# Miss Kaitlyn's first day in the classroom. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209 "2005-01-05T16:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/81 "2005-01-06T22:47:37Z")
Class, courage, smarts, and humor. You’ve got it all. Best wishes for a great year. You’re off to a hell of a good start! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/82 "2005-01-06T23:04:27Z")
Bless you, **Kaitlyn**. I’m immensely happy for you. Your courage and successes are paving the way for the rest of us. Thank you so much. Were you a smuggled baby? Tell us the Korean backstory! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/83 "2005-01-06T23:09:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I’d rather not, really, unless anyone has specific questions about the Paleolithic period. It all happened more than half my life ago, and the only time I think about it is when the subject comes up here on the Boards. That’s good, because I’m pretty sure any warranty is expired by now. (Have you read the latest Augusten Burroughs book, _Magical Thinking_? He caused a stir at his elementary school because the hero whose picture he chose to display was Christine Jorgensen.) ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/84 "2005-01-06T23:25:25Z")
I just sent my little darlings home for the day. The parent meeting is in about two hours. First, I’d like to thank all of those offering their support. I hope you’ll understand if I don’t reply directly to all of those posts, but please be aware that I did read every word of every one, and all of your kind sentiment is very much appreciated. I’d also like to apologize if it seems like I ignored poster’s questons yesterday; rea- life stuff like preparing and having supper with my wife can sometimes get in the way. There isn’t anything new to report. I got the letters of apology from the 6th graders. I’m going to go through and see if there are any questions I’ve missed, and respond to them now. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/85 "2005-01-06T23:31:48Z")
You’re amazing, **Kaitlyn**! I’ll be thinking good thoughts for you during the parents’ meeting. GT ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/86 "2005-01-06T23:33:09Z")
**Kaitlyn** , wait! Before you go, sign this contract so we can start shooting for your big action movie with Michelle Yeoh as the co-star! All right, who’s going to play the villain? We need a really good villain here… ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/87 "2005-01-06T23:42:28Z")
> [@MrFantsyPants](#): > > Yeah, I suspect the parents are usually far more closed-minded than the kids. I hope it goes smoothly. How do you feel about being “outed” (is that even the right word?). Outed is the correct word–its meaning has morphed over the past 20 some years, but it generally means the revelation of secrets related to one’s sexual identity or orientation. I kinda expected that someone would eventually put the pieces together, but was surprised that it happened so quickly. I don’t try to hide–Mrs. Six and I still go to the same places we went before transition, we hold hands when we walk down the street, we still live in the same house as when we wer married. I still go to the same comic shop. All of the information was there for anybody who cared to find it. It just would have been nice to have had this one semester being treated exactly like any other woman before I became the transsexual teacher. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/88 "2005-01-06T23:44:44Z")
This is riveting. Quick, somebody nominate it for Threadspotting, so it’s easier to find tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/89 "2005-01-06T23:51:31Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Why Miss **Kaitlyn** rather than Mrs. or Ms. ? You are still married aren’t you ? Yes I’m still married. It’s an elementary school thing. Kids in elementary school tend to use the titles interchangably. Those in the early grades sometimes have a difficult time pronouncing Mrs. and turn every female teacher’s name into Miss, so I just go with the flow. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/90 "2005-01-06T23:59:59Z")
> [@lel](#): > > Perhaps a little bit off topic, but in the classroom, do students nowadays refer to their teachers by Mr/Ms/Miss/Mrs First Name, or is that simply shorthand for not revealing your last name? Most teachers prefer Mr. / Miss / Mrs. LASTNAME. You’ll see the Mr. / Miss /Mrs. FIRTNAME most often in kindergarten and the primary grades (1-3), and it becomes much less common as you go higher up. Secondary teachers sometimes use their first name without the title. Here it’s shorthand for not revealing my last name. I use Miss LASTNAME at school. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/91 "2005-01-07T00:01:26Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > **Kaitlyn** , wait! Before you go, sign this contract so we can start shooting for your big action movie with Michelle Yeoh as the co-star! > All right, who’s going to play the villain? We need a really good villain here… If we are going for comedic villian: Dabney Coleman. If we are going for the best all around sneering bad guy: Alan Rickman If you want a woman to Oppress Mrs. Kaitlyn: Signourney Weaver, I think, could serve it up snooty. If you want some one to back up Mrs. Kaitlyn: Kathy Bates is your gal. Crazy & Feisty. I’m channeling a spot for Christine Baranski too, but I’m not sure if she is sympathetic or malicious. Gratutitous Sexy Male Appearing In Movie Just Because: Jason Statham. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/92 "2005-01-07T00:05:52Z")
