see and be scene

Getting on with my fourth week teaching, I've gotten to the point where I'm being recognized frequently by kids at several schools. It came as quite a surprise at first--for example, when at a high school I had only taught at once or twice before, kids were yelling "Hey Mr Hand" across the quad at me in the morning. It amazes me how much of an impression I'm somehow leaving, despite the fact that I basically just read the attendance and then watch them do work (occasionally peering over my book to spot iPods and cellfones). I guess that while I may feel that the cool/fun flourishes I try to put into explanation and interactions usually seem to be lost on them or just go unnoticed, something I'm doing causes me to come across to these kids as worth remembering and later saying "Hi" to. Makes me feel like I should put more of an effort into remembering names and things of that sort (which I'm not really getting *paid* to do but sure make the job more personable).