| Good, strong working relationships
will make your job (and life) easier.
Develop friendly working relationships with your coworkers,
including custodians, secretaries, cafeteria workers, and
administrators, as well as fellow teachers. The respect and
camaraderie your students see in you will rub off on them. It
will also make your job easier. |
| The custodian's job is bad enough
already. Have you ever looked in a student
restroom at the end of the day? It can be a very sobering
experience.
Do not leave your classroom a mess. You do not have to scrub the floor,
but sweep up if there is a mess. "Oh, you guys,
this project is pretty messy. We shouldn’t leave
this sort of mess for the custodian to clean up.
Let’s grab the broom and sweep this up."
Put chairs on top of desks or tables if possible. |
| Be friendly with the secretaries in
the office.
Need that personal leave form
squared away? School secretaries do a lot of work for
not a lot of money. Show them respect and they will
return the favor. |
| Show respect toward school
administrators. You may not always agree with school administrators,
but if you want to teach your students civil discourse
and behavior, set a good example. You can undo a lot of
positive lessons by mindlessly venting about a current
school-related issue. |
| Stay on good terms with your fellow
teachers. Your fellow teachers are a great resource. Not only
do they have teaching materials, lesson plans, and more
to share, but they have a wealth of knowledge about
school and district rules and procedures. Talking with
other teachers can illuminate problems that students
(individuals or groups) might be having. Just be careful
that you avoid slipping into complaint sessions. (This
does not mean that you must never voice objections. It
simply means that if you find yourself constantly
complaining about particular students, policies, etc.,
in a way that keeps you from finding solutions to these
problems, you have goofed and need to reevaluate
things.) |
| Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
Do not lend your
teaching materials to others if you can help it; try to provide
copies instead. We have seen boxes of supplies and materials vanish
before our eyes as teachers retire or relocate. Having students
return materials is a dream as yet unfulfilled. |
|
Have a "sub buddy."
A "sub buddy" is a teacher in your
building–preferably next door–who knows where things are located
in your room and who can prepare for a substitute to take over
your classroom. A "sub buddy" is someone you can call and say,
"I broke my leg walking out to my car this morning. I was
planning on doing a PowerPoint on the Revolutionary War, but I
think it’s best if the kids watch a documentary and take notes.
Can you get out the 'such-and-such' DVD from the cabinet and
leave a note for the sub? Thanks!" |
|
Keep the
noise down. Neighboring
teachers should not hear your students or the videos you play. |
| Problem: "Other teachers are always
giving me bad advice." We once overheard a
veteran teacher tell a novice, "Don't spend so much time writing
comments on the kids' papers. They won't even read them."
The novice teacher knew differently, and had witnessed great
improvements in the students' work. The novice handled the
situation easily by saying, "Oh, I realize that it looks
pointless. But I'm a bit nit-picky and prefer to do this.
It's as much for me as for the kids." If a fellow teacher
won't give up on having you try a lesson plan idea, go ahead and
try it. If you don't like it, simply say, "The lesson went
well, but I think I'm more comfortable doing what I was doing
before. Thanks for your help, though. There are
elements of your lesson that I plan on incorporating into my
teaching." |
| Problem: Coworkers are
inviting you to events you prefer not to attend.
This is where white lies are alright. If you don't tend to
run into coworkers outside of school, make something up.
We know of one teacher who worked in a school where every
weekend there was at least one celebration (child's birthday,
anniversary dinner, etc.). This teacher made up a
part-time job. She told everyone that she edited online
articles for extra cash on the weekends. In reality, she
was at home on the couch catching up on the week's soap operas.
It was a harmless white lie, and no one ever questioned why it
was so hard for her to get together on the weekends. |
| Problem: Coworkers are too political
or too negative. Teaching is political, and
discussions about teaching strategies, scheduling changes, and
the like, can be just as highly charged as protest rallies.
If you find yourself surrounded by teachers whom you feel are
doing nothing but complain about the school or educational
legislation, walk away. Bring a book to the teachers'
lounge. Change the subject. Go to lunch prepared to
chat about several "non-school" topics, such as movies, books,
or television programs. |
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