I am hostile ABOUT my work environment. Consider yourself warned.
I feel bad when I cannot find a positive word to say. I usually make a concerted effort to look on the bright side, because I cannot STAND it when a person's conversation is always negative.
However:
There are some things going on at my school that are STUPID. STUPID STUPID STUPID. And they are taking place for NO GOOD REASON. And they are PISSING ME OFF. And they are making me HATE MY J0B.
And that, in itself, makes me ANGRY.
Because, make no mistake, I LOVE teaching. LOVE IT. I LOVE to tell kids how to find the main idea of a paragraph, and I LOVE to explain why open-ended questions are preferable to closed questions, and I LOVE to discuss feminism in Shakespeare's plays, and I LOVE (the majority) of my students. LOVE.
But I do NOT love being forced--FORCED--to reconstruct a curriculum based on NUMBERS. And specifically, I do NOT love that those numbers are TEST SCORES that are IRRELEVANT and INACCURATE.
Furthermore, I do NOT love when I have to take on MORE WORK because other people do not do THEIR work. And by "other people," I definitely mean LAZY-ASS STUDENTS.
I do NOT love edicts that are handed down from above with NO justification and NO explanation and NO input from the people who are most affected, that being, of course, ME.
I do NOT love constantly feeling that I have MUZZLE myself if I want to have a job next year. I do NOT love it when people SAY my opinion matters but then DISREGARD my opinion if I am brave enough to speak out. I do NOT love it when I am made to feel replaceable and dispensable and IF-YOU-DON'T-LIKE-IT-HERE'S-THE-DOOR.
I do NOT love that, instead of being encouraged to raise my expectations, I am instead asked to BABY and CODDLE and SPOONFEED giant children who COULD NOT CARE LESS. I do NOT love that, someday, someone is going to ask these giant babies, "Who did not teach you these basic skills?" and they will answer, "Ms. Flower," and they will HONESTLY BELIEVE IT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE AND DO TEACH THEM BUT THEY DO NOT CARE SO THEY DO NOT LISTEN AND THEY OF COURSE DO NOT LEARN.
And now there is a whole new plan coming which I guess is supposed to "save us" but what it is going to do instead is cause EVERY TEACHER IN THE BUILDING to be BURNED OUT and EXHAUSTED and ANGRY, even angrier than we are now, AND NOBODY CARES.
I have a huge migraine headache, the beginnings of the Mad Wrinkles, and a very very bad attitude. THE END
Ms. Mei Flower
- Mei
- I'm a spinster schoolmarm with a degree in English; I watch artsy movies about British people; I knit while watching the History Channel; I listen to NPR in the car; I eat frozen dinners on the couch. Is that stereotypical enough for you? No? Well, then ... and I have a cat.
Reading
3 comments:
I'm so sorry you're going through this! I don't know why professionals who love and are good at their jobs are subject to this. There's no good reason.
Thanks, Laura!
People in administration, and I include those who work at the school board at ANY level--local, state, and federal--should be required to teach in a regular classroom setting ... say, every two years or so. I think we would see a radical change in educational policy.
Thx to a reader (one of two) who actually leaves comments (a Mrs Temple) on my alleged blawg.. we got to talking ad yr site was one of about six that she says she reads daily. I may too, Especially after this entry. I +know+ whereforeartthou comin' from.. I am sooooo glad I am out of the Pokey Trenches!! 31 years.. I hope this doesn't sound condescending, but educators wuvvvv to re-invent the wheel. The longer you stay, the more times you will be forced to re-write the same thangs w/ new and improved edu-speak. The best thing is to always act egggsited and then do whatever the f'ing heck u wanna.. Stay away from the princiPAL.. volunteer for commitees, and then conveniently no show (sick kid, root canal) Heh. I swear I am Not bitter. I had 31 years, and reflecting back, there were enuf kids who +got+ me (understood me) to make it all worthwhile.. Same w/ The Bosses. I had only One Rotten Egg, and I simply erased his idiocy from The Pea Brain. Keep on keepin' on. I can tell yr a good teach, Just from the brief time I was here... if you have a stat meter, it will seem as if I spent hours here, but I had to walk with the love of my life (an infernal dawg) mid-read
no edit (I retired from that too!)
Syb
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