**Tell me what should I do? Its been almost two weeks that i am teaching in a school.I am taking Kindergarten classes and before this i did not have any experience with kids at all.The school is right now giving me training and they have kept me as an assistant teacher with some senior teacher.Now I am working really hard and I quickly learned how to control the kids and other things.But the senior teacher with me is spreading bad rumors about me that "she can’t control the class well,she doesn’t do interesting things and kids get bored."Today some teacher told me about this.I am soooo shocked and upset and angry and sad.I dont know how to deal with these politics at work.And the sad thing is that she has to do my reporting to the principal.
This is the first time I am facing these kind of politics.I try my best to be good to her and to do my job perfectly but then at the end of the day when i hear these things i get so sad.**
Welcome to the jungle of teaching. You will ...at times...be confronted with coworkers who are opposed to working as a team and discussing concerns directly with you....and will instead gossip and run to the principal to screw you over. You'll even see parents who will do the same. This type of sh!t will never end and you will never develop immunity to it. :)
I find it strange that the head teacher is complaining that you do not do interesting things with kids and they get bored. Hmmm.......it's actually more the head teacher's responsibility to come up with interesting lesson plans and activities. Also, it is the head teacher who has sets the tone of the classroom and who is mainly responsible for classroom management. If the head teacher has strong classroom management skills.......then her students will know the procedures/rules and how to behave in various settings and with various faculty members. It sounds to me like you have a head teacher who wants to sit back and let YOU do most of the work and is now finding fault with you. Some (not all) head teachers also pull this kind of crap when they get teaching interns from universities.
So here is what I suggest that you do: Instead of waiting for the head teacher to complain to the principal about you at the end of the year (when rehiring/firing decisions are being made)....I think you need to go talk to your principal. Take a notebook with you. Tell your principal that this is your first time being an assistant teacher and you enjoy working in the school and under her leadership and that you want to develop your skills/improve yourself. Tell her that you just want some clarification on what your duties are as an assistant teacher. Then write those duties down (and the date/time of the meeting) in your notebook.
^It could be that the head teacher expects you to do "extra" duties that are not part of your job. Ask the principal if it is your job to come up with interesting lessons/activities for the students. ***Do not complain about the head teacher to your principal.....it will make you look unprofessional. Simply get a list of the duties from your principal. Now this may make you feel a bit uncomfortable (and I understand)....but tell your principal that you would appreciate it if she could sometimes pop into the classroom and observe how you're handling the kids because you value her feedback about her progress.
^Basically you're showing the principal you're being proactive.....and that way she gets a positive impression of you which will contradict the negative crap that the head teacher says about you at a later point. Again, don't complain about the head teacher to the principal and don't even tell the head teacher that you're going to meet with the principal. And when you get the list of duties from the principal.....I personally wouldn't share it with the head teacher....because I wouldn't give her opportunity to screw me over with that information. Make sure you follow the duties ...outlined by the principal. If you have any evidence/sample (lesson plans, pictures, etc) of work that you've done with the students.....keep it in a folder.
RV your post reminds me of my friend who just finished teachers school. She was telling me during her placement she would plan the lesson and have the worksheets ready to go and teach the class but the head teacher would always interrupt and take over the lesson. She felt she wasn't given the chance to teach her lessons that she worked so hard on. I don't get why these teachers have a problem with power and can't let the student teacher do her work.
RV your post reminds me of my friend who just finished teachers school. She was telling me during her placement she would plan the lesson and have the worksheets ready to go and teach the class but the head teacher would always interrupt and take over the lesson. She felt she wasn't given the chance to teach her lessons that she worked so hard on. I don't get why these teachers have a problem with power and can't let the student teacher do her work.
^That's another common problem. I'm not saying that good supervising teachers don't exist.....they do. But I've heard teaching interns complain that their head teacher either didn't give them a chance to take over the classroom for a fixed time period outlined by the uni courses (which she's supposed to do).......and on the other extreme end of the spectrum you have the head teacher who thinks that she can "chill" and that the intern will do everything from grading papers to practically running the class.
Teaching isn't easy...there's so much that you learn from your slip-ups in your very first job...that you never learned from your course work. It could be that the OP is making some mistakes and that there is miscommunication between her and the head teacher. BUT.....if the head teacher hasn't made any effort to discuss her concerns directly with the OP......then that makes me question the head teacher's intentions/motives. Jealousies exist in every workplace and after all it is the end of the year.....when principals think about who they want to rehire/let go of, etc....and so it's a strategic time to screw someone over. I may be wrong about the head teacher....but I think OP needs to go to the principal before the head teacher does...if she wants to work at the school.
coworkers always gossip, and the only thing you can do is to do your best, and work on your deficiencies. This means you seek feedback from the people around you and some people will be helpful and give you pointers.
