Laura's Thoughts on Age

Age. What a funny thing! Jeremy loves to say "Your only ___ years from being 30!" Even though that makes me feel old, I know it's just a number. I mean I already feel old when I see the year my students were born (1998). I mean they weren't even alive for the Olympics in Atlanta. Sigh.... On the other hand I was thinking about age the other day in another way. Last year I was the youngest 6th grade teacher at my school and so I made friends with "older" teachers. I love it! It's funny that I do not even look at age and I never feel as if I am not cared about. What a strange concept. I guess I always assumed that I would "see" age as a hindrance in building friendships, but I have found that to be false. That way of thinking I guess was put into place during the growing up years because it is during these times you spend most of your time with your own age group. You are never given the chance to intermingle with older/wiser people. Many times the reasons are because of the differences in each age group. I am quite familiar with age differences. I mean come on, I teach sixth graders and they are extremely different from a 9th grader, 5th grader, and even a 7th grader. However, as we mature, the age groups seem to dissolve and sometimes become irrelevant. Why is this? Is it in all workplaces? 

I know it starts in college, but I believe it is carried into workplaces as well. I also know it is evident in most schools, but wonder if other workplaces see it. Maybe it has something to do with how most teachers see themselves as professionals and relate with others at least about a love for teaching. In this case, age wouldn't matter when they share a love for something. However, another reason might be because many teachers are drawn to build relationships as teams form and through the in and outs of daily school life. They speak of experiences, offer support, and offer encouragement when gathered together. Whenever teachers gather, a conversation will turn towards education at some point I can promise you that! If you do not believe me, just sit in on a conversation with educators. Education is such a big concept and educators share many commonalities with each other. When the commonalities are discovered age seems to dissipate. Instead of having a sense of "I'm better at this than you" teachers help each other out because they want others to succeed. I haven't seen any evidences of veteran/expert teachers saying, "Figure this out on your own." Instead they are happy to share what "works" for them. In return, their passion for teaching and helping others then becomes evident among the faculty. 

Hm... so are the commonalities and personalities of teachers what makes age something that is just a mark in time? Or is it another factor? Or am I even seeing things right? Am I the only one that has experienced this? Am I a strange one in the teaching world that automatically formed relationships? What do you think? Are other places of employment the same or is there a social/hierarchical structure that prevents such thing from happening.