Never wait for anyone to appreciate you. You will get it from your students, but that's pretty much the only ones who will give it to you.Besides, as the saying goes, you still need a token (okay, a metro card) to get on the subway.
The rantings of a teacher who retired from the classroom but not from education.
9 comments:
I think most teachers treasure the appreciation they get from their students. People don't become teachers because they want approval from supervisors, not if their hearts are really in it.
If your self-image revolves around what supervisors tell you, you could be in serious trouble, especially if you're unfortunate enough to have a lunatic supervisor. Sadly, a lot of people became supervisors to "escape the classroom," and don't supervise any better than they taught.
Your advice is good, but I think most teachers figure that out pretty quickly. At least I hope they do.
Not from some of the comments I hear.
Pissed off, I have to agree, I am in my 30th and last year of teaching at a small rural school in Texas. ( I retire in 68 days! YEA!)
A few kids care, and will tell you that you are appreciated, but I am still waiting for a parent or administrator to give a damn. ( The kids who tell you they appreciate you come back after that first semester or two of college.)
My class is hard, very hard, and the kids gripe thus, the parents gripe because my class is too "hard."
I hope teachers learn to appreciate the praise from their students. Its the only thing that keeps me smiling after all that I have been through.
My former little kiddies are still talking about how I am their favorite teacher. They are now in first grade. My friends tell me they mention things that learned in Sweet Girl's class all the time.
It makes me feel good. It would make me feel even better if 'lunatic principal' heard what the kids were saying.
Don't want to bust your bubble but the kids forget us as soon as we walk out of the room. I think your friend is just trying to make you feel good.
Where do these 'lunatic principal's' in the city come from anyway? The only place where I hear about lunatic principals are in city schools.
My friends have also told me where I used to work is also writing teachers for everything. The motto is, "No excuse. You need to be accountable for your actions."
actually my friend told me the story about the kiddies because of something funny 1 of my former students said.
I wrote about it here:
http://talesofasweetgirl.blogspot.com/2010/10/and-children-still-call-me-their.html
I actually had mixed reactions from the kid's comments about me, wasn't completely thrilled. Eventually, I got over it.
I have to disagree with NYC Ed on this point because if a principal gives positive feedback to their "favs", and you know you are doing a much better job, it does hurt.
Any good manager knows a staff that is appreciated works harder and comes to school happy.
Anon 9:22am has a point. But not about the emotional "hurt" - if there is favoritism going on, sure, it feels bad, but nowadays with the whole "merit" and "accountability" bullshit going on, those comparatively favorable reviews can bite you on the ass if your job is on the bubble. David Steiner of the NYSED is making noise in the media now about how the law is being changed so that any teacher who is rated "ineffective" for two years in a row can be summarily dismissed. That sounds like a due process violation, doesn't it? Sure, it would be great if we could live on the fumes of the students who leave us better than they were when they first came in, but now teachers have to live with becoming at-will employees,too.
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