To Future Possible Readers
I should go ahead and get this done.
I live in a digital age, one which I embrace fully. Others of my academic peers may not quite have the understanding of the digital world that I do - I've grown up here, so it is hard for me to understand how you see the world much in the same way fish cannot understand frogs.
I make this post by way of an explanation to any students of mine, or any student which I have contact with in an academic setting, or any current and future colleague or peer of mine within an academic context. Upon finding this blog you may be confused, concerned, or really only curious. Read this first - but know it has been written well after the establishment of this blog, my online presence, and my life.
I am a human being, like you. I have emotions, attachments, interests, and these all change and grow over time. And this blog has been with me for quite some time. Since I was an undergraduate. In a way, it has been with me for much longer.
Outside of a professional setting, beyond our relation as or within any of the previously mentioned situations, I make no effort to hide who I am, what I am, or what sort of person I am. I will not bring these into the classroom beyond the way that they are a part of myself and my personality when I teach. I hope that you, as my peers or students, will regard this in a similar way. I will not go out of my way to search out the lives of those I interact with unless they open that up to me. I expect the same respect from you. We are here, individuals living in the digital, and by choice we place parts of our lives online at the scrutiny of others. I do so without shame - others may not be quite so open to the idea.
If you and I face each other across that gulf that exists in the classroom, I will treat you as my student, and I expect to be treated as your Instructor. If we engage in any other professional interactions, I will abide by the norms of those interactions. But I am a person, never forget. And this is my blog, and my story, and many other things. And I will always extend the same to you - you are a person, before all else.
I live in a digital age, one which I embrace fully. Others of my academic peers may not quite have the understanding of the digital world that I do - I've grown up here, so it is hard for me to understand how you see the world much in the same way fish cannot understand frogs.
I make this post by way of an explanation to any students of mine, or any student which I have contact with in an academic setting, or any current and future colleague or peer of mine within an academic context. Upon finding this blog you may be confused, concerned, or really only curious. Read this first - but know it has been written well after the establishment of this blog, my online presence, and my life.
I am a human being, like you. I have emotions, attachments, interests, and these all change and grow over time. And this blog has been with me for quite some time. Since I was an undergraduate. In a way, it has been with me for much longer.
Outside of a professional setting, beyond our relation as or within any of the previously mentioned situations, I make no effort to hide who I am, what I am, or what sort of person I am. I will not bring these into the classroom beyond the way that they are a part of myself and my personality when I teach. I hope that you, as my peers or students, will regard this in a similar way. I will not go out of my way to search out the lives of those I interact with unless they open that up to me. I expect the same respect from you. We are here, individuals living in the digital, and by choice we place parts of our lives online at the scrutiny of others. I do so without shame - others may not be quite so open to the idea.
If you and I face each other across that gulf that exists in the classroom, I will treat you as my student, and I expect to be treated as your Instructor. If we engage in any other professional interactions, I will abide by the norms of those interactions. But I am a person, never forget. And this is my blog, and my story, and many other things. And I will always extend the same to you - you are a person, before all else.
