Tuesday, September 21, 2010

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Things my students say has increased their respect for me:

- That I wear Toms.
- That I read XKCD.
- That I have sat alone in my house on Saturday mornings eating cereal and watching "Blue's Clues" while shouting at the screen, "A clue! A clue!"
- That I'm a Blink 182 fan.
- That I even know who Blink 182 is.
- That I know the Steelers defense is significantly better than either the Bengals or the Raiders.

Things that have not seemed to earn respect:

- That I know about literature.
- That I know about history.
- That I know how to form complete sentences, both verbally and in writing.
- That I am not a felon.
- That I try my hardest to do my job well.

Oh well, it's hit or miss, I guess...






8 comments:

Rachel said...

The football thing? Yeah, that earns respect with me, too ;)

Anonymous said...

Apparently your kids are smarter than my eldest. She is now 16. If I said "Blink-182" she'd just look at me with a blank stare.

I think you may have some cool kids this year.

Breathe Gently said...

I'm surprised that the kids know who Blink-182 are! Impressive!

Clair said...

Yay! The orange sweater. You still have plenty of time to be a felon, if, you know, it's on your bucket list or something.

Mrs. Chili said...

Heh. It makes me sad, sometimes, the things the kids value over others...

BetteJo said...

Those things are the things that make you cool in their eyes, not sure if kids know the difference between that and respect until they're older.

Anonymous said...

But what about your awesome, cute, yet respectful, outfits? For those boot alone, you command respect and give off an aura of coolness. ;-)

carmilevy said...

My favorite teachers were always the ones who made an effort to stay at least remotely connected with the modern world.

They didn't have to be leading edge by any stretch of the imagination. So if they showed up to class wearing something that hadn't been featured in that month's Cosmo, we cut them some slack. But being able to participate on at least a middling level in discussions about music, movies and other elements of pop culture that mattered to us was always a plus.

The ones who made the effort were repaid with greater respect when it came time to open the books and learn. It's so clear that you get that, and your kids are incredibly lucky as a result.