I call you friend

The student walks up to me during class.  

Billy*: Ms. Mackey?

Me: Yes my dear?

Billy: Can you call me Billy? 

Me: Yes, I'm sorry. What do you need?

Billy: May I have a Kleenex?

Sometimes I forget what sort of language I use with my students. 

I choose not to swear in my personal life (and certainly not in my professional life), but sometimes I catch myself using language at school that's maybe a little too casual. I forget that some words that I think are okay are considered "bad" by little ones. I use a lot of large vocabulary, and it's not always accessible to my students. Or, in the case of this example, what I say is something some people save for just family. 

One thing I like calling my students is "friends". 

Don't get me wrong, I am careful to keep appropriate student/teacher relationships, and I definitely don't get too friendly. 

I first heard a teacher refer to students as "friends" when I worked at as a preschool teacher's aide back in college.

I believe referring to the class as "friends" sets up an environment of caring and togetherness. 

I don't want to have a "higher/holier than thou" attitude. I want my students to see that I care about them. I want them to see that we are all a team, myself included. No matter if we like each other or not, if we get frustrated with each other, or if we're all best buds, we can be friends. Friend is also a great gender-neutral way of referring to a group of people. It can work with people of all ages, treating any age with respect. It's not patronizing, either. 

Jesus said "I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me." (John 15:15 NLT)

Jesus, a teacher, could have exalted his higher position and held it against his followers, but he didn't. Instead, he chose to be friends with all the wrong people, explaining parables in ways the larger crowds never heard, being genuine and experiencing real human trouble right alongside his disciples. He even made the ultimate sacrifice, to lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

I've gotten a little out of practice with using the "friends" title at school.

I'm going to get back into it, in my work, and elsewhere, too.  

Have a great day, my friends. 

*student name has been changed for privacy