Reputation as the nice teacher
Hey everyone,
Sorry for long post:
I have been teaching for 10 years (5th grade math) and the most challenging thing for me is to be assertive and have a healthy disconnect between emotions of students. I am going through therapy and working on not people pleasing so much but with the way I was brought up, I naturally want to jump in and help people feel better. As a man in education, it sometimes feels like I’m expected to be the “strict” teacher, which I’ve always struggled with. I struggle with self confidence sometimes and that adds to my challenges.
There is another principal at the middle school the kids go to next who is also named Mr. Locke (my name as well). The police officer explained to our grade level that ‘Mr. Locke doesn’t play.’ A bunch of kids thought the officer was talking about me, and many of them were like “what? no he’s so chill.”
I do not like that. I feel that I would be a more effective teacher if my reputation was an authority figure. My colleagues have also called me “nice,” which I hate because I feel it could be perceived as weak.
How can I rebuild my reputation as a structured no nonsense teacher? I do not believe the kids respect me.
TLDR - Should I work on being more strict or embrace the chill persona while working on providing more structure?