Tensions Running High

For some reason there were a few teachers who were a little high-strung today. I don't know if they all had rough days, rough weekends, the cold weather, or the fact that January seems to never end, but I was dealing with grouchy, stressed-out people all day. One teacher knocked on my door and came in to talk to me. That's always a sign of something serious, because teachers rarely have the time to actually knock on my door. The teacher told me that she had discussed the problem with the principal and she suggested that the information be shared with me. So I had one teacher complaining about her recent interaction with a mother and child. It's the old familiar tune of a student that isn't completing homework, mom thinks that the teacher doesn't care, and mom is doing everything she can to undermine the interventions and extra work that the teacher has put in place. This teacher wasn't that grouchy actually, more exasperated. As I was talking to her, there was a knock on my door and my principal walked in. This was a sign that she wanted immediate action. So she reiterated the case and requested a meeting of relevant staff soon. I looked at the schedule and she pressed for sooner, so I scheduled the meeting for tomorrow. She then asked me about an ongoing issue with a special ed teacher and a regular ed teacher. I didn't have promising news, so she demanded an additional meeting with those teachers after we meet on the first student. I had 2 new meetings scheduled in less than 2 minutes!

The other grouchy teacher run-in happened at the end of the day. I was at my mailbox and a teacher comes up to me and says, "I need help with this kid," then she proceeded to show me that the student's reading score hasn't changed since last May. My response was "At least he's consistent." I was treating it lightheartedly, which did not go over well at that moment. She became infuriated and stormed off yelling, "You know, I just can't get any help in this school!" I tried to tell her I was kidding and she's normally good-natured and full of sarcasm. I guess she was having a bad day.

BBC