Gift number one: A Saturday e-mail letting us know that we will have a faculty meeting regarding the budget on Thursday. Way to boost morale. The order to cut budgets 30-50% comes in the beginning of March. And explanation comes in May. Brilliant.
Gift number two: empty mailboxes, real and virtual. We are not - contrary to popular belief - Greedy Guses. We don't want or need more tchotchkes. Just a kind e-mail or letter. Let us know we are holding this place together damn well considering the turmoil this year.
And lest we forget, or you do not know, let me list it for you:
- admin retirement early in the year; no clean break over the summer; do not give me the "smooth transition" bs when there was no new hire in place.
- death; a dearly beloved admin passed away suddenly
- power vacuum
- interim admin actions continuously reopen the wounds resulting from that sudden death
- dubious decisions
- zero input from those in the trenches is solicited or welcome
- avoidance; we are being treated like children due to the tension and low morale; admin meetings to discuss the problem do nothing when you won"t come to us to know why morale is low; if you do not want to hear it from those hurting, do you truly care?
- unfunded mandates handled incredibly poorly; my four year old niece could have handled some of the testing issues better than the one in charge of that; a teacher should not have to send you an e-mail (which you subsequently ignore) or raise her hand in a faculty meeting to get the schedule of testing
- confirmation that if you do your job poorly, you will be rewarded with promotion/advancement; if you do your job well you will be rewarded with schedule disruptions and other such punishments to help clean up the mess your incompetent colleagues left.
The wonderful thing is that we have no one to talk to about this. We talked ourselves to death about this here at work. We can't discuss it with each other anymore. Discuss with hubby? We both work for the state. We are both suffering. Why burden him? Try talking to it with friends? They all - and I mean ALL - have something "just like it" they are dealing/dealt with in their jobs. No offense, but no. Not likely. Tough sh*t you have an 80 hour work week. Tough sh*t you worked for a private company that had a mean boss and challenges. None of you are in a field that is this selfless, this emotionally and physically taxing, this emotionally abusive, this time consuming (yeah, courtesy of e-mail, it is nearly 24/7), this demeaning due to being vilified in the press and public each and every day, while being robbed of your own money by our dear gov, this depressing. We teachers are alone. We might work in a building with 100 colleagues, but we are suffering alone. We witnessed what happens when you over burden a dear friend with too much. We will not do this to each other. So we grumble, make jokes to each other in passing, but we are suffering in silence.
And the kids? That is part of our suffering. The teacher who is is not an empath is rare. The kids are suffering at the hands of corporations and politicians using them a guinea pigs. We do what we can to keep their spirits up, but it doesn't work. They are drained of the excitement for the classes that they looked forward to. I am constantly worried about the well being of my kids. They are stressed, sad, tired.... So I come to work with a spring in my step (faking it 'til I make it). I fill my room with music. My door is open from 6.15 am to all kids, even those I do not know. I smile and greet every kid I pass, whether I know them or not. I say I don't check e-mail after 7.00 but I do, because I feel awful when I do miss that 10.15pm (or 4.23am) e-mail. I worry when kids I know are having a hard time do not show up. Library closed for testing? They all know my room is open. Lined up for morning detention? I'll come out and chat to make you a little less bitter. You aren't wearing your ID? I'm not going to pull the power trip and yell at you. I will say please and thank you.
And I am NOT the only one. Most of us are doing something for the kids every day. We don't want what the other schools are getting - massage therapist in the teacher's lounge; catered lunches; thank you breakfasts. We just want a truly sincere thank you. We want an acknowledgement that we are doing a fabulous job of holding this place together in this horrible year. Yes, we are holding this place together. The rank and file always do.
But we are suffering, and many of us are suffering alone. And if you are the friend or relative of a teacher, here's a hot tip: When she/he needs to vent, do not tell that teacher that it happens in every job, it is like that everywhere, your job is worse/more stressful/more time consuming, blah blah blah.. I have worked in the private sector prior to teaching. Trust me when I say, if you have not taught, you do not know.... Listen to us, try to make us feel better, be vocal advocates for us, correct those who denigrate us and our field, vote for people who support us. Do not tell me you have it just as hard. If you do not believe me, I invite you to spend a week in my classroom. Hell, come in for just a day. I dare you to try to make it through my period 8. Just once.
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