Why, thank you!

Today, instead of a regular school day, we had Student Led Conferences. That means I worked from 12pm-8pm, rather than 7am-3pm. Typically, on conference days schools invite parents to come to conferences with teachers to talk about student progress - most of the time kids aren't even there. At SHS, though, we invite kids to come with their parents, and the kids lead the conferences. It's actually an interesting concept, and I'd be happy to explain it in a different post later if anyone is truly interested, but that's not the point of my blog tonight.

Tonight I was walking back to my classroom from the main office when I passed one of my senior boys in the hall. He and his mother were on their way to his conference. When he saw me, he said, "Hi, Mrs. Hocking!"

I replied, "Hi, C! Good luck on your conference!"

His mom said to him, "She's a teacher?!?!"

Then she looked at me and said, "You look so young! You just blend right in!"

Man, even after eight years of teaching I'm still getting those comments! At least once a year I get a parent commenting on how old (or young?) I look. Tonight was not the first time a parent this year has said it, either!

A few months ago I met the mother of one of my freshmen. She didn't beat around the bush - she flat out asked me how old I was! That was a little off-putting, so I answered by saying, "This is my eighth year teaching at SHS, and I will be 31 in a few weeks."

It kind of annoyed me when I got those comments the first few years I was teaching, but now that I've breached 30, I LOVE it!!

Shallow, I know. But I no longer get carded at the grocery store or in a restaurant, so I'll take it where I can get it!