Interpersonal Relationships

My principal has this ongoing joke that I should go back to school and get my doctorate, and my dissertation should be a study on the interpersonal relationships of teachers within my school. She always mentions this when she has a story for me about warring teachers and their juvenile antics. Today I was passing by her office and she called me in. She waved a letter at me and told me that she had more data for my doctorate. She handed me the paper and I tried to read it, but it didn't make sense. A teacher had written a note asking my principal to intervene with a conflict she was having with a fellow teacher. They were bickering about wall decorations and use of a personal refrigerator. It was ridiculous because they are supposed to be adults and should have been able to handle this on their own, but they wanted "mom" to intervene. She forced them to work it out amongst themselves during planning, but she informed them that she would be present during their planning time.

I had a more pressing issue that required my attention, so I sought her advice while I was there. I was approached by one of the special ed teachers who was concerned about one of her students. She told me that this particular student didn't feel welcome in his homeroom class. He's has a learning disability and really struggles with reading. The special ed teacher told me that the student often showed up at her door during off hours because his teacher sent him out of the room. It sounds like there was no inclusion in the classroom. He's starting to feel ostracized and unwanted, and we aren't sure if the teacher is doing this consciously. So the special ed teacher wanted to talk to the homeroom teacher but she wanted to a) use the right words so that she could convey a convincing message and b) do it when she wasn't so emotional about it. I commended her on recognizing how emotional she could be if she approached the teacher now. Other than that, I was kind of clueless about what advice to give to the teacher. My principal gave me some pointers. The teacher should focus on saying how she was uncomfortable with what was happening and that she wanted to know how she could help the teacher. If the teacher focused on her discomfort, then the focus wouldn't be on the actions of the other teacher. It made sense, and luckily it was exactly what the special ed teacher wanted to hear. In the end, I felt like I was able to help in some way. I'll see what happens once she actually approaches the homeroom teacher.