Younger students think the strangest things about their teachers. Very often the best thing to do is simply play along and let them figure things out for themselves.
At work, the schedules of the different part time teachers are staggered. On some days all the teachers start at the same time, while on other days people start at different hours and go home early. The other full time teachers sometimes have been around for hours when I go to work. There is an agreement that they must arrive at the same time out of “fairness and respect for their coworkers”. I’m happy I can go to work 30 minutes before my classes instead of arriving at the same time every day regardless of when my classes start.
When I come into work on my own while previous classes are still in session, I often run into students in the hallways. They might be waiting for class to start the next hour, going to the bathroom, or simply being a little tardy getting to class. Almost all of them get a surprised look on their face when they see me arriving in a coat and getting settled into my desk.
“Where did you go?” they’ll ask suspiciously. This used to really bother me when I first started teaching. I thought they were trying to be nosey, but now I realize that most young students think I live “in America” and fly to work each day. Either that, or that I live in one of the school classrooms they aren’t allowed to enter.
“I didn’t go anywhere! I’m starting work soon. I just got here.” I’ll answer.
“Oh, why didn’t you teach the other classes?” Some students think that my schedule is the same as every other teacher. This is a very reasonable assumption, since they don’t know about how the schedule works. What’s strange is that if I’m not in class, they assume there are some bored students sitting in a classroom without a teacher, waiting for me to arrive. I guess I’d wonder why I’d was sitting around too if I thought about things this way.
“There aren’t any classes right now for me. My class starts next hour. See you then!”
Then they usually say, “Ohhhh,” and walk off confused. They’ve perfected the whole, “pretend to understand the strange man without angering him too much” thing.
It takes a long time for simple facts to settle in about my life outside the school. I’ve been teaching students for close to six months that still can’t remember that I’m married. Even after they’ve seen us together outside the school. I don’t bring it up anyway. More of my students remember that I have a cute puppy than a wife. This is why on the first day of new classes I always show a picture of my dog to new students. It’s something they always remember about me, even if they think I live under the desk.
