teaching stuff
i've got a couple of work things to update about... guess i REALLY should do that in my risk_misery journal, but the shock of updating that would be too much for me.
anywho. (and really, who says that?)
Cooperative Learning
i'm pretty excited/nervous/stressed because on the first day back at school next term (in 9 days) i am running a ... WORKSHOP to all the teachers (100 or so, yikes!) about cooperative learning. i'm pretty nervy about this - was talking to my principal & acting principal about it and described the teachers as a 'hostile' audience. they're not, but 90% of them are so set in their ways and have been teaching for a million years - they really aren't that interested in learning new ways of teaching.
the ppl i have told about this have been pretty surprised - i mean, "juanita???", which i have found half insulting half... idk. i have done this before, at my old school... just wasn't with quite so many people (or as much money behind it - the AQTP has $500k behind it).
i'm also a bit aggrieved at the whole process it took to get me here - i was offered this 'consulting' bizzo in NOVEMBER last year. i declined a job offer at a school that is MUCH MUCH MUCH closer to home and very progressive because of it. it has taken THIS LONG for the fucking thing to get finalised. i am also somewhat pissed that my friend Patrick has the OTHER consulting position because a) he has NOT done barrie bennet training b) all he did was put in his cv, which i helped him with c) he has not gone to any of the meetings or anything.
he will justify this by saying he didn't have a chance. ANYWAY i am over it BUT i don't like that i fucking agonised over this for ... NINE FUCKING MONTHS with very wishy washy shit from my deputy, gave up another job for it, etc etc... and all patrick does is put in his CV 2 weeks ago... and gets it!????
patrick is my good friend, so i don't deny him this, but the process still pisses me off.
The Manager From Hell
so we had this manager. E. She has been a bIATCH. she is VERY competent and amazing with kids. that is not the problem.
but she CANNOT handle her staff. she was so busy telling us all about how great she is, that she never bothered to say how great WE are. she is patronising, condescending erm... ALWAYS reminding us of how she's got a masters in this, has managed these people before, yada yada.
she said a few choice things to me, such as: You're not a mother, so you will never understand children, you're trying to divide the team, what was THAT *look* about? and others. she also TOTALLY dismissed my previous manager, christian, whom i love and adore. she came up to me once BEFORE SCHOOL and asked that i grade a piece of work right then and there-afterwards i told her that it certainly felt like she was testing me. she told me that i needed to think globally... haha.
oh, she also said "If i didn't like you, would i have called you when your mother died?"
this was like 3 weeks after she DID die and i'm like, "WTF E???? are you SERIOUS??? that is a completely different fucking topic. i would EXPECT my boss to call and console me."
oh, she also challenged my teaching IN FRONT OF A STUDENT which gave me the fucking shits! sure, do it, but never EVER do it in front of a kid. kids should ALWAYS see the teachers as a united, combined force!
after one particularly intense conversation, a colleague told me that she couldn't BELIEVE how E had spoken to me and that she'd lost all respect for her after that. This was the conversation where i told E that she didn't need to remind us of how good she is, and that we are clever adults and KNOW when someone is a good manager.
it got to the point where i had to go to my deputy principal (now acting principal) about it. i've been at this school for 2.5 yrs and am NOT an antagoniser, i don't complain much or stir shit. my deputy was totally awesome and listened.
anyway. E's job was up for renewal in 2nd semester (starting in 9 days)... and guess what? she didn't get it. she is EXTREMELY pissed off about it, and so dismissive of the new manager coming in. she has also moved into her 'office'- a little kitchen we have out the back for the kids... WHAT THE FUCK? we are teachers! we have one huge fuckoff office for ALL of us, and then our classrooms. i am shocked and appalled at how she's separated. BUT along those lines, i guess she feels she needs to. embarrassed, some would say.
...
so i go to catherine's house on monday and meet up with her, kirstie and antoinette (all teachers) to sort out the Society & ENvironment (social studies) program for next semester. amidst all the talk, both cath & kirstie reveal to me that E has SPOKEN TO THEM ABOUT ME and that of ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE OFFICE she is MOST PERPLEXED by me. they were both deliberately vague and wouldn't go into much details about the conversations BUT i am gobsmacked!!!
I kind of knew this already - she IS intimidated by me - i have worked hard to stand up for myself this year and not be a pushover. most of my colleagues have commented on it already this year, hahaha.
but i am curious about what she is saying about me.
anywho.
a funny story
so it's the 2nd last day of term and i am kicked out of my classroom. well, not really kicked, but i promised another teacher we could swap as she couldn't get a tv and as my room is a transportable and has stairs, i've always got a tv in there.
oh, i should take photos of my beautiful classroom. it's a reject room (being a million years old and brought down from Up North) but i LOVELOVELOVE it. it does get hot in summer tho, which sucks... i have totally Primary School-ified it and there's a gajillion posters, bright painted windows, hanging poems, plants, toys etc. it looks great.
anyway, so i swapped rooms. my kids were in this room doing their thing. Catherine brings this naughty kid in to sit in my room for "buddy class". fine.
i decide to be super naughty and head over to our office to get a cup of coffee. i take the naughty kid with me and make him sit outside the office.
get my coffee. meanwhile, there are workmen fixing the gutters on the building. we pass them to head back to the class.
once there, the naughty kid is like, "O MY GOD MISS THAT GUY WAS TOTALLY LOOKING AT YOU!!!"
haha.
kids are adorable - the way they put it so straight.
edit:
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hrm, pretty darn colourless really. it is so much cooler now. i LOVE it.
anywho. (and really, who says that?)
