First Amendment Right?

I saw this clip on Good Morning America a week or so ago about a teacher that had a personal blog but on it, she spoke very harshly about her students.  In her interview, she said that it was never about a specific student but more general venting.  Now, having been a journalism student, I can appreciate the first amendment and all the rights that come with it.  But with those rights, comes responsibilities.

I am also a product of corporate America, as well as higher education.  By this, I mean that with most corporations or businesses, there are social media policies of what you can or can't say in reference to where you work/what you do.  So the thought of randomly blogging about your work already seems a little taboo to me because of this being ingrained in me.  I am also in education teaching college courses - which I know is different than K-12 because I have a little more freedom.  Trust me, I share many frustrations that educators across the country have.  However, there is a line that you just don't cross in terms of things you say about your students.  And while I have had instances, like every educator, where you just want to take your palm to your head, I also have seen the good in my kids.

I had a student G-Chat me tonight for help on a project.  I walked this student through things and was told the following: "Thanks again Kelly, you are a lifesaver!  I really appreciate all your help!"  This same student went on to tell me exciting news of being promoted for something at work.  I have another former student that sent me a G-Chat asking about grammar in a press release they were about to submit and how excited they were for this event and inviting me to this event.  It is things like this that make it fulfilling to do what I do.  I would never think of ranting or publicly posting things the way this teacher did.  I know this sounds like a complete contradiction of the journalist in me.  I guess I see it more as the potential for my students to hear these rants far outweighs the gratification of the rant.

I have many friends of you that are teachers.  What are your thoughts on this incident?  Was Natalie Munroe within her right?  Did she cross the line?