Teaching is very different and yet very much the same as most organizations. On the one hand, it is the exact opposite of corporate world, which is why I made the switch, and yet on the other I find it suffers some of the same maladies as a regular office, the primary malady being the manager that has no clue.
I'll start off by saying that I am extremely grateful to have landed in the school where I did, especially after accepting a teaching position at the last minute, sight unseen. The first day I drove into town to visit the school was also the first day I started work. I was referred to my boss through a colleague of hers. I was second in line for a position at another school, and so when my boss needed a teacher at the last minute, she called me. Since B was also interviewing in the area, I went ahead and took it. I knew taking such a risk was, well, risky, but I also needed a job. As I went down the very same road I traverse daily, I was greeted by views of the bay, hotels and condos, and yachts docked off to the side. My sprits lifted, and I had a feeling I was very lucky.Lucky I was, and still am. But sometimes.....
I was given my final evaluation for the year, and I was given high marks in all area but one. This area was about establishing rapport with my students. She marked me down because a student went home one day and said that I had told the whole class that Santa didn't exist. Obviously I never did this. I won't even explain what happened here, but I can certainly say that those words did not come from my mouth; but whatever the child said was construed to mean that I had said that. Unbelievably, even after explaining to my boss what did happen, she said that I needed to be careful with what I say. True enough, just as everyone needs to be careful with what they say.
So here we are, two months down the road, and many compliments later, she marks me down in this one area. I asked her where it was coming from, and she said it was from the one Santa mishap. I said that I was glad it wasn't anything else and that I am very close with my kids, and so she subsequently changed the evaluation.
Then, in the same evaluation, she said that I had turned a non-reader into a reader, and made a writer realize that she had a talent for writing. She went on to say that I was "more and more becoming the teacher of choice," for students. Interestingly enough, she started off the whole meeting to say that I was a good teacher with the potential to be great, then changes her mind and upgrades my one lower score, and then goes on to say that kids want me to be their teacher. In my mind, that's pretty damned good, and nothing to be ashamed of.
So yeah, she's a manager who hasn't a clue, and obviously is unaware of her contradictions. It is maddening. If she could see how many tears have been shed on my shoulder when a child needs an ear to listen and a voice of comfort....if she could see how many faces light up when I've finally made them make the connection that I have been trying so desperately to make, I know she would have regrets for making me feel inadequate. Do I think I'm perfect? Hell no. Do I think I make mistakes EVERY SINGLE DAY? YES. As someone who is with kids all day, just like a parent, making mistakes and feeling the guilt that ensues is all part of the game.
At least I don't work for Michael Scott. I'm pretty sure my poor husband does.
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