Any Long Haired Educators Out There?

[marvel-lover]

I apologize if there is already a thread for this. I searched but couldn't find one.

Anyway, I'm in my last year of college, studying to be a special education teacher. This coming semester, which starts next week, has me in moderate/intensive classrooms, 4 days a week. The spring semester has me student teaching (yay!!).

I was wondering if there were any other teachers out there? If so, how do you prefer to wear your hair in the classroom? How do you prevent paint and all sorts of other classroom materials from getting into your hair?

[daywalker]

I'm not sure if her hair qualifies as long in a place like this, but my aunt is a kindergarten teacher with BSL hair. Amazingly, she either leaves it down (!!) or pulls it into a low ponytail. Also she uses a big jaw clip to make a twist updo with the ends sticking out. She's never complained about stuff happening to her hair. When I watched her move about the classroom, she just seemed to be aware of where her hair was and flick it back, if that makes sense. I can't believe the kids didn't pull it or put stuff in it!

[hayheadsbird]

Bun everyday. It's only just waist, but long enough to get in the way when working. Keeps most of the glue and paint out of it...

[Quixii]

I'm working on getting my teaching credential and have taught for a few months in a school, and I just wear my hair however I would normally - which means 95% time up in a bun. I wore it in a ponytail once to shock my students, and they were shocked!

[school of fish]

I teach dance, so on that score I don't really think my experience is applicable - but I have an 11-yr-old with autism who has been in Spec Ed his whole school career, so I can tell you what I've noticed about his teachers' hair ;)

Many of them have kept their hair on the short side. The ones who had longer hair might keep it down to about shoulder length - longer than that and it was usually up in peacock twists and messy buns. I can think of two of his early years teachers with about waist length hair and they would always have a clip or an elastic handy to get whip it up quickly if they needed to.

I'm sure Spec Ed classrooms can take many different shapes, with demands varying widely depending upon class designation, age range of students, specific exceptionalities, all kinds of factors. In my son's classes there have often been kids who need some physical intervention (such as assistance to calm or keeping a child from harming him/herself or others), or even just kids who have trouble understanding personal space and are overly demonstrative or curious. I've observed that the teachers servicing those kids really need to not have hair get in their way - they need to be able to move fast and freely if necessary. For classrooms where students may have fewer sensory or behavioural issues, wearing loose or braided styles might not be such a problem.

I'll be paying attention to this thread - I'm curious to hear what teachers themselves have to say :)

[floridaorchid]

Bun everyday. It's only just waist, but long enough to get in the way when working. Keeps most of the glue and paint out of it...

I only do extended day - art and cooking, but I agree with bun or a braid every day. The kids at my school aren't too touchy, so I can get a way with having a braid. It's really not all that bad! :)

[ravenheather]

I am not a special ed teacher, but I would recommend up. My friend had a student cut her hair when she wasn't looking.

[marvel-lover]

Wow! Thank you to everyone that has responded! Buns appear to be the way to go!

In the past, I've kept my hair in a disc bun with a stick, but my concern is that a student may take the stick from my hair.

Schooloffish that's so interesting! Thank you so much for responding. I've noticed a lot of the teachers I have observed seem to have shorter hair as well. I'm just not sure I'm willing to cut my hair short! But I agree, having my hair out of the way so I can respond where I need to go is priority #1 for my classroom hair.

[Ondine11]

Teacher here! My degree is in ECEE (Early Childhood & Elementary Education) which is the same as a B Ed. In the classroom, I wore my hair in a bun, or, in a single French or regular braid. I have worked with one or two teachers who had BCL or longer hair, & unless they're working with more touchy-feely very young kids, or those with special needs, they could leave it down without the kids doing anything to it. In fact, some seemed fascinated & dazzled by it, & they behaved better! Sort of like having Rapunzel as your teacher.

[Krissycats]

I have been a teacher for years. Thank goodness I have never gotten lice at school, but some of my friends have! I often wear it down, but I keep a clip in my room so I can put it up if it is bugging me or if it is hot. I have been wearing it up a lot now, though, just because I've been having fun trying new styles. Kids do like to touch it, though, especially the first graders that I have now. "Ooh, Mrs. H's hair is so soft and fluffy!" Same thing when I wear faux fur, so I don't wear it very often to work. They all want to "pet" me.

