I work with a couple of women who are bullies. They make themselves look good at some one else’s expense. In the past I have cowered in fear and quietly seethed. I let it sit on the weekend and this morning I emailed my boss with concerns. I was honest, calm and did not mention names. I said I was getting negative feedback about my work and I didn’t know if it came from him or not. I was not getting accurate information and I gave examples. I listed my concerns without complaining and told him why they were a concern. Then I blind copied them to a teachers’ organization.
He emailed me back immediately and asked to see me. He seemed genuinely concerned and addressed my immediate questions. We’ll see if there is any lasting change.
We hear about bad teachers all the time. What we don’t hear about all the time is how teachers are treated, or rather mistreated.
I am proud of myself today.
My comment was about getting things done in the workplace...not about 'getting men interested'. Never dated a colleague in my 35 years of work and never will. The original poster was talking about using ones guiles to get things accomplished in t
You are only a victim, if you want to be, or if you think like a victim. Take charge of your life, get a really good divorce lawyer, and take your ex to the cleaners.
First and foremost is making sure that you and your son will be taken care of
Thank you, Earth Angel 19. Patience, kindness, and seeing the world with open eyes are good lessons, indeed. I miss my Mom, too. The years don't seem to matter much - not having a Mom leaves an empty place in the heart. Thank you, again, for 
I am proud of you, too! I was a school principal, and GOD LOVE TEACHERS!!!
Ditto on what Namaste said.
Calm is good. Calm gets positive results that anger would never get. We’ll be waiting to hear if good changes come from this. I sure hope so, because as you well know, working with bullies can be SO difficult.
you were a school principal???? LOL
(I know, Lynnette! My eyes bugged out and I almost choked when I read that.)
Now, Now you two, a principal indeed!!!
…TRACK
Watermusic, Proud of you my dear…
Go to the office, young lady! Show some respect!
And a DAM great one, if I do say so myself!!!
And I bet you were!!!!!! Wish you were at one of my schools-we could have used a principal with a sense of humor.
Why the fear? Fear is how they control you. Never, ever be afraid to speak the truth. There are ways that you can communicate being firm but nice. Then you walk away. I love to do it in writing, but that can backfire in the office. If I am very very angry, my boss begs me never to put it in writing. And the reason is obvious…. I AM VERY VERY BAD.
My email was great. There first two were just mean, but the one I sent was calm, and focused. I’m setting limits. I was so mad on Friday that I wanted a gun. If I could have quit I would have. I like teaching. I like my students. I’m sick to freaking death of power hungry teachers who get a little power and use it intimate and bully other teachers. We are on the same side. I’ve watched very good teachers, the best,be run out of a troubled school and I’m fighting back. I’m standing my ground. I’ve had a damn nough.
There are several teachers in my family..one in particular is an excellent teacher , good morals , no nonsense, and that is a problem because there are those who like to “party’ gossip and what ever , and if you are not in the group ..you stand your ground , there is “always a way” to get your truth out. and may it be known or not there is a “plan” to get rid of the best teachers out of the public schools system and save them for private or special charter schools…so at some point parent need to take to the streets in support of our good teachers and parent need to take more responsibility for too much is being placed on teachers. Proud of you today and tomorrow.
Thanks, everyone. I know that fear is the way they control you. Yesterday I passed mad and afraid and said, screw it. I can’t make things worse. That’s one of the reasons I don’t say things, I’m afraid of making some one in power mad and making it worse. I’m taking my power back. I have said before that ‘they’ don’t want good teachers.They want compliant drones who don’t question authority.
Public education is the bedrock of democracy and it is coming under attack in the most insidious way in this country. It’s a witch hunt. Remember those? Make sure that people are uneducated and afraid and you can do what you want. That’s the real agenda. Teachers need people to stand up with them. Democracy needs someone to stand up for it. Our children deserve better than they are getting and teachers are not the problem. We do no have horns and tails.
There are some great people doing great work in education but there are some would browbeat teachers into submission of mediocrity.
You are so right I am told some of the smartest and best teacher are not passing certification test..Knew one teacher who helped another one pass the certification test and they themselves did not pass it… many good teachers have to take the test many many times which cost them money each time. Some of the best teachers are ending up private schools,,,I’m telling you: We need to take this crap to the streets!!!!!
