Hi everyone,
The summer months always bring an influx of new blogs and teacher social media accounts on the scene. There are loads of excellent Instagram accounts where teachers are sharing brilliant ideas and photos etc. I just wanted to share two things , I am sure everyone knows these but just in case! If it helps even one person I’ll be happy.
1. A few teacher instagram pages have shared photos of children in their class. Maybe they had full permission from parents and the school, but if not then you can’t share photos of other peoples children on your personal page. Parents normally sign a permission slip for photos to be used on a school website but this doesn’t extend to personal pages belonging to teachers. This applies even if you blur out their faces as you are still using the photo.
2. You have to declare all excess income made from selling resources, even if it is only five euro a week! Your best bet is to ring the tax office and they will tell you how to proceed. I have an accountant do mine for me because I want to make sure it is done 100% right!
3. Stay professional. At the end of the day teaching is a profession. Never put anything online that you can’t stand by and be proud of. That is why my page is not anonymous like so many others, because I am happy to be associated with my website as it has always garnered a positive response from principals and others in the teaching community.
4. Most of all, enjoy blogging and creating resources! I find it really helps my teaching and encourages me to try and be a better teacher all the time.