I'm a student; I thought I'd clear that up first. So, the Summer holidays have arrived, and earlier today I saw one of my teachers at the local mall. It got me wondering whether teachers enjoy meeting their students outside of school hours, or see it as an annoyance... What's your opinion? Thanks, DarkLightA
I've been, or at least felt, really awkward the couple of times I've met families outside of work. I'm just not good in those situations, so I'm glad I don't work in the same county I live in.
I actually do enjoy it. I never initiate though, unless I know the adults with them... otherwise I come off looking like some creepy man... especially when I mistook a kid for being a completely different kid... boy was he confused when I called him the wrong name!
I like it. Do you like it when your teachers stop and talk to you? Sometimes I don't want to interrupt THEM. lol. I even stopped and talked to a student on my first date with my BF 5 years ago. lol.
I love it! After spending a whole year together, we have a bond. I always want to hear about how they are doing and what is new. My 5th graders go on to middle school so I don't run into them in the halls like other grades do. I miss checking up on them. I encourage my students to email me or come by to visit if they have anything I can help them with.
I live in a different city from the district in which I work, but the cities are only 20-30 min apart, but I don't run into any kids I work w/. If they said a quick "Hi", it's nice, but I don't really care either way. But, I'd rather someone pretend they didn't see me as opposed to looking right at my face & saying nothing.
I enjoy seeing my students around. I technically live a town over from the school, but both towns are small and I end up in the school's town a lot for shopping or eating out. Since I'm in elementary the kids are still really excited about seeing their teacher, haha. What I don't like is when parents want to have a parent-teacher conference in the produce aisle of walmart. We've been warned that we legally can't discuss anything related to the student's IEP outside of school, and apparently they've had issues before. So when parents want really specific information when they just see me around, I feel like I come off as rude. I try to say something general like , ______ is doing great or has improved a lot, great attitude, or something or other.
I live in the very small town where I teach. I can't go anywhere and not run into students I always speak and so do they
I live a town over from where I teach, and I STILL see students. It's a running joke that our families are everywhere! One of my colleagues even went to Disney and saw a family from our school!
Saying hello to the people you know is good manners. If I saw a student outside of class, of course I would say hi, and I would expect the same courtesy of my students. In a school as large as mine, I can pretty much assume I'll see kids anywhere I go-- and if not my kids, there will be my husband's. From Sunday mass to Disney World, it's just a given. If I have the time to stop and chat, I do. If not, it's a quick "HI!--Gotta run!"
I work in the same town where I live. I just finished my 18th year in the same district, so I see former, current, and future students everywhere. I teach at the only middle school, and I'm one of only two English teachers in my grade. I don't mind seeing kids in public. I usually let them speak to me first since kids that age may or may not want to admit to knowing any adult in public n
When I am out I try and avoid students if possible. There have been times I have run into just the parents and have completely forgotten their names (even which kid they belonged to). Those can be akward times. Some students I don't mind running into out in public and have made a point to say hi to myself when I saw them. Then there are some students I would walk the other way if I saw.
I think that is very impolite. I, on the other hand, always make it a point to say hi to my kids when I see them around. I especially love seeing my kids who are currently in middle school. I often get a flashback of their sweet little face when I had them as a 2nd grader.
I always stop to say hello to students and parents if I see them out in the neighborhood. This thread reminds me of a Christmas shopping day a few years ago. A friend and I were at a major mall, and during the day, I heard "Hey, Ms. P.!" at least five different times. My friend was surprised that, as teenagers, they didn't just ignore the teacher; I was flattered that they took the time to say hello.
What I love is the "What are YOU doing here?" questions from teenagers at the mall. Ummm, this is my husband and these are my kids. I'm shopping, silly!
I saw a former student at the store last night with his mom. She told me he saw me from across the whole store and told her that he had to go say hi to me (remember I work with students with autism) It is especially nice for me when I see them practicing their social skills in the "real world".
I love saying hi to the kids when I see them. I've been teaching for nearly 20 years and I live in the area in which I teach, so the odds are that I'm going to run in to a former student when I'm out and about. I would like to say, though, please don't be offended if I can't remember your name! I'm HORRIBLE at that. I'll say hi, ask how you're doing and what you're doing now, but there's a good chance I won't remember your name until a couple hours later. LOL. And it's okay if you don't remember my name either. I know you've had lots of teachers.
