Secrets for Secondary School Teachers by Ellen Kottler, Jeffrey A. Kottler, Cary J. Kottler Read Free Book Online Page B

concentrate on your words, not on your appearance. We suggest that you not wear clothing that is too tight or too revealing.
    Certain disciplines will have alternate dress codes. For example, P.E. teachers usually wear shorts and collared shirts, often with the school emblem. But this type of dress may be restricted to the gyms and the fields. An interesting case in point is a social studies teacher and after-school coach whowas informed he had to wear pants, rather than shorts, during the school day and would have to change after school to his alternate attire. This type of policy is, of course, up to the school or district to dictate. Teachers who have laboratory situations, such as biology, chemistry, art, and consumer and family sciences, may choose to wear lab coats to cover their street clothes while in their classrooms.
    S PIRIT D AYS
    Many schools have “spirit days” on which school colors are worn. Some schools have collared shirts or T-shirts with the school logo printed on them. Since people in general tend to wear T-shirts with jeans, figuring out what to wear on spirit days can be a problem. The challenge is to dress “casual” and show school spirit, but still appear “professional” and command respect.
    On spirit days, female teachers might decide to wear the T-shirt with a jean skirt rather than jean pants. For either male or female teachers, black denim (if denim is allowed) or khaki-colored pants, rather than blue jeans, could also be considered. If you do decide to wear jeans, make sure that they are clean and in good condition. You never know when the yearbook staff will be around to take your picture!
    I MAGE
    Whatever you do, you don’t want your clothes to be distracting. Students will talk about what you are wearing rather than what you are saying. If you dress like an older brother or sister, you may be treated like one. If your dress is too formal, the students will comment on it. Clothing is a visual cue for middle school and high school students; it signals where they are and what purpose is at hand. It tells them what behavior is expected. Be aware that this is part of what your attire will convey.
    It’s important to look nice and take pride in how you look.
I (Cary) remember a teacher I had who constantly wore the same two dresses. It seemed like she just switched off every other day. This did not speak well of her personal hygiene. I’m not saying you need a different outfit for each day of the month, but it is good to make sure you avoid wearing the same thing all of the time.
Another teacher I had was extremely outrageous in her appearance, even distracting. She was weird. It was hard to listen to her because of the outfits she would wear. One day, she came to school with a red dot on her forehead like that of an Indian woman. We thought she was making fun of Indian people. We all wondered why she did that, but she never explained herself. Sometimes, she came to school with so much makeup on her face that she looked like a clown. Another time, she wore a red jacket with the Playboy bunny emblem on it. You can tell that we all spent a lot of time talking about stuff she was wearing.
I would advise teachers to definitely have your own style, but to make sure your appearance isn’t going to detract from the task at hand. Because, believe me, it’s a long year, and we students will be studying every part of you.
    C LOTHING AS AN I NSTRUCTIONAL T OOL
    Clothing can also be used to emphasize points you wish to make in teaching. A Spanish teacher may wear a Cinco de Mayo shirt when he introduces Mexican holidays. A humanities or art teacher may like to wear a shirt with an impressionist painting on the front. A geometry teacher could wear a shirt with an Escher design. Even more inventive, an English or history teacher may dress up in period costume to attract student interest in a subject. A geography teacher may wear the dress of a particular culture being studied.
    The clothing you