My name is Micky Shorter and I’m currently a junior in college, attempting to get my Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education for English and a minor in Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
“So why do you wanna teach?”
Words in particular are a powerful thing. I learned that in my high school English courses. Unfortunately, I was never quite elegant when it came to using words, both when participating in class and attempting to write papers. It was never a huge strong suit for me. However, every teacher has that one teacher mentor in their life that makes them want to start trying. I had a woman who spent countless hours with me outside of class trying to develop me into a better writer, as well as to gain the confidence that my ideas were worth sharing and having others listen to. I guess I want to do that. I’ve never felt more at home than I do in an English classroom, and, damn, I guess my goal is to just do that for someone else. Pay everything forward.
“Okay but if you’re a teacher, why don’t you want to be called Miss Shorter?”
Truthfully? The ‘S’ at the end of “miss” and that the start of “Shorter” blend together and I hate the way it sounds. Honestly, serious pet peeve of mine. It just does not sound satisfying together. Trust me, I’ve tried to get over it, and I can’t. The second half of that being that I have no desire to scare students into respecting me, especially right now when I’m 1) not certified and 2) only a couple years older than the high schoolers I’ll be teaching. I want them to know my person not my teacher persona, and I’m just not a formal person. I want my classroom to be a homey, comfortable place to be, and I feel like the teacher label of “miss” or “missus” works against that too much.
But I’m young and dumb and just trying to figure everything out. So maybe that’ll change, but really, I just want a nickname. And those are earned. So I guess we’ll just have to wait.
Please Don't Call Me "Miss Shorter" 