Fall Teacher Outfits 4.4

I wore jeans on picture day… … … and I had multiple people on instagram share how unprofessional that decision was. Being a behavior teacher, I’ve developed a very thick skin… Honestly, it’s so hard to offend me or even phase me at this point, ha. After reading a few comments like that though, I was quite flabbergasted. LOL. That word… I have to use it. It basically sums up my feelings about this, ha.

I was flabbergasted simply because on the long list of things I believe to be unprofessional behavior, wearing jeans doesn’t even touch the list. I kept thinking how interesting it is to judge someone’s professionalism based off what they wear on picture day. The people that commented don’t follow my account or blog and that’s almost worse. They know nothing about me and chose to make a judgement about me based on me wearing jeans.

I’m shaking my head.

I wish we stopped judging each other so easily. It’s sad how easy conclusions are made.

What you wear doesn’t make you professional. How you act does. How you treat others does. How you make people feel does. How you collaborate with others does. One’s inclusion and acceptance of others does… but what you wear?

I have seen people dressed incredibly “professional” and discriminate against others… harass others… slander others… but you can’t see that based off what someone is wearing. One of my core beliefs around fashion and style: it’s not what you wear, it’s what you do in what you’re wearing that matters. This core belief has been embedded within my blog. Dress codes need to change. Getting reprimanded for our outfit choices takes away from what truly matters: the kids.

Sure– there are still dress code rules in some organizations and everyone has to follow the rules… Unless the rules could shake up the status quo… then by some people in powers standards, find ways around those rules… but dress codes… keep those in check. In all reality– unless an outfit decision is completely distracting to the learning environment, it shouldn’t matter what we wear… as long as we’re being ethical, compassionate, and student centered… HEALTHY educators.

We should be able to teach in whatever makes us feel confident enough to do what’s best for US and the students we serve. That’s what matters.

Here are the outfits I wore that made me feel confident enough to advocate for my students when I needed to, creative enough to think outside the box when faced with new behaviors I’ve never experienced, and patient enough to handle each situation when a student was escalated… calmly and decently effectively.