> [@Jeep's Phoenix](#): > > Are these parents just being nosy, or do they have other motives? People make me worry sometimes. I think that for Mrs. Columbo it was just a bit of juicy gossip she happened to put together and couldn’t resist sharing. The girl who told me her mom said I used to be a boy was her daughter, and she’s still in my class. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/93 "2005-01-07T00:08:06Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > Yes I’m still married. It’s an elementary school thing. Kids in elementary school tend to use the titles interchangably. Those in the early grades sometimes have a difficult time pronouncing Mrs. and turn every female teacher’s name into Miss, so I just go with the flow. Are that’s interesting, in UK we had to use the naming convention the teacher wanted. And would be in some trouble if we didn’t use the correct term. I don’t know if a teacher who was married would be considered strange if she wanted to be reffered too as Miss, or an unmarried teacher wanting to be reffered to as Mrs. But it was always considered the rule that male children were allowed to lust after any teacher that reffered to herself as Miss. Of course male children being almost universally affraid of being thought of as homosexual would never admit to lusting over male teachers. Your paricular situation does make me wonder how the school will/should act when a child gets a crush on you, and especially how they might disciplin other children if they react badly to the child having a crush on you. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/94 "2005-01-07T00:16:55Z")
Hey, **Kaitlyn** , I know everyone’s said this already, but: congratulations!!! Goodness, your “I’m Korean” line was really funny. I’m Korean, too, BTW. You’re awesome! Korean pride! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/95 "2005-01-07T00:19:29Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > If we are going for comedic villian: Dabney Coleman… Use 'em all! And we can’t forget the cameo appearance by **Cecil**! Oh, and ninjas. We _have_ to have ninjas. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/96 "2005-01-07T00:37:28Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > 1. About the “boys” who gave you a hard time in the bar you mentioned in the other thread. Sounds to me like they think giving other people a hard time is just part of the role they’ve taken for themselves. They wouldn’t recognize or understand the hypocrisy. Yeah, I’m kinda sorry I posted that. It sounds a bit more harsh than I had intended. I know that those women don’t represent lesbians in general any more than I do, but I had that gut reaction at the time. I still have issues with aggressive men–they scare me a lot more than they should-- and though I intellectually know that they were women, their manner of presentation triggered the same response in me that a guy dressed like that and acting that way would have. > [@](#): > > 1. Do you really have a gun in your purse? (You are in Texas, after all, but wouldn’t you have had to clear that with Mr. P.?) No, we were just trading barbs. Posession of a firearm on campus would be grounds to fire me. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/97 "2005-01-07T01:04:40Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Sorry, but you’re not. If your DNA still comes back XY, you’re male, regardless of how much surgery you have performed. You are factually wrong. This is not a matter of opinion, you have your facts wrong. 1. You’re confusing chromosomes with DNA. DNA (dioxyribonucleic acid) is a complex set of linked proteins that contain and transmit all kinds of information regarding a person’s physical and most likely psychological makeup. Chromosomes are the pairs of strands, kinda like strings twisted together in the middle, on which a persons’ genes reside in pairs. 2. Neither your chromosomes nor your DNA determine your physical sex. A protein strand located on the Y chromosme does that. If you want to do some research and try to back up your opinion, please do it it the Great Debates thread. If you have any honest questions, I’d still be willing to answer them for you. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/98 "2005-01-07T01:10:23Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > I still go to the same comic shop. Are you familiar with Lord Fanny of the Invisbles? If so, would you agree that Morrison failed at creating a transsexual character and created a gay transvestite? And how come Jim Lee is Korean but Stan Lee isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/99 "2005-01-07T01:17:15Z")
Congratulations to you Kaitlyn! I hope your meeting goes well tonight. I have to say, your answers to your kids and your colleagues shows the kind of poise I can only dream about. You really are an inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209/100 "2005-01-07T01:22:21Z")
**Kaitlyn** , I just have to say that you are amazing. I’m so impressed with how you’ve handled everything you have been through with such grace and humor. Thank you for sharing your story with us! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/miss-kaitlyns-first-day-in-the-classroom/283209.md?page=6)