Anyone who knows me, knows how sarcastic I can be. I am in rare form today. Something tells me I won't be out of it for a few more days.
Anyone who has ever sat through a boring meeting while your ass falls asleep on a hard steel chair knows how horrible these things can be. On one hand, I get to see people from other sites, share ideas, and catch up on life. On the other hand, I get to hear how great another district is and what they are doing (which is exactly what we do), forced to work with others who think their way is the best and monopolize conversations/directions, and listen to the 'know it alls' tell me how they do things and the programs they use or have made up...without ever offering to share.
I will begin with the morning. I am at a different site then I have been for the last several years, so seeing old friends is always a blessing. Sadly, they give little time to talk to one another before an 'expert' -- who hasn't been in the 'trenches' for years, if ever -- starts blabbing. This one was particularly awful! She couldn't get the powerpoint presentation working so an administrator tried to help. The administrator makes a lot of money doing ... um not sure what she does, but as someone at my table said, "She is her own biggest fan." That pretty much sums her up. Anyway, she got the powerpoint working, but not before Ms. Boring yammered on. Really, if you're going to make a powerpoint, make it interesting. Lists with bullets is a yawner. Seriously, I assure you with powerpoint you can put a jazzy background, interesting entrances, interesting fonts, etc. Then to top it off, Ms. Boring read everything that was on the powerpoint -- because as a teacher I need EVERYTHING read to me!
Then we moved onto some assignment -- not sure what it was, but a friend and I filled out the said paperwork. A piece of paper that Ms. I'm Great (the one who is her own biggest fan) will type up and take credit or will take the papers and no one will ever see them again. I'm guessing no one will ever see them again. Hmmm...maybe a friendly wager could be placed on that one. Anyway, Ms. I Won't Share Shit With You comes over to 'collaborate'. My group accidentally offended her -- yes, it was an accident. So she stomped away and worked alone. While a friend and I did the never to be seen again assignment, two others worked on something useful...A Math pacing guide. We figured, kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Too bad we couldn't throw those stones at people.
Then Ms. Boring and Ms. I'm Great spoke about what they saw in another district...Kids using academic language, kids using higher order thinking skills, etc. All the shit we do, but neither would know that as they don't actually go into our classrooms. THEN, Ms. I'm Great proceeds to explain that if we do a quick assessment at the beginning of the lesson and we find that the students know a concept we don't need to waste our time teaching the lesson. My thought...No shit sherlock. This is the Oprah Ah Ha moment for you? Really? Cuz this didn't occur to any of us? <insert eye roll> Again, if these people ever entered our classes they would see that we do this.
The day ended with Ms. I Won't Share Shit With You talking smack about my peeps to her administrator. <eye roll> Some people need to create drama.
Anyone who has ever sat through a boring meeting while your ass falls asleep on a hard steel chair knows how horrible these things can be. On one hand, I get to see people from other sites, share ideas, and catch up on life. On the other hand, I get to hear how great another district is and what they are doing (which is exactly what we do), forced to work with others who think their way is the best and monopolize conversations/directions, and listen to the 'know it alls' tell me how they do things and the programs they use or have made up...without ever offering to share.
I will begin with the morning. I am at a different site then I have been for the last several years, so seeing old friends is always a blessing. Sadly, they give little time to talk to one another before an 'expert' -- who hasn't been in the 'trenches' for years, if ever -- starts blabbing. This one was particularly awful! She couldn't get the powerpoint presentation working so an administrator tried to help. The administrator makes a lot of money doing ... um not sure what she does, but as someone at my table said, "She is her own biggest fan." That pretty much sums her up. Anyway, she got the powerpoint working, but not before Ms. Boring yammered on. Really, if you're going to make a powerpoint, make it interesting. Lists with bullets is a yawner. Seriously, I assure you with powerpoint you can put a jazzy background, interesting entrances, interesting fonts, etc. Then to top it off, Ms. Boring read everything that was on the powerpoint -- because as a teacher I need EVERYTHING read to me!
Then we moved onto some assignment -- not sure what it was, but a friend and I filled out the said paperwork. A piece of paper that Ms. I'm Great (the one who is her own biggest fan) will type up and take credit or will take the papers and no one will ever see them again. I'm guessing no one will ever see them again. Hmmm...maybe a friendly wager could be placed on that one. Anyway, Ms. I Won't Share Shit With You comes over to 'collaborate'. My group accidentally offended her -- yes, it was an accident. So she stomped away and worked alone. While a friend and I did the never to be seen again assignment, two others worked on something useful...A Math pacing guide. We figured, kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Too bad we couldn't throw those stones at people.
Then Ms. Boring and Ms. I'm Great spoke about what they saw in another district...Kids using academic language, kids using higher order thinking skills, etc. All the shit we do, but neither would know that as they don't actually go into our classrooms. THEN, Ms. I'm Great proceeds to explain that if we do a quick assessment at the beginning of the lesson and we find that the students know a concept we don't need to waste our time teaching the lesson. My thought...No shit sherlock. This is the Oprah Ah Ha moment for you? Really? Cuz this didn't occur to any of us? <insert eye roll> Again, if these people ever entered our classes they would see that we do this.
The day ended with Ms. I Won't Share Shit With You talking smack about my peeps to her administrator. <eye roll> Some people need to create drama.