Filed under: Daily Life
I never knew really thought about this before, but teachers are the worst people to have in a meeting. In all of the meetings I have ever attended, there has been at least two teachers engaging in behaviors they would never have tolerated from their students. For example, in one such meeting, there were a couple of teachers who were complaining about the meeting and saying they had better things to do. A few feet away, another teacher was contentedly knitting a scarf. In the meanwhile, the person who was presenting at the meeting was valiantly struggling to keep everyone’s interest.
Now, I’m not a big fan of the meetings, either. I know they can be important, but occasionally, the content is irrelevant to me or my teaching practice and I tend to zone out. However, I’m courteous enough to stay awake and at least pretend to be listening. I know it’s not much, but it can be pretty discouraging to look around a room and notice that 90% of your audience is busy doing other things; especially if it’s something that’s not even related to the current meeting focus, i.e. knitting a scarf.
On the flip side, teachers are pretty fun to hang out with for a couple of reasons. First, they are notorious gossipers; especially if the gossip pertains to other teachers in the same school/department. I’m trying to hold my tongue because I want to here for a couple of years, but sometimes, I can’t help let slip something I’ve heard about another teacher. Bad, I know.
Secondly, teachers drink. Can you blame us? We have to put up with unmotivated, obnoxious, belligerent people for six days a week. And the students can be a real pain in the ass, as well. Sometimes, you just need some alcohol to take the edge off of life.
Incidentally, have you heard of the movie, Half-Nelson, with Ryan Gosling? I remember hearing about this film a little while ago, but never knew what it was about. I just assumed that it was a wrestling movie. However, I read a review and am intrigued at the premise. Gosling basically plays a brilliant teacher who is also a crackhead. Why crack? Because he can’t afford cocaine on a teacher’s salary. Duh.