The certification tests are not terribly difficult.
Love what you said…
“Public education is the bedrock of democracy….Our children deserve better than they are getting and teachers are not the problem.”
I belive we need strong early childhood and parent education programs as well. Some children entering school 2 and 3 years language delayed. Some children are victims of abuse. Some children are hungry…and yet we blame teachers!?!??!?!?!!!!
right on the money…Teacher are being given too many responsibilities, why don’t jobs with parents give them an extra 1/2 hour to fed their children at home in the morning? we got fed at home and if there is no breaks fast at home and the parents are not working , maybe they could donate help feed children
Hungry children coming to school and being expected to learn something???? In one of the most prosperous countries on earth?? It’s a crying shame-where are our priorities? $748 billion spent in Iraq…….
Winelover, Hungry children come from parents who decide not to take birth control and make children they can ill afford! We are taking responisbility for others decisions. “We made a baby, now you help take care of HER/HIM or THEM!! Now I do not suggest, since they are here already some help, but no one should except a check without some involvement of work. There are those who say, I want to stay home and raise my child(ren), well so would I at the time, but to work I went! It is way past time to make people accountable, when they believe “We the people own them something“. Yes, we have had generations on welfare, some at least 3 generations and what does that say, it is better to make babies I can’t afford and some don’t want, then to go to work and make their own way! Bad behavior is taught!!…TRACK
p.s. a bunch of males/females handling a ball make millions and a teacher can’t get $75,000 for our much loved child(ren). I said in a post not to long ago, my mothers’ education was much better then what we give children in the last 30 years.
P.S. And people who are working one/two jobs should have a helping hand if needed to provide for their families, food stamp, ect.
BUT NO ONE SHOULD EXPECT ANYTHING SITTING DOWN AND DEPENDING ON US. Just my take on it
TRACK, I get your drift, but I don’t believe that all hungry children come from parents who are trying to take advantage of the system. Of course there are those that do, but to me how do we make that distinction? He deserves breakfast at school….his parents had to file bankruptcy since they have another child with huge medical bills…she doesn’t deserve help because her parents are lazy SOBs who don’t want to work and let the government support them?? Children are innocent, some have good parents- some don’t. I have paid a fare sum of money (to me) in my life to good old Uncle Sam and I’m willing to give some of it to the the kids of lazy-ass parents-because they are kids-and I hope to never miss the ones who are genuinely in need. It’s sort of like being considered innocent until PROVEN guilty. Better to let a guilty person go free, than to send an innocent person to the gas chamber-it’s just what I believe. And I do support the death penalty for the guilty.
I have been called a paternalistic liberal on this website-not a label I would put upon myself-I call myself a moderate Democrat and I know myself better than anyone else. Call me what you will- THEY ARE CHILDREN-yes, their parents can be jackasses-how are we going to make them accountable?? Who knows-I have left the parents in the dust and don’t focus on them. Children are the future of this country-leave them hungry and education plummets, the crime rate skyrockets and yes, you, I and our kids will pay the bill in the long run.
I agree with your statement: BUT NO ONE SHOULD EXPECT ANYTHING SITTING DOWN AND DEPENDING ON US. No they shouldn’t and I appreciate your take on it and my kids were raised to work and support themselves and both of them do, but if we ignore an entire segment of our population- children with irresponsible parents, they will never get off the dole and my hard-working kids and yours will be paying the bills. No, I’m not a paternalistic liberal. I expect one to carry their own weight and be accountable, but I’m not naive enough to think that all will do that. My problem is in deciding who is bullshitting the system and who isn’t-I will give $ out of my pocket to some lazy-ass parents to help a % of kids, who knows if its a majority or minority of the ones who truly deserve it. It’s sort of like homeowner’s insurance-I’ve paid it for years and never filed a claim-but I’m not gonna cancel my policy, although it pisses me off when I calculate the $ I’ve spent-as soon as I cancel the big earthquake will hit California and I’m toast…
I agree Bad Behavior Is Taught-how do we change that? Yeah, a lot of athletes make millions and teachers are severely underpaid-can we change that? I’d love to, lots of work and time to achieve that and still kids will be showing up to school unable to learn and participate because their bellies are empty and they can’t concentrate. I’ll repeat $748 billion in Iraq and kids in America are hungry. How far down on the scale of education in the world does America have to fall?
