Three Hot Takes Teachers Need to Hear

Come at me. Here are 3 hot takes that teachers need to hear. It’s easy to forget if you are online a lot.

1. Students aren’t internet klout

I’ll up and down this one over and over again.

We should not be using them for videos, even if they are blurred.

• It’s a conflict of interest. You are recording during a job that pays you to teach. If you make money from that video or not, it still has gains for us as the teacher by sharing it. It IS using them to benefit yourself.
• They are minors. They cannot consent to being posted. ONLY their parents/adults/guardians can make this choice for them.
• AI scraping images. I can’t.
• Some people say you shouldn’t even record in your classroom when you are off the clock. That one is up to you, your contract, and your admin. (Just don’t give too much away, it’s a safety concern.)
• A camera may make some students wary of making mistakes. Some are very aware of it. Kids younger and younger are on social media, if they find you, even if they don’t follow you, it could open some kids up to being bullied for things that happened in class as well.
• Some students legitimately have reasons they shouldn’t be filmed at all. Other things besides faces are recognizable. Shoes, hair length/color/style, clothes.
• Unless you have a release from parents, not the school’s release, you shouldn’t be posting them anyway. If you want to share things, share to the school account. Your personal, individual, teacher, and unless it’s included on the release and sanctioned by the district, music department account are NOT covered with typical releases.
• Posting pics/videos of concerts in groups of 20K plus teachers with zero faces blurred is a massive security concern. Saying this as a group admin, accounts get hacked, we don’t know everyone in that group personally, and screenshots exist. I’ve said this before, but FB groups are not as secure as we want them to be.
• Sharing NAMES – even just first names – is not ok. Now people know who’s in your class. This is right back to the privacy issue.
• Handwriting too. Handwriting sometimes will be called out by admins because it is recognizable, especially if you have students who are not supposed to be posted (EX: foster care). If you really want to share an activity, show it in your handwriting, even if you have to recreate student work.

I’m glad I’m not the only one on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XmCCOG1cC0
AND

2. Pinterest classrooms don’t make you a good teacher

Cute is great.
Organized is important.
Students don’t need everything coordinated, and adorable to learn. Overly decorated on a theme may actually put off some students if they don’t align with your theme.

For example, there is a gorgeous Harry Potter classroom I saw on Pinterest a decade ago. It was done to the nines even including fake brick walls. I do not get HP. I’ve tried. I ‘suffered’ through the movies so I understand a little who Snape, Dumbledore, and Voldemort were. If I was in that classroom for a whole year, it just communicates to me that I’m not really part of it.

I know that Harry Potter teacher CARED. I know that teacher spent a ridiculous amount of time and money on that room. They probably were a great teacher, and I’m not saying that a pretty classroom makes you a lesser teacher. But if you don’t have the funds, the time, and the get up and go to do a Pinterest classroom, remember social media shows only selected things. They don’t show the day to day nitty gritty work. That’s what counts.

3. Social media is not a replacement for real PD

Come at me, but going to a workshop, a levels course, a conference will always be better. Scroll, save, scroll save, scroll save. I did this with books for the music class for years, and never used any of them until I put them in a list so I could see and find what I was looking for. We won’t talk about the Pinterest boards with a billion pins I saved either. Do I still use Pinterest? Of course. Do I pin EVERYTHING music related I see anymore? No. Same for saves on Instagram.

Do I still get stuff out of it, OF COURSE. I’m not saying there isn’t a lot of good things you can get out of them. I still make a point to write down good ideas, BUT…

Being able to sing, play, dance, make music together and really experience is much more memorable. As schools are pushing away from tech, I urge you to think about how you get classroom ideas. Not saying there aren’t great ideas on social media, but it’s short form, not always in context, and sometimes, is just promotional. Sometimes for klout. Getting ideas all over the place is great, but it could cause a lack of focus in your curriculum if it’s not fitting in to the big picture. Saying this as someone who lives in both worlds, I retain info better from longer sessions, bigger presentations, and less from the scroll.

AND you get to spend time with your archipelago. A real support system that music teachers NEED.

CAVEAT!

I’m NOT talking about online PD. If you can’t get to an in person PD, online conferences are awesome, usually less cost prohibitive, and sometimes free! This is not the same as scrolling.

There are some great online PDs. I’ve been part of The Music Crew’s free conference, the Elementary Music Summitt, great conferences from The Happy Music Teacher, and even virtual ones from NAfME, MMC, and others. You can connect with amazing music teachers around the globe who are presenting, and in the virtual conference room.

• They are accessible no matter where you live.
• They are accessible for budget reasons (see above)
• They are accessible if you CAN go to in person things but your group can’t afford to bring in all the people, especially if you are not in a more urban area.
• They are accessible.

Here’s a few of my favorite upcoming Online PD.

Elementary Music Summit: https://bit.ly/CulturalConnetions2026 I’ll be talking about Creating Cultural Connections.

The Music Crew: While this has already started, it’s free! I’ll be sharing Upper Elementary Singing Games on July 27th.
Find all the info here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/musiccrewcollaborative

While info isn’t out yet, I know that July 31- August 2 is the Make Music Magic Summit! Jeanette from The Happy Music Teacher gave me permission to share early! Make sure you check out this one too: https://bit.ly/MMMSummitStouffer

What do you think about these hot takes? What are YOUR hot takes? I’d love to hear it!