Every day is a dress down day
I forgot to give out report cards in first period today. What can I say, we were in a zone. The kids were actually into "The Glass Menagerie." They were laughing where I thought they would and they were laughing when I thought they wouldn't. On top of that, they know that Tennessee Williams is gay (homosexual--not lame)!
That's usually enough to shut them down. God bless the play with a nagging mother, right?
Anyway, I decided to look the kids' schedules up in the computer and hand deliver the report cards to their second period class (you know, before I got yelled at for teaching instead of handing out report cards).
Well, funny thing, in more than one class my fellow teachers mistook me for a student aide from the office instead of the intellectual giant which I am. That certainly says something about our groundhog like lifestyles--we stay in our little holes until we pop up once a year to see our shadows and, with most of our colleagues, we lead an anonymous existence toiling away in our little corners of the school.
What didn't help was my attire. Yes, I had the tie going and stuff, but I still looked sloppy. That tie was frayed, buttons were missing from my shirt, the pants were way too big on me--I was teacher chic (or hobo chic, whatever).
I can't blame the other teacher because she had a big fat rock on her finger and she probably isn't overly concerned with "budget dressing" if you know what I mean. I doubt scouring the stores (or dumpsters) for clothing deals is at the top of her list. Meanwhile, some of us have to wear whatever is "convenient," let's say.
To her I'm sure I did look like "green sweatshirt kid who works as a student aide in the office second period." You know what I'm talking about--that kid that wears that green sweatshirt every single day to school--no matter what the weather. And you know he's not washing that thing everyday. He probably washes it as much as he puts a comb through his hair.
We all have "green sweatshirt kid."
Just another Hobo Teacher in training, if you ask me.
That's usually enough to shut them down. God bless the play with a nagging mother, right?
Anyway, I decided to look the kids' schedules up in the computer and hand deliver the report cards to their second period class (you know, before I got yelled at for teaching instead of handing out report cards).
Well, funny thing, in more than one class my fellow teachers mistook me for a student aide from the office instead of the intellectual giant which I am. That certainly says something about our groundhog like lifestyles--we stay in our little holes until we pop up once a year to see our shadows and, with most of our colleagues, we lead an anonymous existence toiling away in our little corners of the school.
What didn't help was my attire. Yes, I had the tie going and stuff, but I still looked sloppy. That tie was frayed, buttons were missing from my shirt, the pants were way too big on me--I was teacher chic (or hobo chic, whatever).
I can't blame the other teacher because she had a big fat rock on her finger and she probably isn't overly concerned with "budget dressing" if you know what I mean. I doubt scouring the stores (or dumpsters) for clothing deals is at the top of her list. Meanwhile, some of us have to wear whatever is "convenient," let's say.
To her I'm sure I did look like "green sweatshirt kid who works as a student aide in the office second period." You know what I'm talking about--that kid that wears that green sweatshirt every single day to school--no matter what the weather. And you know he's not washing that thing everyday. He probably washes it as much as he puts a comb through his hair.
We all have "green sweatshirt kid."
Just another Hobo Teacher in training, if you ask me.
- H.T. at 3:46 PM
