Dilemma

I realized yesterday that most people mispronounce the word mischievous. Most people say mis chee vee us. However, if you will actually look at the word then you will see that this pronunciation is quite incorrect. Mis che vus would be the correct way to say it. So that was a little tid bit of Shaheen’s observation’s for the day. That was free of charge. I’m scared I’m turning into Shannon more every day. That’s ok, but that has nothing to do with the rest of this blog. So I will apologize for not organizing these thoughts accordingly. I guess I could have this on a separate blog, but what’s the point. Let’s get to my issue.

During this tiresome week, I realized a possible dilemma. Well, as many of you know, I’m working towards my teaching certification. Well, here is my dilemma. It occurred to me that when you google my name, then you will find any and everything on the web that there is about me. I’m not lost among all the other Shaheen Matuni’s in the world. You don’t have to search endless pages to get to me. I’m unique. (grinning) No, I’m serious. This is a problem. Eventually my student or students are going to be messing around with googling each other and they will realize or might get the idea to experiment with googling my name. Now, there isn’t anything out there that I’m worried about being bad, but how well do I want my students to know me?

In college, you can get to know the professor quite well and maybe even develop a friendship. It isn’t as important to establish the teacher-student relationship because the student is old enough to understand how that works. If not, they know that they are shelling out the bucks for the class so they better listen. Now let’s not get into a tussle about all the times, college professors stepped over those bounds or college students still couldn’t grasp this. That is irrelevant. I know that the professor can be too friendly sometimes and it might cause you to lose some reverence for them, if that was even the appropriate word there. High school is different.

I want to remain somewhat of a mystery to my students. I don’t want them knowing me like my friends do. So what do I do?? I’ve grown to enjoy bloggin. I like checking myspace.com to see how my old friends are doing. I like pwnin in xbox and pc games. Now, in and of itself, I don’t mind that my students know these things, but will I have to be diluted in what I blog about? I’m not worried about slandering other people, except the admin for the server I got banned from a while back who plays as fishndude. I don’t care for him. Now here, would be a good example. That is something that one of my students will be able to identify with. I’m not that different from my students, but I will have some knowledge to impart, some encouragement to administer, and some unforgettable experiences to be had. The most important thing I will have developed and be exhibiting is professionalism. This is not a trait most high school students have yet. The lines are blurred. How to act, when to act, when not to act. These are situational behaviors they haven’t resolved yet. So what do I do? Do I cease the blog? Do I talk about tomatoes from here on out? Do I write about educational ideas? NO!!! Its my blog, but must it die?

What affect will seeing how I interact with my friends and family have on my students?? Will this give them grounds to talk to me differently? There are some questions that students shouldn’t ask. They shouldn’t ask me to come to their house to lan, but at the same time I don’t see a problem if I kick their butts in a game of halo as long as the game is in context. Kody, Kris and I beat up on some high school kids not long ago. What if I was one of their teachers? I don’t mind them asking me about what games I like, but if we relate too well on something like a video game, would that be bad? Is any of this making sense or am I just blowin smoke? I have a strong confidence that I won’t cross any lines. I’m pretty self aware, especially in a professional environment. If any of you have worked with me, then you would find this to be true. I’m generally by the book. The student-teacher relationship is quite fragile and must be handled properly. I want them to gain confidence in my class and increase self-efficacy. (I just learned that word in psychology.) I don’t want to be a drone of a teacher. You don’t talk about how those teachers changed your life. As a matter of fact, you don’t talk about those teachers except to say, “Remember Mr. Matuni, his class put me to sleep everyday!” NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!