[CrowningGlory]

I wear it up every day. I've had glue, paint, food and lice in it and all but the lice wash out easily. It would be worse if I wore my hair down. Some colleagues with shoulder to BSL lengths usually put it up or braid it as well. It's just easier.

And I wear sticks. They've been pulled out but I just quickly redo my bun, usually with a lot of interest from colleagues. If removing a hair stick is a problem (potential weapon?) a Ficcare or pins may be a better choice.

[WeirdCatEars]

I was a substitute English teacher for a while, I kept my hair in a bun, or occasionally braided it. It wasn't so much that it got dirty because the subject didn't lend itself to that, but it got in the way and distracted the children.

I keep it the same way, ponytail made into a bun with an extra hairband, for labs and never had any problems with it getting into contact with something it shouldn't.

[copperlites]

I'm s high school teacher so being "petted" is not an issue. I usually have a bun and stick though sometimes wear it down. I usually get nice comments when it's down and have never had any issues with students putting stuff on it but most are fairly dexterous by high school.

[school of fish]

...

Schooloffish that's so interesting! Thank you so much for responding. I've noticed a lot of the teachers I have observed seem to have shorter hair as well. I'm just not sure I'm willing to cut my hair short! But I agree, having my hair out of the way so I can respond where I need to go is priority #1 for my classroom hair.

Oh good, I'm glad if any of that was helpful! I wasn't sure if I should respond since I'm not a school teacher but I've worked closely with my son's teachers all along and have assisted in the classrooms, so I do know that Spec Ed teachers may encounter a few variables as part of the job that regular stream teachers might not have to factor in so much.

I honestly don't think you'd have to keep it short if you want to keep growing! Pretty sure hair length just hasn't been a passion or priority for my son's particular set of teachers ;) So long as you keep it contained, at least at the start of a school year while you get a sense of the class dynamic year to year, I'm sure that's enough. I would be inclined to try to secure updos as invisibly as possible, just to avoid distracting the kids with hair toys - but hey, you might also find that an eyecatching hairtoy might be a good focusing tool, haha!! If it were me I'd start out with toys that don't show, then once you get the lay of the land you could break out a cool hair toy and see if there's any response to it.

For the record - I wear my hair down all the time, and keep it down when I'm visiting his class with no problems at all. Back in his kindergarten years I was assisting in the classroom most days and I did keep my hair up then - it was just less distracting to me to keep it out of the way :)

[trolleypup]

Adult education, so not really applicable. Usually have my hair down around the beginning of each 6 week cycle to get the oohing and aahing and petting out of the way so we can go on with business.

[2gaits]

I've been teaching for, well a few years. It's like asking me my age. I've had my hair around shoulder length most of those years. If it were long I would keep it up because of lice. We have students that continually come in with lice and it would stress me out to have long hair down. Plus with my current job I get called to help with students that have escalated into a physical outburst. I wouldn't want my hair easy to grab in these situations. That said there are several teachers with bsl hair that wear it down and don't have issues with it.

[Hairkay]

I wear updos to work. Others where I work sometimes wear hair down. Sometimes the children play hair dressing on the teachers' hair. They'll allow it for a little while until too much tugging happens then they stop it. My hair is much too tightly curled to have a random little hand try to just run a tiny fine tooth comb or little brush through it. It would get stuck in my hair near the roots and there would be lots of tugging resulting in my hair getting plucked out, ouch! I make myself scarce when they have these moments.

I have worked with special needs where one curious 4 year old suddenly reached out and tugged my twists. Since they'd shrunk up to my shoulders I assumed they weren't that long enough to be noticeable. That was when I first started working in this field. That was my first nudge to start changing how I wore my hair. Then I witnessed a teen grab hold of a teacher's pony tail hard and it took 3 other adults to get him off of her hair.

In my nephew's school teachers took to wearing head scarves when they found out that head lice was going around with the children. When that was finally cleared up they went back to bare heads.

