I Am Miss

You would not know this to look at me, but I have no identity. I am utterly common, with no unique characteristics at all. I am Miss. I have no name, or at least my students think so. They have the inability to call me by name; therefore, I must not have one. Students are, after all, like customers - always right.

I introduced myself to them on the first day of class; "Hi, I'm Tree of Knowledge and will be your writing teacher this semester. You can call me Tree or Ms. Knowledge. I am fine with either." And yet, 9 weeks into the semester, they call me Miss. I'm not even Ms. Oh feminist sensibilities stand firm.

Even my four-year-olds, when I taught preschool, didn't call me Miss. They called me Miss Tree. Even that I would accept from these so-called adults. But alas, I am Miss, one more in a long string of forgettable, interchangeable English/Writing teachers.

I call every single one of my 90 students by name. I pronounce and spell their names correctly (apparently Tree can also be spelled Tri, Treeine, Trey, and Dree). Yet my students seem to be unable to muster the minute amount of respect it takes to call someone by name.

I have said to offending students, "My name is Tree or Ms. Knowledge, not Miss." Their reply, "Oh, sorry Miss."