Leave Your Classroom Without It

If you are a teacher or have friends who are teachers, do you find that you or your teacher friends never quite leave behind "the teacher" at work? Meaning, do teachers often interact with their friends or peers as they would with their students? A friend of mine used to complain to me that his previous girlfriend would talk to him as though he was one of her middle school students, especially when they got into a fight. He used to be furious getting off the phone with her saying, "I'm not an adolescent child! She doesn't need to talk to me like that!" You know how we do with our students -- explaining and re-explaining the same thoughts but slower and with superfluous enunciation of key words in hopes that our students will get it "this" time around.

I have always prided myself for not falling into this category of teachers in my years of teaching though. Sure, I've become much more interested in politics and began referencing more historical facts in conversations since becoming a history teacher. And yes, I unconsciously draw venn diagrams, t-charts, K-W-Ls, and other animated graphic organizers in my mind while watching the food network or listening to a sermon at church. But never have I talked down to my wife or treated my peers as though they were one of my under-arm-hair-checking teenage students. Never!

Until recently.

I remember people warning me that once married we'd fight about the most trivial of things, and it happened. My wife and I got into the biggest argument the other day because I did not agree with the way she was flattening left over cardboard boxes to fit into the garbage bag. Observing her struggling to detach each corner of the boxes without ripping them so they can be neatly folded flat, I graciously offered my suggestion of simply stomping on them, folding the edges in and stomping on them some more. It would be a much quicker and less strenuous method. No, so said. She liked her way better because it was neater. At that point I began explaining to her the intricate details of the recycling process and how my method will minimize the surface area to volume ratio, therefore fitting more into the bag, not to mention the time and effort she will save in the process. It didn't matter. She kept insisting that she do it her way and for me to leave her alone. Well, in my caring nature, I took the boxes from her and demonstrated my superior method, all the while thinking I understood something that she didn't just like how many of my students simply don't have the knowledge or life's wisdom that "I do" to comprehend certain things. Oops.

The rest of the night didn't go quite as I had hoped, but the boxes still got recycled...all of them. So may the moral of this blog resound loudly and clearly for all us teachers. Leave your teacher in the classroom!