We're our own worst enemies...

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Home : 2002 : March : 5

We're our own worst enemies...
By sue d.

At my old school, it was easy to get caught in the gossip trap. I was a successful and well thought of teacher, so colleagues felt free to come up and dish on the brand new teacher who was having problems. I have to admit,
I did not stop them.
This teacher also had an incident where the entire class missed their bus! What a coincidence. What made the teachers gossip was NOT the incident itself, but the fact that she never bothered thanking the teachers near her who immediately took her students down to the office and began calling their parents for her. I also helped, while she was busy crying in

the corner-- frozen in complete breakdown. Later, some teachers even went in and helped clean up her room as a surprise because she was so upset, she left without straightening up. All her kids were crying too. Our principal said we did a great job handling the situation. The parents were constantly laying into her. By the end of the year, she had decided to go back to school for a Masters in Admin.! She wasn't even 23! That also made the teachers gossip even worse. Looking back, as I had to move to another state for my husband's job, I regret not helping her more.

Here I am in another teaching position and I wonder about her first experience. Obviously, she had not deserved to be gossiped about. However, new teachers who feel so alone must make the effort to find a mentor and discuss problems. Mentors can be your best defenders to gossip, even helping to explain things to people who make wrong assumptions. I know that I feel alone now with no mentor, but I still talk to my old one! I'd hate to see another teacher quit when there's just a big misunderstnading or lack of connection with colleagues. When you don't know them, they will only notice your mistakes.