Don't Let Them See You Smile

How many of you have been told, “Don’t let them see you smile until Christmas?” This slogan has become doctrine amongst our profession, and whether it is proclaimed as dogma or a punch-line, we have to ask ourselves, is it warranted? A stern teacher may be getting results in one forum, but be completely missing the mark in others. In contrast, each campus usually has at least one teacher who encourages his/her students to follow him/her on Instagram and to come in during lunch “just to chat.” So with the start of a new school year, we need to ask ourselves, how can we create an effective workplace persona and why is it important to do so?

What Is the Goal?

The teaching profession comes with a some notably unique challenges. All would agree that some relationship must exist between teacher and learner in order for there to be an effective learning environment. But what type of relationship? Are we to be emulating that of a mentor and apprentice, boss and employee, partners in crime, or dare I say, friends?

This all brings us back to our opening mantra: don’t let them see you smile until Christmas. Are we to sacrifice aspects of ourselves in order to maintain classroom order and discipline? Let’s take this thought one step further, if a pupil cannot follow rules or stay focused in class, perhaps the problem is not because the instructor cracked a smile the first month of school. Perhaps we can be genuine and relatable prior to Christmas. 

We spend hours crafting lessons, finding resources, and decorating our classroom. The hope is that when pupils leave that classroom, they take with them new knowledge and a better understanding of the world than they had when they entered it. I feel that this also means taking part of that teacher with them on their journey. This becomes inherently more difficult if we are withholding aspects of ourselves in order to maintain a certain level of classroom behavior.

Tools to Help Teachers Relate to Students

• Social Media: Kids love following their teachers on Facebook or Instagram, but most would agree that it is somewhat inappropriate. Consider creating a separate Facebook page for your classes to visit where you post school-related pictures, information, and updates. This is a great way to build relationships while still remaining professional.

• Shared Space in Classroom: Consider creating a space in the classroom to share pictures of yourself doing positive activities. They reflect a hobby, a camping trip, a hike, playing with your dog, whatever shows your personality while maintaining a positive, professional persona. This is also a place to put pictures of you with students working on projects or together at school events.

• Share Your Stories: They may not remember every lesson or retain all of the information for the next exam, but if you share an important story with them, it will stick. Do not shy away from sharing your experiences and moments of growth because that is part of being a teacher. Go beyond the basic needs of the classroom and share what it means to be human.

As educators, we have a high demand placed on us to pass on information, knowledge, and a little piece of ourselves to the next generation. It is important to make smart decisions about how we are going to go about doing that while still maintaining a professional persona and developing meaningful relationships with our students.

How do you accomplish this goal? Share with the Lesson Planet Community so all may benefit. 

Related Resources:

Positive Interaction, Creating a Community of Learners , Get Them on Your Side with Laughter