I don't really know how others view me. I know there are some who don't like me, though I don't know why. Then there are others who do like me, and still I don't know why. I present an entirely different side of myself to my students than I do to my friends and family.
The reason for presenting two different sides to my students and to my friends/family is out of necessity. I can't maintain a level of professionalism with my students if I were to display to them that private side of my personality.
I've heard my students call me both mean and nice. Some have said they love being in my class, others have said I'm a boring teacher. I guess the most telling aspect of this is that these are all things they have said directly to me. The fact that they want me to be their teacher all the way through 8th grade - I've been with them since 5th grade - is also telling. They don't want to trade me for another teacher yet.
Now, whether my friends and family want to trade me in for someone better is another story.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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