As a young teacher do you keep your age hidden from students in order to avoid losing their respect?

likehelpful
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I don’t tell them my age, but when they ask I have them guess just for my own amusement. I don’t have an issue with them respecting me though

likesmarthelpfulfunny

Nope they have no clue about age and time. I am 50. My students think I am any where between 18 and 75.

funnylike

When they ask, I always say that I’m old enough to be the teacher and that’s all that matters. I’ve been asked by grades K-8 and that answer has always worked.

likesmart

I’ve worked with young women who were literally right out of college in May and teaching high school in the Bronx the following September. They were badass and respected and their ages were irrelevant.

likeuplifting

This is OP - I’m 23 in my second year and I was told by a couple older colleagues last year to never reveal my age if I was under 30, because the kids wouldn’t respect me. I was not sure how legitimate that was. I feel students act different because I am younger (not good or bad) but I don’t necessarily know if they lose respect.

like

I have always been honest with them. I teach high school, so I think it's important To be fully up front with them.

I have had students ask me my age. What's funny is sometimes then others in the class will get upset and say it's disrespectful to ask that question. When that happens I usually do have some kind of discussion of topics that are usually not something you ask people who are not close to you. However, best story about age is years ago when I was about 35, I had a girl interrupt a conversation that teachers were having and asked all of us our age-completely out of the blue. One of the older teachers went overboard being upset. I tried to use humor to diffuse the situation. So I said I was 96. The girl looked at me wide eyed. Another teacher chimed in with how good my skin looked. The student agreed. I took it a step further and said my family had a history of living a long time. I said my mom was currently 122, and my grandmother, God rest her soul, lived to 134, so I expected my mom to be around for a very long time. This girl swallowed everything I said hook, line, and sinker! I can only imagine the conversation at the dinner table that night!!!

likefunny

I used to keep it from them when I was in my 20s, but I tell them I'm 37. They are usually just suprised that I don't have kids yet.

like

I have always told my age, even when I first started at 23. I have never felt like it affected how much they respected me. As their teacher you are an adult and an authority figure as long as you act like it.

like

I think my grey hair and beard give me away

likefunny

No I don’t think so give them respect and they will respect you

like

I didn’t want my kids to know my age until I was over 25 and taught middle because I thought they’d be silly. They’d guess anywhere from 19-84 which made it really fun to not tell them. 😂

like

I currently teach sixth and they know my age.... 26.
Yeah we can “relate” on some things, so they say.
But respect is a two way street. She doesn’t make it easier or harder.

like

Following. I don’t have the issue with my students (we joke a lot) but I lose respect from my coworkers.

like

Same! My kids couldn’t care less that I’m 24. That’s still 15 years older than them though so they think I’m ancient. I can tell that some of my colleagues look down on me for mentioning it. From what I’ve seen, I think a teachers age is only a big deal for kids if the teacher thinks it’s a big deal.

I teach little ones, so it’s never been a big deal to me. Years ago one of my first graders asked me how old I was and when I told him I was 30 he shrieked, “And you’re still alive?!?!” Since then I came up with my line. When my kids act shocked by how old I am I flip my hair a few times and say, “I know it’s shocking that this much beauty and perfection could be achieved in just _____ years, and yet, here I am standing before you.” My kids have usually learned my personality and jokes by the time they ask this, so we all get a giggle from it.

like

I've never thought about this. I don't mind sharing my age (I'm 36). They usually think I am younger than that.

Nope

I would tell elementary school kids the year I was born and make them do the math!

Me too. I usually build a math problem in a quiz at the beginning of the year for them to find out my age. I taught stats and there is a great guess my age activity for scatter plots on age guessing celebrities. I threw myself up there. Youngest I got was 16...oldest in my 50’s. If they over guess, I usually comment that I look good for my age. My daughter goes to my school so if they guess too low. I bring up that I have a teenage daughter. They guess usually means they are interested in you. Taking it personally, for whatever reason, may give the kids a reason to shut down on you. If I was touchy about my age or if the kid is rude about it. My response would be, “I am a lady and ladies do not share their age”. It’s more fun seeing their reasoning skills to figure my age.

In my first 6 years I wore a lot more suits.

I’d love to know more about the stats activity!

like

I’m 24 in my second year. My first year I always got bombarded with questions about my age from my students. This year not one has asked. I used to make them guess but now I just tell them. I get a mixed reaction because I teach both seniors and freshman. The seniors just want to know if I partied in college and the freshman don’t care 🙃

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