The real me

Over the weekend I had a conversation with a fellow teacher about the battles we are always fighting with students about classroom rules and procedures. There are certain rules that we choose to enforce in our classrooms (such as specific procedures for turning in homework) and certain rules that are set by the administration that we all have to enforce (such as the fact that gum is not allowed). One of the most common complaints is that we do not allow students to do things that they are allowed to do elsewhere ("I can chew gum at home!"). My colleague and I discovered that we both always start the year with a conversation about the fact that the classroom is a professional environment and they should act as such. When I tell them that there are certain words that are not appropriate in the classroom, it doesn't mean I don't expect them to never use them, just that I don't want them to use them in my classroom. I explain that I am not the same person when I am at home that I am when I am teaching, because they are not the same type of environments. This always elicits a slew of questions about what I am like when I am not teaching ("Do you wear shorts?", "Do you swear?", etc.). So, here is a short comparison of the "teaching me" and the "real me":

Attire -
TM: Button-up collared shirt and slacks. I wear ties very occasionally.
RM: T-shirt and shorts. I wear my sandals until as late into the year as possible.

Skin -
TM: My clothes come across as pretty conservative and don't show anything unusual.
RM: Large tattoos around my wrists are most always visible, tattoo on my upper arm is occasionally visible, tattoo on my leg is visible when I wear shorts. Other tattoos are rarely visible in public.

Humor -
TM: I joke occasionally, but I think my students view me as pretty straight.
RM: Very sarcastic. Most of the jokes I make would not be appropriate in class.

Politics -
TM: I discuss politics rarely, though sometimes it is relevant. I try to play the role of devil's advocate, pointing out the counter-arguments to those my students post. Since most of my students come from Democratic families and many students think that I must believe any argument I put forth, there is often an assumption that I am pretty conservative.
RM: I am very liberal politically and rarely hide it. I am not as politically active as I would like, but I am working on it. If asked by a student, I will not hide or lie about my views.

Age -
TM: Students always ask about my age, and I never give a direct answer. It isn't because I don't want them to know, but because I enjoy the process of them trying to figure it out.
RM: I don't mind telling anyone who asks that I am 27.

More to come later, but the laundry is done...