Incognito

 

Sometimes I think that when you teach little kids, they actually think that you live at school. Many years ago, when my own kids were little, we lived in a small town in North Carolina. The school where I taught was right down the street. As a matter of fact, you could see the school from the house. I would walk to school because it was so close. My oldest daughter was in 1st grade at the time, and she would walk with me. I was teaching 3rd grade. Well, most of the kids in my class lived in my neighborhood. 

Kids in my class would come over to play, they would be hanging out in the streets, and some parents forgot I wasn't teaching at night. I had one parent come to my house around 11:00PM to ask me about homework. I had to tell her politely that it was too late and that I was not going to entertain school questions after hours at my own home. That was a little too close for comfort.

Other times, we would be eating in a restaurant or shopping at the grocery store, and I would hear it...."Mrs. Rovan, what are you doing here?" I would laugh and say that even teachers have to go to the grocery store and even teachers have to eat. But these meetings turned into exactly that.... a meeting. Parents need to remember that teaching is still a job. Just like I wouldn't expect a doctor to do an exam in a grocery store, don't expect a teacher to conduct a parent/teacher conference in Walmart.