As they say, “Image is everything.” So I was struck by a story I watched on the news the other day. The story reported that many teachers are posting pictures of themselves on their Facebook sites. Not a big deal, but these pictures showed the teachers engaged in hardcore partying (shots, beer bongs, etc.) or pretending to be arrested, grabbing others in “those” places and generally acting wild and crazy. I have no problem with their acting wild and having fun. I just question their judgment in posting the pictures to Facebook or Myspace. In the age of transparency it’s about teacher brand management.
In this technology driven era, parents, students, your peers, and your boss are viewing these sites. These sites are part of who you are as a teacher. This technology driven, open communication era, where everything is being digitized, shared across the net, and commented on by others is a reality you must deal with. Your personal teacher brand is at stake. Anything you don’t want your superintendent to see or read, better not go up on the net. What parent wants to see pictures of their child’s teacher beer bonging or doing belly shots? What teacher wants their kids to read, “I teach math, but I suck at it myself?”
Brand management is the name of the game. You are going to have to learn the rules of the road in managing your personal teaching brand. Everything you post on your Facebook or Myspace accounts, everything you blog about or comment on, your test scores, and any other piece of information about who you are and how you teach that is on the net is going to shape your personal brand. You must brand yourself, craft your image, or, it will be done for you.
These teachers may have assumed that their private lives were their own. But, the minute they posted photos of themselves on the net, the private become public and their brand was impacted. Your personal teaching brand will be impacted (positively or negatively) by everything you do in the 2.0 web landscape. Which sites do you save to del.icio.us, which blogs do you comment on, what did you Twitter about, what pictures did you post on Flickr? It all adds up to your brand as a teacher. You may not like it, but it is reality.
The public is becoming more and more savvy consumer of education. Examining the teachers who teach their kids is becoming part of it. You have a brand, the question is, are you in control of it? Do you know what your brand is?
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