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Social Media Kindness Day 2023: Where to Draw the Line For Teachers

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By SchoolStatus 4 min

In the eyes of a teacher, social media can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. As in most professions, it is essential for teachers to be cognizant of what is getting shared via social media.

When used effectively, social media can be a tool for communication, inspiration, connection, and entertainment. Below we’ve shared a few things to reflect upon for Social Media Kindness Day 2023.

It will help you determine where to draw the line regarding social media etiquette with your class.

Stay in Control

Social media privacy settings, if used correctly, may offer you some form of control over what gets posted on your feed, but it still leaves plenty of room for content to slip through the cracks, especially when others are involved.

As teachers, we are proud of our profession and we don’t need to hide that fact on social media. We do, however, need to control the content and conversations, both in our personal and work lives.

Some teachers have found success in class Facebook groups or class Instagram accounts. However, it is important to keep in mind that families can still gain control of the conversation here. You also need to be aware of your district’s policy and what permissions are required for this. 

An app like ClassTag can be an excellent platform for meeting your classroom social media needs without compromising control. You can send messages, directly to a Family or to the class and parents will automatically receive it however suits them.

ClassTag also offers an entire suite of control settings that allows you to regulate what families can and cannot share or post on the app.

Reputation  

Everyone knows that teachers try to have a life outside of school and want to show their personality online! It’s important to reflect upon what you want your posts to say about you professionally. If someone scrolled through your page, what would they find? As teachers, we have a lot of eyes on us both online and off. 

Using a separate tool for Family communication can help take the attention away from your personal social media accounts. It discourages families from searching through your personal content. An app like ClassTag can provide them with something that is more beneficial and informative for them and their child’s educational happenings.

Inspiration for Social Media Kindness Day 2023

Some teachers have a teacher-dedicated social media account used solely to inspire and be inspired. They use that account to follow other teachers to find great ideas for their digital classrooms and posting content, management strategies, or even ways to leverage posting to celebrate student success and attendance. 

Once you have found your inspiration and ideas, you can use social media (or better yet, a safe communications platform like ClassTag) to ask for volunteers to implement those ideas. Take it a step further and share photos of your class projects privately.

Families will love seeing the results of their hard work and assistance!

Privacy Matters

Teachers come from all kinds of different scenarios and situations. Some may work in a small community where most of the general population already knows one another. Others may be previously acquainted with families through various social circles.

This may make it difficult to separate your personal and professional relationships and can be the hardest line to draw. Regardless of previous connections, allowing families to contact you through personal channels can open the door to a number of harrowing situations. This means not only for social media, but also personal cell numbers.

The answer? Find an alternative method that allows you to communicate quickly, efficiently, and professionally with families. Politely request that your school uses a safe communication platform like ClassTag to communicate all school-related content and keep the personal social media just that: social.

Click here to recommend ClassTag to your school or district admin.

It is important, especially for educators who are often in the limelight, to be hyper aware of what is being displayed on social media. It reflects on not just us as individuals, but the entire profession. Knowing when and where to draw the line regarding the different social media realms can help make your life a whole lot easier.  

At the end of the day, we won’t blame you for sometimes wishing for the good ol’ days!

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SchoolStatus
SchoolStatus is a unified K-12 platform that enables districts and schools to engage more families and improve attendance with our easy-to-use communications hub and data-driven attendance solutions. We support an integrated and impactful educational experience, from district leadership to families at home. With more than two hundred million successful school-home interactions, and millions of users, SchoolStatus drives meaningful results for districts and schools across the US.
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