We are Teachers is a Twitter account that “offer ideas, inspiration, and information for your best days—and double that for your hard ones. Supporting kids means supporting educators, always.”

A few days ago, they posed a question to teachers about attire. They asked us how we felt about wearing jeans to school.

I don’t think it is appropriate for teachers to wear jeans to school. We should be well-dressed when working and put forth a professional image. Before I typed my reply, I looked at what the other teachers were saying and was disappointed to see that many of my peers don’t feel the same way.

Here is the tweet I published.

What horrible responses. You are making our profession look terrible. Dress like teachers and not students. Be professional and put forth a positive image. https://t.co/4Uu6pW3cy7

— Chase March (@chasemarch) June 8, 2019

I was really surprised to see the impact that little tweet had. It has over 3000 impressions with multiple retweets, likes, and replies.

Some people think that jeans can look professional when done right. Perhaps they can. All I know is that some teachers dress like teenagers and I think it degrades the profession.

There are two occasions where I might wear jeans to school. The first is, Dress Down Fridays. These are days where teachers can donate money to charity to dress more casually. The second would be a field trip where a more casual appearance and comfort might be an issue.

I really wasn’t expecting to see such opposition to my point of view. And I really didn’t expect to be attacked about my belief. Here is an exchange with a principal that seemed to prove my point about professionalism.

I decided not to call her out by name on this platform.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one to attack me about my belief.

Fortunately, some people did agree with me. One teacher wrote, “What Chase is saying is that a teacher who dresses nicely is putting forth an image of professionalism; one quality of a good educator. Not the only quality, but one.”

That was my point all along. It’s the reason I regularly wear a tie to work. On days where I don’t, I wear a golf shirt with a nice pair of casual pants (not jeans).

Casual business attire used to be the norm for teachers. I think it still should be. That doesn’t make me outdated or old-fashioned. Image is important in this day and age. We are professionals and should dress the part. Let’s inspire our students in all that we do.

Follow me on Twitter and continue the discussion there, if you are so inclined.

Teaching Tip Tuesday – ideas and inspiration from my classroom to yours