A first-grade teacher has students in her classroom refer to her as “professor,” instead of Mr. or Mrs. The teacher claimed:
“Nothing makes them prouder than when students ask about my queerness.”
The teacher goes by Nalo on Twitter and prefers to use professor because the feminine and masculine term of Mr and Mrs doesn’t feel appropriate. The Twitter account posted a thread in which Nalo was asked why she didn’t go by Mr. or Mrs.
The interviewer asked:
“Don’t you think it’ll be hard for children to adjust?”
Nalo responded that it is never children who find it difficult to adjust. She claims her students are “Still steeped in the magic of curiosity.”
Nalo refers to her students as “turtles” and brags that the students will call out anyone who refers to Nalo as Mr. or Mrs. Nalo also insists that students have met her wife and know she is queer. Nalo bragged, “I told them my story once & never needed to say it again. If only adults adjusted as quickly and easily, it may save many of our lives.”
When I had virtual conferences, anytime a parent mistook my title, my student would appear and say “no, it’s PROFESSOR nalo” and I would struggle so much to keep my bearing because they do not play bout me. 😂😂😂
— Nalo 🐢 (@kingnalodarling) November 27, 2021
Nalo spoke about having parents refer to her as a Mr. or Mrs. while doing virtual parent-teacher conferences. When a parent made that mistake, their student would pop up on the screen and correct the parent by saying, “No, it’s PROFESSOR Nalo.”
Nalo added that it has been a wondrous experience to teach these students. Nalo believes the impact she has will make the students see beyond homo/transphobia. She wants her students to “embrace the nuance and complexity in the human experience.”
Not all parents were thrilled to see Nalo’s posting. Several parents and commenters called out Nalo for sexualizing 6 and 7 year-olds. Many critics fired back, calling out Nalo for teaching about queerness instead of focusing on their education. Some parents also called for students to be pulled out of schools that allow this.
Political commentator David Reaboi replied, “In a just world, you’d be arrested for this.”
So you’d rather your FIRST GRADE students ask you about your sex life than the education YOU are supposed to be giving them? No first grader is going to ask you about your “queerness” unless you talk about it to them first. They don’t even know what that means. Gross.
— JenniferW (@JenWoodruff79) November 28, 2021
One mother called Nalo out for even teaching kids about queerness. She tweeted:
“No first grader is going to ask you about your ‘queerness’ unless you talk about it to them first. They don’t even know what that means. Gross.”
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