The Do's and Don'ts for Teachers on Social Media Infographic

The Do's and Don'ts for Teachers on Social Media Infographic

There are millions of teachers on social media right now. They discuss professional, personal, and cultural things on a daily basis. But what are the best ways to make the most of your time on social networks? The Do's and Don'ts for Teachers on Social Media Infographic presents a few best practices to keep in mind as you embrace the brave new world of social media for teachers.

Best Uses of Social Media

Do the following:

• Post updates and comments. If you’re in a public forum, keep it light and positive. If you can’t, keep quiet.
• Connect with colleagues with whom you feel safe. Don’t connect with colleagues you’re unsure about. Being friends with everyone isn’t part of the job description.
• Control your privacy settings. And keep up with the changes that Facebook makes to those privacy settings.
• Take care when posting pictures of others. If you tag a colleague, just think how you’d feel if they did the same to you.
• Disconnect from negativity. Unfriend or block those who continually blast you with negativity and trolling.
• Show what you’re proud of. Done something great? Let people know.

Worst Uses of Social Media

Avoid the following:

• Don’t follow your students on Facebook. Your intentions are innocent but there’s little to gain and much to lose.
• Don’t comment on status updates of your students, even if its positive, because you’ll either be criticising of showing favouritism. You can’t win.
• Think twice before you connect with parents on social media. In a small community it can be fine, but think twice before you do.
• Don’t drink and tweet or post. Comments made after a bottle has been opened never look so wise or amusing in the morning.
• Do not post party pictures off social media. if you lost dignity and it was photographed, don’t revisit the crime scene.
• Please don’t share the beach photos of anything with a state of undress. Those bikini photographs may look fabulous but will just cause comment.
• Don’t overpost. Don’t offer the world continuous updates on your activities.
• Do not post during work hours. It just doesn’t look good. Not even if it was scheduled.

View also: Top 10 Social Media Competencies for Teachers Infographic