Dear students,
You know how sometimes when you're enjoying your weekend at the movies or the grocery store or a restaurant and you see your teacher -- and it's totally weird because you have to acknowledge that teachers are people too who watch movies, shop, and eat? Finding my blog is probably the internet version of that situation. It's weird for me too. We have one relationship -- a teacher-student one -- and seeing each other outside of that relationship and context is confusing. Do I say hi? Do you want me to or would that be even weirder for you? Like ugh, my teacher is embarrassing me and I'd like to pretend she doesn't exist. I get that. So, it might be a little weird for you to not only have to know and acknowledge that I have a personal life but also to see it so publicly displayed here. It's weird for me too and weird for me that you're reading it. That's okay, though; let's embrace this mutual weirdness together! Here's one reason why it's weird: Being a teacher means that I represent our school and I happily do so for roughly 182 days a year, anywhere from 6-10 hours a day ( and of course I work beyond that-- but more in a behind the scenes way than in a public representative way-- during vacations, summers, weekends, etc.). However, this blog is 97.3333% not about school and not about me as a teacher or representative of my school, district, or organization. While this doesn't mean that I will act in a way that doesn't represent my school well, it does mean that the opinions I'm expressing here are my own. I say that because, without meaning to or thinking about it, we lump school and teachers together and think they're one in the same. I think this distinction--of me as a person outside of (or maybe beside) my professional life-- is important because I want you to know that I'm representing myself here, even though I might talk about things related to the school. At the same time, I think it's okay (maybe even good?) for you to know that I write in my free write. I take classes to better myself as a person and a teacher in my free time. I like to cook and bake in my free time. I try to be healthy and I work out in my free time. I also read in my free time ( but you already knew that, didn't you? ). If you have stumbled across this blog, in your free time, I hope you realize that I practice what I preach -- I write at home, read at home, and take care of myself to be healthy just like I encourage all of you to do. So, this is the proverbial grocery store run-in, and I won't know if you turn the other way and dart down a different aisle. Whether you choose to follow along here or not, I hope you find me a little more human, because that's a good thing: When we see our teachers as people, we can see when they take their own advice and when they make mistakes and learn from them. Those are good lessons to teach, too. Sincerely, Mrs. Jones
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