One of my favorite shops is GameStop and that is usually where I run into students as well. I get the same thing "What are YOU doing in GameStop, Mr. Cerek?" Uhm...I'm looking for games, just like you. They usually think that is pretty cool and it builds a little extra rapport with them. When I was a student, I was in elementary school, I would feel awkward if I saw a teacher outside of school, but by 6th grade, I got over that. My math teacher worked a second job at the only big retail/dept store in town, so I saw him all the time. As a teacher, I've had a couple of kids turn and look or walk the other way to avoid speaking when they saw me. It doesn't bother me because I felt the same way when I was little. But I saw another student from our school in GameStop just two days ago. He was a 7th grader, so I only had him as a student when I subbed for my coworkers, but I saw him in school every day. He waved at me and I went up to speak with him. We talked about a mutual game we both like and then went about our business looking for new games. When I left, I made it a point to say goodbye to him. I've also seen several students in Wal-Mart at different times and, yes, I DO love it when they actually take time to speak to me.
I pretty much assume that, no matter where we're going, in NY or elsewhere, we'll see either one of my kids or one of Peter's. (He was photographing something the ohter day, and ran into someone he taught in 1985!) It's rare that we don't. We've seen kids in Disney World, at the airport in Raleigh-Durham NC, in Bermuda, in upstate Lake George-- it would be unrealistic to expect NOT to see them at the mall! We always stop for a minute or two and chat.
My students would not be suprised to see me in a place like that, I talk to them about the games I play, etc. I enjoy those types of conversations in the classroom, it makes the teacher more human to the students. As for walking the other way being rude; I don't do it intentionally if they see me. It is just there are times when you are not in the mood to talk to kids at all.
I have a few kids like that. When I see kids in public, I usually don't say hi unless they say hi first. Sometimes, if I see them first, I will avoid them if possible. One time, I ran into a bunch of girls (high school age) at the super market, and they stopped to talk to me. I spoke to them for about 5 minutes, and they talked about how they were doing. When we were done and walking away, one of the girls said "Have a good time at the party Mr. Sam." I walked away dumbfounded, wondering what they were talking about. As I was loading my groceries in the car, I realized I had two twelve-packs of alcohol in my basket that they had clearly seen. I got a chuckle out of it. They never mentioned it again.
I don't mind talking to my old students out side of the classroom but I do tend to attempt to avoid them or hide if I'm having a bad hair day lol My hair is fairly curly when it grows past a inch and hard to comb sometimes. So it looks a bit odd sometimes. So I try to keep my hair cut very short. Something though, I can not get in to see a barber when I need to so it can be odd meeting students outside.
I enjoy talking to students as well as parents outside of the classroom. I usually ask what the student is doing if I know they have graduated high school or college. To get another perspective on this question I asked my 24 year old son what he would do if he saw a former teacher. He said he would definitely say hello. I asked him why and he said, "Wouldn't that be rather rude to ignore someone I know?" Love his answer!
Since one of my former students is one of my neighbors at my apartments and she is 41 years old sometimes meeting students and former students is quite DIFFERENT. In my 35 year career I had over 10,000 students in 4 counties. I have met students while camping, at concerts, at Sea World, Disneyland, church and shopping at Walmart.
My favourite "out of school" moment was a couple of years ago when we were at the local high school for a track meet. One of my former students (who could be quite a trouble-maker), came bounding across the field and swept me up in a big hug!
I love it. Though I'm usually thankful I was doing something all innocent and wholesome, and not in the middle of a stressful situation that needs to be handled in an certain manner. That's rare anyway, but happens. But I'm always glad I've happened to be in a good mood when they see me.
I have not been in the buying alcohol at the store while running into parents/students situation, but I have known other teachers who have; that can be quite akward.
One of my friends dropped her Y membership because she was embarrassed when the kids saw her in her swimsuit!
I appreciate it a great deal! I live in a small town just 10 minutes away from the school where I teach so I usually run into students on a daily basis. Many of them I enjoy chit chatting with.
Normally I enjoy seeing my students outside of school, but Friday we went to a new local water park and one of my former students, now a sophomore, came over to talk to me. I felt a little awkward in my swim suit even though I was still wearing my cover up. Took me a while after he left to actually go in the water.
That's why I put usually! I love seeing my students, but I don't like seeing ANYONE I know if I feel awkward or embarrassed. But it seems to be guaranteed that if I ever run to the store really quickly after the gym or when I don't look very good, I always see people I know!
