I need to vent (long)

I am very upset right now, and it takes a lot to get me in this condition. I just had my head completely taken off by my facilitator(this is a pseudo-administrative position in my school, the person who is directly in charge of all the 6th grade teachers) in front of students.

Here's the situation. One of my students came to class holding his jaw, and I could see he was upset. I asked him if he had toothache, he said some boys were trying to fight him in the locker room. It took me 25 minutes to get him to tell me who it was that hit him, of course I could not teach the rest of my class. I was concerned that he would get into a fight on the way home, so I wanted to notify administration of an impending dangerous situation.

So of course I go to my facilitator, her door was slightly ajar, so I just walked in and started to say something about the situation. She was sitting with another teacher, but it appeared that they weren't saying anything. I should have knocked and I should have asked for a minute of her time, but I was too concerned about this boy.

She looked at me, and said in a very mean tone, "Brenda, go outside my office and knock. I am so tired of this." I just left. A student was sitting by her door, with her mouth hanging open. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

From there, I went to notify the teachers of the other boys who were involved. And then, when I started crying, I went to the assistant principal, since I wanted someone to deal with the situation, and there was only 5 minutes before the students left for the day.

Needless to say, I will always knock in the future, which I usually do, but I was concerned and had a bit of tunnel vision. The person in question, my facilitator, is known to snap at people. This is not the first time she has done it to me, or in my presence. I know she is under a lot of stress, but that is no excuse, we all are. She treated me like one of the students, or worse, and I am still very upset an hour later.

I am so glad I am taking a personal day tomorrow.

(((((hugs)))))

There is no excuse for rudeness , though thoughtful of you to try to look at things from her perspective at the time.

Someone in her position should know better. Quite frankly, I would think her first concern should be with the children! If you were so agitated, I really don't think much else matters. I think all of us will agree with you - that poor boy comes first!!!!!

Brenda, Her behavior was completely unprofessional. You know that. No one, not another teacher, parent, or principal corrects a teacher in front of a student. In addition, you are an adult, not a child. There was no call for that type of behavior. You were dealing with a situation that needed immediate attention. Your behavior is understandable; your facilitator's is not. She owes you an apology.

I completely agree with what Jeanie said. It is inexcusable for someone in the school, your supervisor most of all, to treat you like that in front of a student. It degrades respect, which is the only thing that makes a school situation work. Hopefully the girl who witnessed this is smart enough to take it for what it was - your supervisor being rude. What you did may not have been protocol, but obviously she didn't even bother to find out what the very pressing situation was that warranted your not knocking. How did she know it wasn't a very serious emergency? (Which, in a way, it was.)

Relax on your personal day and over the weekend, then with a clear head talk to her about it. Explain the situation, where you were coming from, and that a student overheard her comments to you. Hopefully she will apologize, and if not take it up with her supervisor. Her behaviour was unacceptable.

Thanks, I don;t know if she realized there were students outside her door, but there usually are. I already did go over her head by talking with our assistant principal. I just couldn't let the situation go.

And just this morning she apologized for her b*#@y attitude this week and promised not to let it happen anymore.

We are working so hard to project a positive image to our students and model appropriate behavior. I think the young lady who overhead knew what was up. She warned another staff member not to go in the office a few minutes later.

Jeanie, There is a person in charge of new teacher induction who observes teachers. I heard she asked a teacher, in front of the class, how the subject was really relevant to the students, she's not my favorite person. I don't see how she still has her position after all the complaints last year. Sad that we are often in a position to work against each other, rather than together.

With the problems in middle and high schools as they are now, the last thing a school needs is an adversarial relationship among the staff! The attitude problems that some of these young people have need a united front!

Brenda, I'm so sorry you went through that. She is not professional in any way. If she is "so tired of this", then her option would be to speak to you one on one.

If she is so intent on having people knock first, then suggest to her that she keep her door closed. Leaving it slightly open kind of makes you wonder if she sits there wondering who will be the first one to cross the line so she can lash out at someone. My office door is either open.....or closed. Period. No in-between.

I think she could have taken a few minutes and said "Can I help you?" and then decide if she still needed to talk to you.

Enjoy your time off and don't waste anytime thinking about her. That's probably what she is counting on.

Brenda! This person was totally rude to you and I don't blame you or being upset!!!! What was her problem??? You were just being concerned about a student, and she was being plain rude!!!