Connecting with the "Brothaz"

What a whirlwind week it was this past week. There was the wonderful book fair that my grade partners and I spearheaded, as we were still responsible for teaching our classes and holding report card conferences in the morning and on one of the evenings. (Never mind the carbon monoxide issue among others)

It's no mystery that the teaching profession is dominated by women, especially at the elementary level. It's also no mystery that during most parent/teacher interactions will likely involve a female parent or guardian.

Being a black male elementary school teacher, in a predominately black elementary school, I believe the connections I form with students and parents alike is a unique one (since black men only make up 2% of the public school teaching force). Bonds are also often formed and a sense of brotherhood realized whenever I interact with older brothers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other male figures in the (not just my) students' lives when they come into the school.

Two such occurrences happened this week and I believe it made the brothers comfortable. One was a grandfather and the other was a young father. We talked school, education, grades, and may have even veered off topic at times. And that's OK. I think it made them feel apart.

Teacher and 'brotha from anotha motha' occurrences aren't daily, but when they do happen I believe it sends a few messages on some subconscious level:
1.  Men are welcome in elementary schools and it's OK
2.  Men teach and it's OK
3.  Men can care for children and it's OK
4.  Men don't have to wait in lines for the restroom and it's OK!
(I think I just made some female colleagues nationwide upset with that)
{runs for cover}

But then there is that one bathroom that almost always become the unisex bathroom and we end up with "minus 1"....and I guess that's OK too!

lol