Ms. McKendree

Comp tale 91 really struck a chord with me as I have experienced being one of the young, impressionable girls described by Knutson. I have found myself being overcome with my still-teenager-like hormones wanting to sit next to the athletic boys, hoping they will appreciate the fact that I'm doing all their work and possibly indirectly invite me (or I invite myself) to some party in the coming weekend. Until recently, I hadn't really considered the effect these boys and their actions would have on me if I were on the other side of the fence. Being a first year grad student, I'm still relatively close in age to my students; this factor has positive and negative aspects. Positively, the students may be more inclined to trust me, and one of the negative aspects that may possibly come about is showcased in this comp tale. Thus far into my first semester as a GTA, I haven't been exposed to the negative side effects of being a young female in a classroom with hormonal, cocky, male athletes, but I dread experiencing a situation that bears any similarities to the situation described by Knutson. One suggestion to perhaps make sure this situation never occurs, which I find I will implement immediately, is to force the students to call me Ms. McKendree from Day 1. Though it may feel a bit weird at first, if I require this level of formality from my students (and myself), it could be beneficial in helping keep the metaphorical line drawn between teacher and student. I think the main flaw in Knutson's decision, which I'm hoping she realized by the end of her experience, was to just shcluff off the name calling. I will not answer to anything but "Mrs. McKendree." As said by Sebastian in "The Little Mermaid, "You give dem an inch, dey swim all over." The same principle is true with students, though I certainly hope they won't be swimming in my classroom :)