such an interesting experience. It's unbelievable.

So anyways, on that note...I need to decide how paranoid I should be about my blog. Hmm. Input definitely appreciated.