Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

Countless articles state that "tall people" (over 5.8 for women, and over 6.0 for men) have an advantage in all spheres of life, and earn more money compared to their smaller counterparts....but do you think this applies in the classroom as well?

Check this out...

http://www.slate.com/id/2063439


Ghost

[dagi]

Simple answer: No.

[Shaytess]

I don't know, I like to imagine that towering over the students in my class gives me the advantage of being extra scary, which is always good if you are also a young-ish teacher.

[scb222]

i have a 6 ft, quite hefty, teacher friend and he gets very little trouble from the monsters at his school. yet those same kids terrorize a lot of other teachers. it helps alright!!!

[ghost]

It comes down to personality and authority, and ``natural authority`` with kids and students in general is a largely ``innate`` quality, which has little to do with height or physique in general.

``Natural authority`` is a quality which is difficult to measure and describe in objective terms but it is something which some teachers have and some teachers will never have......that is why teacher training is all well and good, but some will never be successful in the classroom, at least when it comes down to class management.....and once again, physique has little do with this.....it comes down to personal attributes, and the credibility in which the teacher is held by the students, and they (the students) are able to work that out very quickly.

Ghost, supply teacher, Montreal French school board.

[FGT]

I would imagine that tall teachers suffer from backache more than shorter ones. Monitoring of students, coming down to their level is more difficult for them.

Thank God I'm short(ish)!

[ghost]

That is true about tall teachers. Teachers over 6ft tall (1.83) can look and feel somewhat intimidating to grades 1-3....because they are so small in comparison. Also it is not practical for the giants to be constantly bending down and checking on the work their charges are producing.

Good heights in the classroom:

women: 5 feet to 5.8 (with weight in proportion to height)

men: 5.6 to 6.0 (with weight in proportion to height)

Ghost at 6.2/162 (1.88/73k)....is definetely off the normal scales....in terms of height and weight....and some years down the road will need a hip replacement for all the leg work and running around it has accomplished. But ghost is a cardio exercise junkie, and needs a daily (minimum 60 minutes/1 hour) "fix" of cardio, either running, biking, swimming or a combination thereof in the gym.....and that type of dedication to task will result in the weight being down.

As a sidenote.....when ghost moved to Canada in 1998....it went through a period of about 3 years where it neglected exercising....and the "stick person" actually became quite a fatty within 3 years...eventually tipping the scales at 85 kilos...and showing a paunch as a testament to all the pizza and other fast foods it was consuming (including the favourite drink - 'coke'). But then after the health scare in 2005 following some cholesterol concerns, the new ghost went on the exercise regimen and cut out coke from the diet....replacing it with beer and wine, and although alcohol is high calory - drinking moderate quantitities is certainly less harmful compared with guzzling down soft drinks (ghost used to be a two cans a day thing).
Ghost would much rather have been 1.75/65 kilos, as this would have been more biomechanically sound for the body, and produced less "self consciousness" in and beyond the classroom.

ghost

[Henry_Cowell]

[justme]

I heard it's been getting a bit flabby around the middle...

[scot47]

I heard it is as mad as a proverbial.

[howmucharefags]

I am a 3ft 2'' midget and I have rarely came across any problems. I can easily pick up the students pens for them when they drop them. Being a dwarf has advantages in the classroom. I also have nice views...