Teachers - do you mind being called by your first name (by parents)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You address friends by their first names. Teachers are not your friends and should not be treated as such. Keep the relationship professional by addressing him/her as'mr., mrs., miss' etc

Do you address all the other professionals you interact with by their first name? Colleagues at work? Your dog walker? The plumber who comes to fix things?

[Anonymous]

I do mind. I have a parent this year who addresses me in emails by my first name. I address him as “Mr.” and I sign as “Mr.”.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher I really don’t care if parents call me by my first name. Most parents don’t because I assume they hear their kid call me Ms. LastName and just know me by that name. But do I care? Not at all.

I call parents Mr/Ms LastName because I just don’t know their first names (I have 120 students and meet parents maybe twice a year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do mind. I have a parent this year who addresses me in emails by my first name. I address him as “Mr.” and I sign as “Mr.”.

This is kinda stuck up. I work in an industry where suits are still the norm and I call my CEO by his first name. (Yes, I started with Mr.)

[Anonymous]

I always use the person's title, its more professional and a sign of respect.

We call Teachers Teacher "Surname" in my home country.

[Anonymous]

I've always called the teacher Mr. or Ms. fill-in-with-last-name.
It's a sign of respect on my part for your professional status, and if there are kids within earshot, it is important in my opinion that they hear you addressed as they address you.

I am an older mom who is always 10-15 years older than most of the teachers and many of my kid's peers' mothers. I'm in my mid 50s now with a kid starting high school. I have encountered many (much younger) teachers who address me as "Mrs. ____" and then another kid's (much younger) mother walks into the classroom and it's like "Oh, hi, Courtney!" So I get it in return, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do mind. I have a parent this year who addresses me in emails by my first name. I address him as “Mr.” and I sign as “Mr.”.

This is kinda stuck up. I work in an industry where suits are still the norm and I call my CEO by his first name. (Yes, I started with Mr.)

I think a teacher/boss (principal) is different than a teacher/parent relationship. I’d call a co-worker by their first name, but not a parent of a student.

[Anonymous]

I'd certainly call the teacher Mrs./Ms./Miss/Mr. in the presence of my children, but what about when it's one on one like at a PTO meeting or dealing with other school business (working with the principal or other staff on issues, etc.)? That's why I want to know. I suppose I could just ask them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those teachers on this thread who insist that parents call you Mr. Or Miss/Mrs./Ms., this is one reason that parents generally have no respect for teachers. I was a Wall Street lawyer and former investment banker who left and became a teacher. I insisted that parents call me by my first name. I was older than most of them and wanted them to view me as a professional who was working with them to help their kids be the best that they could be. I didn't need to create an silly artificial boundary by insisting that the parents address me as Mrs. Smith. In the world of professionals most people wish to be addressed by their first names, even by their subordinates (and parents are definitely not the subordinates of teachers). Students should call teachers by their last name as it is a whole different relationship.

That is a bit hyperbolic.

When I taught, everyone called me by my last name. That was the culture where I taught. Now, when I email teachers, I start with the honorific and follow their lead. I read nothing into it. I certainly don't think this choice is related to the downfall of education.

This exactly. You just follow the culture of the school. I’m a HS teacher and I don’t care what parents call me.
But our school seems to follow the more formal pattern of Mr., Ms, Mrs., Dr.
Whatever! I don’t really care what kids or parents call me but they seem to follow convention.

[Anonymous]

I never call parents by first names and I don’t like it if they call me by my first name. I’m a professional and I want boundaries in my workplace.

[Anonymous]

This is so weird to me. As a professional I’ve been known by my first name for decades at work. I’d be upset if someone called me Mrs. Smith and not Ms. I feel like teachers are back in the 1950s expecting everyone to call them Mrs. X.

I do use Mrs. X when emailing teachers. I rarely see or email teachers though. I met my kids’ teacher once last year and never emailed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never call parents by first names and I don’t like it if they call me by my first name. I’m a professional and I want boundaries in my workplace.

The only professionals known by their last names are Doctors. Everyone else gets referred to by first names in corporate America

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind if I can address you by your first name. What I do mind is when a parent wants to address me by my first name and have me refer to them as Mr./Ms. I am not the help. I do this with doctors as well. If the doctor uses my first name I use his/hers in return.

+1,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind if I can address you by your first name. What I do mind is when a parent wants to address me by my first name and have me refer to them as Mr./Ms. I am not the help. I do this with doctors as well. If the doctor uses my first name I use his/hers in return.

+1,000

l

I have a neighbor who knows that I am a teacher, so she requests that I call her Mrs. X. I do not teach her children, nor will I ever teach her children as long as we live in the neighborhood we do.

Her rationale, which she very openly voiced, is that it is a term of respect since she is a parent of schoolchildren. When I responded that I too am the mother of school-aged children, she replied, "Of course, but you are also just a teacher," while addressing me by my first name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mind if I can address you by your first name. What I do mind is when a parent wants to address me by my first name and have me refer to them as Mr./Ms. I am not the help. I do this with doctors as well. If the doctor uses my first name I use his/hers in return.

+1,000

l

I have a neighbor who knows that I am a teacher, so she requests that I call her Mrs. X. I do not teach her children, nor will I ever teach her children as long as we live in the neighborhood we do.

Her rationale, which she very openly voiced, is that it is a term of respect since she is a parent of schoolchildren. When I responded that I too am the mother of school-aged children, she replied, "Of course, but you are also just a teacher," while addressing me by my first name.

LOL, just want to acknowledge how gloriously effed up your neighbor's perspective is.