"You Look Chubby Today"

Over the past few months I have definitely found that teaching is not for the self-conscious. Although I have trouble with honesty in my classroom, my students are always brutally honest with me. Here are a few of my favorite examples:

Last week I bought a new polo to wear to school. I was pretty excited, it was a nice shirt and another piece of clothing I could add to my "work rotation" that would give me an escape from the daily shirt and tie. About 5 minutes into the morning announcements one of my students commented, "Meester... you look chubby today." I have gained a little bit of weight since moving to Houston, but only like 3 pounds. I hope it isn't that noticeable. I am going to blame it on the horizontal strips and undershirt combination... hopefully.

On Friday I was in the middle of teaching my students how to measure precisely using the imperial system (inches, feet, ect) when one of my students suggested that I should use Proactive. I actually appreciated my students logic (I did have a pimply on my forehead), but didn't necessarily like the delivery. I think this means that my students care about how I look?

These are just two examples. I also receive a lot of comments about how I need to shave, look tired, or nerdy. My students also like to comment on how I gel, or don't gel my hair and how I look better (or worse) with my glasses on. I am not sure I should begin to take fashion tips from my 5th graders, but it is interesting to hear their comments.

My favorite comments come when I do something "weird" or funny, such as when I obnoxiously sang happy birthday to a student, and over half my class suggested that was the reason I didn't have a wife. They like to say that one a lot. "Mr. that's probably why you don't have a wife."

- You need to understand that me being 23 years old without a wife or children is pretty rare in this community (especially that I do not have children). My first day of teaching 5th grade my students asked me (in this order):
1. How many kids do you have?
2. How many wives have you had?
when I answered zero to both they were pretty confused...