Been there

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Home : 2003 : January : 8

Been there
By Jennifer

I have been in a situation similar to yours. Part of my problem was also that this woman was much older than I and treated me as one of her kids (one of whom happened to graduate from hs with me!). Give her stuff to do,
it gives her the control that she needs to have, the connection with the kids, and it takes some of the load off of you. For example give her a reading group. You can still write up the plans etc.. but let her teach the lesson to that group and lead it. She can then add her "style" to it. A lot of the time younger teachers feel intimidated to give older assisstants jobs to do. In reality

they want a lot to do, it's their job and just like we don't want to sit around niether do they. If she has been at the school for a while aske her to help you implement some new ideas or ask for her advice. Hopefully by feeling wanted and useful, she will start to back off. Give this a few days and then ask to speak with her and tell her that the transition to your first classroom has been long and involved and that you feel like you need her POSITIVE support. Maybe you can come to an agreement of what is helpful. She may think that her comments are constructive. I hope that it gets better and that you enjoy your first year.