Excuse Me . . . Did I Hear You Right?

There is nothing worse than working your butt off and picking up the slack for other people only to have your commitment and work ethic questioned . . .

I'm a middle school math teacher. I work with a tough population . . . A population that emotionally drains me because of all the trauma that happens on a regular basis. Too many of my students have crappy lives to no fault of their own. They see substance abuse, gang affiliations, domestic violence, and probably much worse. I have committed myself to my job and being as good of and educator as possible. I have invested myself with my students by getting to know them, talking to them, sharing meals with them, asking about who they are, what they like, and what they experience. My students mean the world to me and I work hard to set them up for success as much as possible.

Today I sat through a meeting. The meeting ended with me asking some clarifying questions about a task we were assigned to complete with our students . . . Goal setting. I won't get into that the goals are based on points in which no one has been able to explain how they are assigned or what they actually mean in reference to actually taking the test. Goal setting is a great experience for kids and I've seen it have a major impact on their success. My question had to do with the time it would take to effectively complete this process with each of my students in 2 days. I asked about being able to complete a few students each day during independent work so as not to disrupt instruction too much. My principal responded with a condescending tone about not taking a "just get it done" attitude.

My school currently has 5 teachers out on long term leave. We struggle to find substitutes to cover teachers who miss one day here and there. That means we take turns giving up our plan time to fill-in where needed. Please don't question my "go-getter-ness" when you have consumed my morning plan time, my plan period, and all half-days with your unorganized, busy-work, and often useless tasks! Oh, and you have not offered me any days off to work on my national board certification like every other district does!

So yes . . . I'm annoyed that you have added another thing to my already full plate, and yes . . . I'm annoyed that your timetable is a little ridiculous . . . So fuck off and get your own shit together before criticizing me and my shit!

Please and thank you!