Maybe We Should Go Back

A saga. An epic. A tragedy. A rant.

So last year my bff who worked in the classroom next to mine was fired. She taught math, I taught language arts, and we shared two classes. Same kids in both. In other words we worked closely together, compared data, had mutual parent conferences etc. This year they hired a new teacher; this was only her second year teaching. And since I knew I would have a bias against this person for not being my bff that I miss, I tried extra hard to be friendly to her and give her a chance.

Here is the story:

This bitch. Where do I even start?

The first time I met her, I felt that something was off about her. She didn't jive with my humor, seemed cold and fake, and didn't open up about herself at all. I can tell a fake bitch from 3 miles away, and the Fake was strong with this one. At first I tried to give her a chance, though. I thought she was just guarded, being new and all. But no. The answer was not that complex: she is just a bitch. I can say that confidently after ten months of interactions.

It started the first week before we even had students. She started demanding stupid and time wasting shit from me, like lists of my students, their phone numbers, their parents' names and stuff before the rosters were even finalized! This is info you can easily find online, by the way, no list needed whatsoever. And no, I'm not doing that on plan week anyway! It's pointless! Half those kids won't even end up in your class and you'll get some whole new set the first week. But she would request stuff like that and say, "I need it by the end of the day." Like I was her fucking employee! I decided quickly that her attitude was shit and working with her was gonna suck, but it was soon to get much worse.

Probably because (like an idiot trying to be friendly) I opened up about last year and how rough it was for me, she quickly decided that I was completely incompetent and proceeded to treat me like a joke all year long. She's a second year teacher and I've taught for 13 fucking years in some of the roughest schools in the county. I could not believe how smug and condescending she was to me. It left me speechless at times. She would give me "pointers" about methods I've used for years, stuff that has always worked for me in my classroom, and I'd just be like... okay? Thanks for the advice I didn't ask for, need, or want.

It's one thing to correct me in private, but then she started correcting my CLASS if they were with me but not living up to her ridiculous standards that I do not have them follow when they are in my room. I have decent classroom management, don't get me wrong, but I do let the kids be kids and have as much fun as they can. God knows school is boring enough these days! They get a 20 minute lunch and a 20 minute recess to socialize, while in the 90's we used to get at least 30 for lunch and an hour of recess. Let them have some goddamn fun! God knows this generation already sucks at socializing and, if anything, they need more practice! If they wanna make funny faces in line, who are they hurting? If they wanna hum while they're working and it doesn't bother anyone, fine. If they're not standing in a ruler-straight, single file line, we'll all live to see tomorrow! This isn't fucking prison. They aren't inmates. Just let a human be a fucking human okay?

Like, when it comes to classroom management, I just use a combination of tricks I've learned over the years, common sense and my own experience as a mom to manage the room. It works for me. Am I more laid back than other teachers? Sure, some of them. Am I the most laid back teacher ever? Definitely not. Does my style hurt anyone or hinder their learning? No. If there is a problem or a safety issue, I always address it. But if it's not hurting anyone and their learning or school experience is not negatively impacted by it, chances are I will let it slide. Why the hell not? I've always had a problem with school rules I did not understand, such as having to use a pen instead of a pencil or having to write our name and date in a certain format. Some teachers would get so ridiculous about that shit. I don't even have time to think about those little things, let alone regulate them! Who fucking cares?