Then when you get better, people will recognize it.
I taught back in the day - 8th grade science - oh my Lord, I can't tell you how painful those kids were. ALL newbie teachers have a hard time starting out, you just have to get the hang of it. All the good teachers out there had similar rocky beginnings.
"she can't control the class well,she doesn't do interesting things and kids get bored"
All great advice above. Not having been a teacher, I may not have anything useful to add. Just one question = is any of the above at least partially true? Do you think the senior teacher has an agends to bring you down, or do you think some of her concerns are legitimate? If the latter, this could be a learning moment for you.
Beyond that, I think the sugestsions above are awesome.
ive been an assistant teacher on saturdays for 3 yrs (and still am). my advice is that do ask the senior teacher to gv u a list of things u should get done every day during lesson. make sure it is clearly stated and also make sure you follow it.
also, if you face problems, do talk to a senior staff eg principal. or ask the senior teacher herself that you heard some rumours she was spreading abt u and ask if its true and ask honestly if you are doing anything wrong. be friendly with her when asking her.
do research on how to make class interesting so kids dont get bored. go out of your way so that the teacher doesnt complain abt u. stay in regular contact with principal.
Kindergarden = 3/4 year olds yes? They will ALWAYS be hard to control.
When I was a trainee teacher I cried every night for every day that I spent in school on placeement. It was horrid. You know you dont know much so you have such high expectations of yourself and forget that at the end of the day if you havnt killed one of the kids, its fine, the world is still spinning.
Let the head teacher say what she wants, when you have formal observations take her criticisms (sp) on board and smile at her advice. You just need to get through the placement with a pass. When you have your own class as a qualified teacher you can do what you want and you will do what you want. Taking over someone elses class is hard.
In my second year as a qualified teacher I had a trainee teacher and she was terrible. I wouldnt cut in and start teaching but I did model good practice and give her tons of advice, I set up observations for her to watch a range of teachers, she didnt take any of this on board and couldnt see where she was going wrong.
Teaching isn't the same from class to class, every teacher has their own way of doing things. You only start to find your way of doing things when you have your own class.
My advice is to suck it up, smile and nod and pass this placement. Work politics are everywhere. Think about why you are doing this job, if it's for the kids (which it should be) than do what you have to do.
Girls only problem.. Guys dont have time for this nonsense. Find a better school with more males preferably.
Welcome to the jungle of teaching. You will ...at times...be confronted with coworkers who are opposed to working as a team and discussing concerns directly with you....and will instead gossip and run to the principal to screw you over. You'll even see parents who will do the same. This type of sh!t will never end and you will never develop immunity to it. :)
I find it strange that the head teacher is complaining that you do not do interesting things with kids and they get bored. Hmmm.......it's actually more the head teacher's responsibility to come up with interesting lesson plans and activities. Also, it is the head teacher who has sets the tone of the classroom and who is mainly responsible for classroom management. If the head teacher has strong classroom management skills.......then her students will know the procedures/rules and how to behave in various settings and with various faculty members. It sounds to me like you have a head teacher who wants to sit back and let YOU do most of the work and is now finding fault with you. Some (not all) head teachers also pull this kind of crap when they get teaching interns from universities.
So here is what I suggest that you do: Instead of waiting for the head teacher to complain to the principal about you at the end of the year (when rehiring/firing decisions are being made)....I think you need to go talk to your principal. Take a notebook with you. Tell your principal that this is your first time being an assistant teacher and you enjoy working in the school and under her leadership and that you want to develop your skills/improve yourself. Tell her that you just want some clarification on what your duties are as an assistant teacher. Then write those duties down (and the date/time of the meeting) in your notebook.
^It could be that the head teacher expects you to do "extra" duties that are not part of your job. Ask the principal if it is your job to come up with interesting lessons/activities for the students. ***Do not complain about the head teacher to your principal.....it will make you look unprofessional. Simply get a list of the duties from your principal. Now this may make you feel a bit uncomfortable (and I understand)....but tell your principal that you would appreciate it if she could sometimes pop into the classroom and observe how you're handling the kids because you value her feedback about her progress.
^Basically you're showing the principal you're being proactive.....and that way she gets a positive impression of you which will contradict the negative crap that the head teacher says about you at a later point. Again, don't complain about the head teacher to the principal and don't even tell the head teacher that you're going to meet with the principal. And when you get the list of duties from the principal.....I personally wouldn't share it with the head teacher....because I wouldn't give her opportunity to screw me over with that information. Make sure you follow the duties ...outlined by the principal. If you have any evidence/sample (lesson plans, pictures, etc) of work that you've done with the students.....keep it in a folder.
