Turning off Teacher Mode

Nicole - posted on 01/31/2011

I def. have a hard time with this. Just the other day we were in a store and my husband said a curse word and I corrected him as if he were one of my students. And, I get the teacher voice ALL the time with my family but I don't think that is a bad thing.

Rebecca - posted on 01/22/2011

A teacher in the room next to me, used to crack-up laughing at me, because I could turn on and off the "teacher voice" when talking to different people. I suppose it would've sounded funny! May have a split personality that I'm not aware of? ;)
But I do think my children get the worst part of me, after thinking all day for a class full little ones, when I get home ALL my patience has dwindled, and I get a tad snappy! But once your aware of it .. well, that's the first step, I'm still working on the solution! (one thing works one day but not the next)! And young children don't follow "plans"!

Pamela - posted on 01/06/2011

I get this a lot too. I made a deal with the family that for a half hour after I get home, I just need quiet. I have had people asking questions and talking to me all day. This half hour gives me time to 'decompress' and I am able to separate the school teacher from the parent. I don't know if this will help, but it helps me to be a more understanding mom.

Janaye - posted on 01/04/2011

I do two different things that seem to help. First, I don't let myself think about school from the moment I get in the car. I make myself go into "Mommy Fun Mode" as we call it. My kids and I sing, tell jokes, play I Spy, or whatever comes into our heads to help me get away from work. Also, both of my kids call me "Mrs. H." at school which helps me when I hear them call me "Mama" at home or elsewhere. That has become extremely important this year since my daughter is in my class!

Heather - posted on 12/31/2010

My husband is still telling me to stop using my teacher voice, and I've taken the last 4 years off to stay home with my kiddos... I wish I knew the answer to your question!

Carina - posted on 12/30/2010

I soooooooooooo understand... It's something we have to adapt to... My mum says I bring out my teacher finger - when I am pushing a point! I don't know... Can you turn off being a teacher?? i still find spelling mistakes in the newspaper & in pamphlets... When we go out for dinner - I have to say.. Some Asian takeaways/fruit stores - spell my cultural foods wrong.. I end up not buying from there... Petty??? We are teachers! Not just as a profession - it makes us who we are.

Not anyone can be a teacher! My hubby growls too when I 'over explain' stuff... So I go the opposite - and give less info... I can't win!
Please when you get the remedy let me know!

Valleria - posted on 12/30/2010

ba

LOOK I CAN TURN OFF SO EASILY I SCARE MYSELF!!! I PICK MY ASSITANT UP IN THE MORNING,(SEH'S ONE THAT WILL NOT QUIT. SOMETIMES I WANT TO SAY STOP IT . WHEN I LEAVE SCHOOL, I THINK THAT MODE STAYS IN THE TOY ROOM SOMEWHERE.

Jane - posted on 12/29/2010

My problem is more being attentive to my family and turning off school pressures. I could easily spend 16 hours a day on school stuff, and just go through the motions with my own family. I've needed to set up boundaries between these two full time jobs. It's hard.

Becky - posted on 12/29/2010

My husband looks at me funny and then reminds me that I'm not in his kindergarten class;)

Candy - posted on 12/27/2010

Have you thought of turning it upside down? Try talking to your school kids more like you talk to your family, or how you'd like to talk to your family. If you can even out the two modes a bit more, the problem of doing a complete gear change might disappear. Good luck!

Marsha - posted on 12/22/2010

I have this same problem too, and it frustrates the heck out of DH. Being a teacher is something that is SO much a part of us. We give ourselves to our students all day long; we strive to make them better humans. It's so difficult not to speak that way with everyone else around us. I could have quoted MANY others as I've heard the same thing about me. I guess that just makes us teachers LOL

Kechia - posted on 01/29/2009

I have this same trouble! I am always telling my family even my husband to "use their words". Or I am always telling my girls that my preschoolers can do it. I know I need to stop this, but it's hard. My kids are only 6 and 7 1/2. I hope for their sake I can fix this soon.

Andrea - posted on 01/27/2009

My husband and parents complain about thiws all the time.  I don't think I am talking any diferently, but I guess that is the problem.

Amy - posted on 01/27/2009

I am right there with you. I really struggle with this myself. I feel that sometimes I talk to others like they are my students. My husband gets really frustrated because he says I sometimes sound more like our daughter's teacher rather than her mommy. I think it is part of who we are. Being a teacher is a gift, but it does embed itself into our everyday living and routines. I think this is all the more reason why my family and I try to find "us" time and have a family day out. It seems to calm the nerves a little from the stress I tend to feel in my day.

Brooke - posted on 01/27/2009

So were you in my family room last night and heard my husband say You are at home now not at school. I can never turn off teacher mode.

Hannah - posted on 01/26/2009

Yeh, i moaned at my bf because he was talking down to me in my words 'like i talk to my toddlers' He said If i didnt speak to him like he was a child, he wouldnt talk to me that way! My son... because i am a nursery nurse, i find it dificult getting into mum mode e.g he smacks his friends and i say 'No u do not smack ur friend, we do not do that- it is not nice!' I am trying to enforce a higher force of discipline, but speaking to todddlers- then speaking to my 3 year old is difficult

Carrie - posted on 01/25/2009

i find that by the time i get home, i have given everything i had in the class and have very little left for my own kids. So everything comes out sounding like i am discipling a class instead of helping my own kids. so i have not yet found that balence beitween school and home. Someone suggested something physical like leaving your school bag in the mud room and taking a breath before entering the house. sort of re-aligning yourself.

Kim - posted on 01/25/2009

For years my husband always told me to stop talking to him like he was one of my students! After 13 years of marriage I think he has given up and just had to learn how to get used to me!! LOL

Sarah - posted on 01/25/2009

Sometimes I have to stop it when I go to the mall too...I just want to tell the kids to stop running!

Tara - posted on 01/25/2009

Quoting Dorothy:

I have yet to figure it out...My boyfriend tells me that he feels like a kid sometimes when I talk to him....LOL

Well, if they wouldn't act like kids.... :)

Dorothy - posted on 01/25/2009

I have yet to figure it out...My boyfriend tells me that he feels like a kid sometimes when I talk to him....LOL

Ayana - posted on 01/24/2009

wow turning off teacher mode after you have been doing it all day is hard sometimes i just think about how annoying i must sound to my family,