I've used the google search engine for many purposes and the extent of content that filters through this domain is mind boggling. After a relentless search for myself, "Tyler Stanley" and "Tyler Andrew Stanley" I came up with hundreds of links to information with people sharing the same name, however, not much was about me personally. Under the search, "Tyler Stanley" all that pertained to me was a government link that showed that I am a registered voter in Washington and the last time I voted. It also displayed my gender and were I live in Washington. I found this to be a reoccuring story when trying the Pipl search...many links to other Tyler Stanleys but not me.
After searching around for a bit I decided to plug in a shortend and more commonly used name I go by, "Ty Stanley" and voila, that's all it took. I was able to find over ten pages on google and Pipl (mostly google) that pertained to me personally. The very first link that popped up for both search engines was my social networking page on Facebook. As I clicked on from page to page, the majority of my results were internet pages on my athletics at Linfield College where I played football and baseball from 2004-2009. The links varied from news paper articles, to statistics and the numerous athletic webpages that linked "Ty Stanley" to the internet forever. Here is a list of a few links where I found myself:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ty-Stanley/65200433
http://www.fanbase.com/Ty-Stanley
http://www.linfield.edu/sports/records/bb/HISTIND.HTM
http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=37&SubSectionID=476&ArticleID=53117&TM=58134.81
http://www.d3football.com/preview.php?id=1010&year=2006
http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-out.php?ReportType=1&
As I searched, I am happy to say that I was not ashamed nor embarassed about any of the webpages containing information or photos of me. As I move closer to becoming a teacher, I believe all the website that contain the name Ty Stanley or Tyler Stanley and that are actually about me all contain suitable and appropriate content that I would be no problem for future employers, students, colleagues, or students to view.
Absolutely, I believe teacher need to be and should be held to community standards. In fact, I think that teachers should be held to some of the highest standards, even in their personal live. Besides parents, the educators of children are some of the most influential individuals in the students life. If teachers do not hole themselves to the highest standards, how can they expect their students to respect and understand the life skills they are preaching in class. Yes, it's important for a teacher to be "real" in the sense that they can relate with their students but that does not give them the right to say one thing by day and disregard it by night outside the classroom. In high school and even middle school, our students can make decisions and judgments for themselves but they are still very impressionable and look to their teachers everyday for guidance.
Because most of the webistes that my name appears in are sports related there wasn't anything overwhelmingly interesting or surprising. However, I was unaware that there was a website my name registered in devoted to fans called, Fanbase. In this site, anyone can look up their athlete of at any level, in any sport and find pictures, statistics, and stories to learn more about them.
Once your name is placed on the interent there are no take backs and it's important for everyone to be aware of that. With that said, in order to protect myself and any future jobs I might hold, I am going to be cautious of the areas that publish my name and the content that I publicly publish. I think if I just use common sense and be smart about what I say and do I will have nothing to fear.
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I forgot to add the section reagrding, "Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately?" article. I found the most intersting thing in this article was the part where teachers are beginning to enjoy using social networking sites as a way to better communicate with their students. The article states that the teacher can actively communicate with their students beyond the four walls of a classroom and that this mode of communication really helps those students who feel the anxiety of a classroom. By allowing them a platform to talk with their teacher one on one, these students can still find ways to engage themselves in discussions and the content of the class.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments here. I too believe that teachers are held to a higher standard because we do influence so many lives! I don't want to be a hypocrite either, so we need to follow what we say! Using social networking as a tool is awesome, but we need to make sure it isn't personal. I have used a blog in the past with my students that had nothing to do with my personal life, just school stuff. It worked well!
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