I totally agree with you that working families should receive help-food stamps, etc. My main hope for health care reform was that the poverty line was raised so that more of the working poor are covered, that happened and I’m grateful. The WORKING poor.
No one should expect anything sitting down and depending on us, as you stated TRACK. The problem is that they shouldn’t, but they do. That’s the tough nut to crack. Basically, I don’t give a monkey’s (as my British friend says) about the lazy ass parents, but there is a soft spot in my heart for the innocent kids and I’m willing to fund a few low-lifes to help many needy kids.
It’s just my take on it TRACK.
Winelover, And a good take you have on it indeed! As I said, the children are here now, and are hungry, but when do we say you made a mistake and we CAN help, but you can not keep making the mistake over and over again!
I had one child cause I could not afford another one, so birth control will fill this need, am I asking too much out of adults/YOUNG PEOPLE WHO TELL YOU, “YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO”
Thanks for responding as always, like reading your opinions…TRACK
Yep, they are here now, as you said. I wish everyone who wasn’t prepared to “fully” raise children would take birth control. The dependence on government is learned and I wish we could come with a plan to lessen this. President Clinton passed welfare reform and it helped, but more fine-tuning is needed.
It’s mutual-I appreciate your opinions TRACK. :-)
Teachers are blamed because they are an easy target. They are the one variable systems think they have control over. Systems do not have any control over parents, poverty or a culture that has declared open season on teachers. We have a climate of fear in this country. That’s part of the problem. We have a problem of poverty in this country, working class, two parent families who live below the poverty line.
Remember what happened with the military during Viet Nam? Body counts, spitting on soldiers, all that? That’s what education is going through now. Public Education and all that it is needs to be supported.
Name the 5 most influential people in your life. How many of them were teachers? Name the 10 most successful people in this country. How many of them were educated in the PUBLIC education system?
Stop listening to the rhetoric and start asking questions about what is really going on?
You want to fix education? Fix poverty! You want to fix education? Stop paying ball players millions and teachers pittance. You want to fix education? Get involved!
Or would you rather sit on the side lines and complain?
I have always wondered how can this great country of ours graduate kids from High School not knowing how to read or spell? The money we spend in this country on schools and we keep falling way behind. I cannot understand this at all. Keep rolling this thought on my head with no logical answer. We spend billions! Where is the bottleneck?
LYnnette have you ever seen the headquarters of some of those public school districts, as well as ridiculous large salaries , trips , public speakers lots of waste , but he budget get cuts on the kids especially the ones in lower income communities.
Teachers underpaid under appreciated…making room for more who do not care an just to get a paycheck…sad our children get less attention than animals.. I have been in Vets office cleaner an smell better than some care facilities for children. Once again parents need to take it to the street.
i remember being in a one room classroom in PR 50 years ago w/Mrs. Leon. I learned so much. The room looked like this. A wooden square box with walls a few windows and one or maybe two doors. Chairs w/attached desks, a blackboard, an eraser and some chalk. I guess there was a bathroom some place, but since i lived 2 houses down i guess i went home instead. Mrs. Leon taughed me so much. From there i went to a similar room for 2nd grade and it was Mrs. Esteban. These two women taughed me the basics. very little expense and they gave so much.
The politicians are the bottle neck. I’ve been doing some research out of curiosity and found this,
http://www.historyliteracy.org/download/Sears2.pdf It is a quick read. Based on what I read the problem is that in the 60′s and 70′s the focus shifted from education to emotional health, attitudes and creating citizens of the world. The self esteem movement made it impossible to do or say anything that might remotely make a child unhappy.
One more thing before I haul my waterlogged self to bed, as a teacher it doesn’t matter why a parent is or isn’t parenting. That child did not ask to be born into that situation and that child is my only concern, to give her the absolute best that I can. All it takes is one person, one moment to change the life of a child.
I knew you had the right heart and mind for the children…TRACK