United We Stand

My first class was a group of lovable and outstanding 3rd graders. Those lovable kids wanted to learn and please their parents and their teacher. It was Heaven on Earth. Course, we were always doing something exciting. I had 22 adorable 8-year olds. Their curriculum was easy to deliver and grade; teacher’s edition were rarely opened. Spelling, language arts, math, science, and social studies assignments and activities could be graded quickly...the old ‘eyeball’ method.

They were a class that could work in groups very successfully and productively. We did “Healthy Teeth puppet plays for kindergarten, our own version of Fairy Tales puppet plays for first graders. We had guess speakers sharing with us their life on the farm, ‘what happened and when.’ We hatched little chicks. We turned the eggs three times each day, and I came up every night to turn them.

We went on a field trip to Energy Center in Wichita. We did projects focusing on energy conservation, cooked in a solar oven, made model wind turbines, made paper-sack kites, saw films on renewal energy sources and fossil fuels. We made an ‘energy’ quilt. Made commitments to lower our own energy usage. I had a class of conservationists, tree huggers! They were going to save the world. I was SURE every one of my kids was going to grow up and do something GREAT! And they’d say they owed it all to their 3rd grade teacher….ME!!

I had wonderful support of parents, staff, and administration. I thought I was the best thing to happen to the classroom in decades. All the time and energy and years I spent to become a teacher…..this was exactly what I thought teaching America’s children was all about.

I knew nothing of tenure, due process, negotiations; I was sure if you’re GREAT that was all that was necessary. I was so full of myself and completely naïve. I stayed this way for about 5 years. Then I began to see GREAT teachers being verbally abused, picked on, set-up to fail. I was amazed this could happen. It actually took me a while to see the ‘light.’ It is easier and saver to believe the ‘teacher’ surely did something and got in trouble for it. Surely, it had to be something terrible….had nothing to do with personality or differing opinions. I was still inside the ‘protected bubble’ where every thing is fair, and everyone is nice and professional. After all, this was the grand world of educating all the children. Surely, anyone involved in this endeavor was true, ethical, and the best people on this Earth.

Well, over the years, I have learned, painfully I might add, that not all those in education are true, ethical, and sometimes can be quite ruthless. I continue to wonder how someone like this would even consider education as a career. The ones I have met that fit the above description have always been administrators. All school administrators had to first be teachers. The general consensus regarding these type of administrators is s/he has totally forgotten or ‘blacked-out’ their time in the ‘trenches’ with the kids.

I experienced this between my 8-15 years of teaching. It was brutal for my teaching partners and me. Looking back, I can identify this as plain and directed harassment. Folks might be written up for tardy for meetings, being out of the classroom, not being in the hall, not communicating with peers or parents in a productive manner……it was ongoing, relentless, and completely BOGUS! The harrassment did its damage. Teachers became ‘jumpy,’ paranoid (course it’s not paranoid if someone is out to get you). Teachers began ‘hiding out.’ Teach their classes and stay ‘below the radar.’ Teacher collaboration was shutdown completely. The hostile work environment was VERY detrimental to the learning environment. Creativeness and productivity was stifled! Survival mode kicked in. We were scared. Teachers are VERY NICE people. Treating teachers in this mnner is criminal.

Eventually, we did start ‘collaborating’ outside the school day and off school property . We discovered we were all in the same boat. Prior to this, we all had felt it was just us. We had a support group forming. Once this happened, teachers took the ‘power’ away from our tormentor. AND before long (took a couple of years), the administrator moved on down the road.

And even though many of the teachers experiencing those years have also moved on, my staff has never let administration divide us again. The ‘oldsters’ teach the ‘newbies’ the importance of staff unity. We old teachers watch the mood of the school, and we TALK to each other!! We address conflict in the open, not behind closed doors, and never keep ‘secrets.’ We do not manipulate each other and do not allow ourselves to be manipulated.

It was a very difficult time, but what we learned from it has made us a stronger staff, making it easier to fight for our students and our fellow peers.