Teaching -- the ultimate "confidence game"

If you teach, I wonder how much time you allow yourself to consider how you look to your audience. This is one question I cannot allow myself to think about! I avidly read the comments on each semester's student evaluations of the class. Sometimes, I get hurt feelings, sometimes I'm disappointed. Many times, I am elated and thrilled. But what about the occasional cruel comments that I hear about: colleagues who tell me the evaluations ding them on fashion sense or other personal appearance items. That sort of freaks me out to consider.

When I stand up in front of a group of strangers at the start of every semester, I hope they are not looking at me, but through me, to the knowledge I am trying to impart. If I could make myself transparent, and they could just see into my thoughts and make a brain transfer, wouldn't that be handy?! If I stop to think about judgemental thoughts floating through those student minds, I don't know if I'd be able to teach again! One more reason to never visit one of those teacher rating sites!