[MusicalSpoons]

I'm a teaching assistant in a mainstream primary school, but I work with children with mild/moderate special needs. I wear my hair usually in a bun, or occasionally a braid if I know we're not likely to be doing anything messy or frustrating (some children tap or grab me to get my attention without looking, so they have caught my attention via various body parts - I don't really care because it's unintentional, but these are the same children who forget to wash their hands after using the toilet/end up with paint/glue/whatever on their hands, so I don't want them touching my hair!) Whenever I wear a braid the children always remark at the length :lol:

As for issues with sticks, my initial concern was that, sitting next to them at their level, there might be a danger of children accidentally poking themselves on the end of a stick (spatial awareness/personal space issues) so I started off with having sticks vertically. then I discovered Ketylo sticks, and it turned out the short ones are the exact length to hold a bun and not poke out at the sides! Then I discovered forks, which being less pointy I was happier to wear. If you are worried about sticks being pulled out, flexi-8s are a good alternative. (Now the children and I are used to each other, I don't worry so much any more.)

(I did work with an 8yo autistic boy who was incredibly tactile, and would try to demonstrate affection by climbing on my lap and stroking my head. He had good reasoning ability though so the first few times he tried, he responded well to me taking his hands off my head and over time I was able to teach him more appropriate ways to demonstrate his affection. He's almost a teenager now, but still as adorable!)

[MidnightMoon]

I was an assistant teacher for two years. Worked with kids aged 6-7 on my first year, 8-9 the second.
I never got paint, glue or anything stuck to my hair. Whenever kids wanted to touch it, I'd just say I prefer them not to. Some were pretty well educated and behaved, so those few could touch it every now and then.
I usually wore it in a clip, twin braids, a single braid or a bun.
I also wore it loose sometimes, nothing bad happened. You can remove glue with water anyway, so I wouldn't worry. I think my biggest fear was having it cut by this certain kid who was very troubled and poorly educated, but it never got that far.
I would avoid wearing it down, though, mostly because of knots, it getting in the way, or being distracting.

[marvel-lover]

What wonderful answers! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond!

I've found out that this semester I'm going to be working with the moderate/intensive high school population, mostly boys but a couple girls. They are well-groomed, so I'm not worried about lice. What I am worried about is...well...

The other day, one of the young men seemed very...enamoured with my hair. He really liked touching it and patting my bun. He would touch...himself...then try and put his hands in my hair. He was gentle and didn't pull at it, or the stick in my hair. But I'm concerned that he might in the future.

[Hairkay]

What wonderful answers! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond!

I've found out that this semester I'm going to be working with the moderate/intensive high school population, mostly boys but a couple girls. They are well-groomed, so I'm not worried about lice. What I am worried about is...well...

The other day, one of the young men seemed very...enamoured with my hair. He really liked touching it and patting my bun. He would touch...himself...then try and put his hands in my hair. He was gentle and didn't pull at it, or the stick in my hair. But I'm concerned that he might in the future.

If this is inappropriate self touch you'll have to find a way to call that young man up about this self touching in public and also speak to other staff about it. It's best you alert him to acceptable behaviour now rather than him end up getting in trouble with that in the future. He needs to understand there's a time and place for everything.

[marvel-lover]

If this is inappropriate self touch you'll have to find a way to call that young man up about this self touching in public and also speak to other staff about it. It's best you alert him to acceptable behaviour now rather than him end up getting in trouble with that in the future. He needs to understand there's a time and place for everything.

I 100% agree. The teachers and administrators are aware of this behavior, as this isn't the first time he has done this. We are working to handle and redirect the behavior as efficiently as we can. He's truly a wonderful young man! My concern lies in my hair

[mira-chan]

I wear mine up in a bun or a log roll. If I'm teaching a lab (biohazard environment) then it has to be a very stable updo, no chance of slipping out and usually with even bangs and longer wispies clipped back as I can't move them out of my face if they fall forward. Hair tends to live in braided buns or super secure cinnablobs for labs. Log rolls release too many for the shorter hairs over time. My students are required to tie up any hair long enough to fall forward as well.

I'm a touch more lax for lectures where the long fringe is allowed to be loose at times.