Cooperative Learning
i'm pretty excited/nervous/stressed because on the first day back at school next term (in 9 days) i am running a ... WORKSHOP to all the teachers (100 or so, yikes!) about cooperative learning. i'm pretty nervy about this - was talking to my principal & acting principal about it and described the teachers as a 'hostile' audience. they're not, but 90% of them are so set in their ways and have been teaching for a million years - they really aren't that interested in learning new ways of teaching.
the ppl i have told about this have been pretty surprised - i mean, "juanita???", which i have found half insulting half... idk. i have done this before, at my old school... just wasn't with quite so many people (or as much money behind it - the AQTP has $500k behind it).
i'm also a bit aggrieved at the whole process it took to get me here - i was offered this 'consulting' bizzo in NOVEMBER last year. i declined a job offer at a school that is MUCH MUCH MUCH closer to home and very progressive because of it. it has taken THIS LONG for the fucking thing to get finalised. i am also somewhat pissed that my friend Patrick has the OTHER consulting position because a) he has NOT done barrie bennet training b) all he did was put in his cv, which i helped him with c) he has not gone to any of the meetings or anything.
he will justify this by saying he didn't have a chance. ANYWAY i am over it BUT i don't like that i fucking agonised over this for ... NINE FUCKING MONTHS with very wishy washy shit from my deputy, gave up another job for it, etc etc... and all patrick does is put in his CV 2 weeks ago... and gets it!????
patrick is my good friend, so i don't deny him this, but the process still pisses me off.
The Manager From Hell
so we had this manager. E. She has been a bIATCH. she is VERY competent and amazing with kids. that is not the problem.
but she CANNOT handle her staff. she was so busy telling us all about how great she is, that she never bothered to say how great WE are. she is patronising, condescending erm... ALWAYS reminding us of how she's got a masters in this, has managed these people before, yada yada.
she said a few choice things to me, such as: You're not a mother, so you will never understand children, you're trying to divide the team, what was THAT *look* about? and others. she also TOTALLY dismissed my previous manager, christian, whom i love and adore. she came up to me once BEFORE SCHOOL and asked that i grade a piece of work right then and there-afterwards i told her that it certainly felt like she was testing me. she told me that i needed to think globally... haha.
oh, she also said "If i didn't like you, would i have called you when your mother died?"
this was like 3 weeks after she DID die and i'm like, "WTF E???? are you SERIOUS??? that is a completely different fucking topic. i would EXPECT my boss to call and console me."
oh, she also challenged my teaching IN FRONT OF A STUDENT which gave me the fucking shits! sure, do it, but never EVER do it in front of a kid. kids should ALWAYS see the teachers as a united, combined force!
after one particularly intense conversation, a colleague told me that she couldn't BELIEVE how E had spoken to me and that she'd lost all respect for her after that. This was the conversation where i told E that she didn't need to remind us of how good she is, and that we are clever adults and KNOW when someone is a good manager.
it got to the point where i had to go to my deputy principal (now acting principal) about it. i've been at this school for 2.5 yrs and am NOT an antagoniser, i don't complain much or stir shit. my deputy was totally awesome and listened.
anyway. E's job was up for renewal in 2nd semester (starting in 9 days)... and guess what? she didn't get it. she is EXTREMELY pissed off about it, and so dismissive of the new manager coming in. she has also moved into her 'office'- a little kitchen we have out the back for the kids... WHAT THE FUCK? we are teachers! we have one huge fuckoff office for ALL of us, and then our classrooms. i am shocked and appalled at how she's separated. BUT along those lines, i guess she feels she needs to. embarrassed, some would say.
...
so i go to catherine's house on monday and meet up with her, kirstie and antoinette (all teachers) to sort out the Society & ENvironment (social studies) program for next semester. amidst all the talk, both cath & kirstie reveal to me that E has SPOKEN TO THEM ABOUT ME and that of ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE OFFICE she is MOST PERPLEXED by me. they were both deliberately vague and wouldn't go into much details about the conversations BUT i am gobsmacked!!!
I kind of knew this already - she IS intimidated by me - i have worked hard to stand up for myself this year and not be a pushover. most of my colleagues have commented on it already this year, hahaha.
but i am curious about what she is saying about me.
anywho.
a funny story
so it's the 2nd last day of term and i am kicked out of my classroom. well, not really kicked, but i promised another teacher we could swap as she couldn't get a tv and as my room is a transportable and has stairs, i've always got a tv in there.
oh, i should take photos of my beautiful classroom. it's a reject room (being a million years old and brought down from Up North) but i LOVELOVELOVE it. it does get hot in summer tho, which sucks... i have totally Primary School-ified it and there's a gajillion posters, bright painted windows, hanging poems, plants, toys etc. it looks great.
anyway, so i swapped rooms. my kids were in this room doing their thing. Catherine brings this naughty kid in to sit in my room for "buddy class". fine.
i decide to be super naughty and head over to our office to get a cup of coffee. i take the naughty kid with me and make him sit outside the office.
get my coffee. meanwhile, there are workmen fixing the gutters on the building. we pass them to head back to the class.
once there, the naughty kid is like, "O MY GOD MISS THAT GUY WAS TOTALLY LOOKING AT YOU!!!"
haha.
kids are adorable - the way they put it so straight.
edit:
hrm, pretty darn colourless really. it is so much cooler now. i LOVE it.