Some Resolution

As of right now, I know what I'm supposedly teaching next year. After I wrote my last post, I parked myself outside my principal's door and waited until he would see me. Actually, he tried to escape but I told him he had to talk to me sometime and if he wasn't supposed to talk to me because Central Office didn't want him to talk to me, then I was signing out and heading to central office to wait until someone would talk to me about my position for next year. He decided to talk to me and let me know what was going on with the whole situation/fiasco. Here's the main highlights of what transpired.

1. I'm no longer teaching Title I. I will be teaching academic at-risk 4th and 5th graders Communication Arts and Math all day in a regular classroom setting. I will have small groups of 10-12 students at a time, responsible for teaching all the GLEs, meeting with the parents, planning lessons, grading, etc. This is fine with me. Honestly, I think I need a change from what I've been doing for a while.

2. Here's where it gets interesting. The remaining two Title I teachers were informed that one of them would have to go teach Title I Reading at the Middle School for one hour. That went over like a ton of bricks. When one was told she would have to go, she stamped her foot and absolutely refused to do it. The other one informed them that she didn't want to do it and started scheming to find ways to get out of going to the Middle School. Her first idea was that the girl who took my place which was transferred to Central should have to do it. She was promptly informed that that young lady (who decided she wanted my Title I job even though I had more seniority) has to go for two hours to the Middle School (which she isn't happy about either). Her next idea was that the Art Teacher could go do it. She was told that the class must be taught by a reading specialist. Her next idea was that she didn't have the correct certification because her elementart degree only went to 6th grade. I took just a little bit of pleasure in informing her that she was certified to teach middle school because like me, her reading specialist certification is K-12. She then decided she wanted my academic at-risk job and fired off several rude letters to the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and apparently a couple of School Board Members. This was on Thursday. By Friday, she decided she no longer wanted my job because it would be too much work, but the damage had already been done since she went ahead and e-mailed the letters.

3. As a result of the letters, she and the other Title I teacher in our building were called in for a special meeting last week where they were read the riot act for not being cooperative about meeting the needs of students, for being so hateful, for being insubordinate, for not following the chain of command by not talking to our principal, etc. When the demanded to know where I was (I'm not stupid, I made sure I was out of town when this meeting went down), they were informed that I wasn't required to attend it because I was no longer a Title Teacher and besides, I hadn't pitched a fit to get my way.

So what have I learned throughout all of the drama? One, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it, both good and bad. When all of this started in January, both of the Title teachers I worked with refused to leave Title I. My attitude was that I needed a job and would be willing to consider other teaching positions. Two, even though someone else may sometimes pull the "I'm a Schroeder and my mother was a Lakebrink, you know prominent founding families here" trick to obtain what you want (as did the young lady at Central who took my position in Title I), it sometimes backfires on you and you get more than what you bargained for. Three, you are more apt to come out ahead if you act in a reasonable manner and don't throw hissy fits and tantrums to get what you want. Oh, they got to stay in Title I all right, but now they have to go to the Middle School which is totally out of control. Four, I really need this summer. I need the summer to plan for the upcoming year and to not spend time with anyone from school. Quite frankly, I'm sick of the fighting and the backbiting and am enjoying not seeing anyone that makes my blood boil!