We had an "inservice" day today: teachers come to school for training, students stay at home. I just don't know where principals find these people. Actually, I think the woman "training" us today works for the district. She's come to our school a number of times. It is excruciating to sit through her presentations. I'm sure she means well, and I'm sure she's highly educated, and I'm confidant that her data and research are all spot on. However...her speaking style and presentation style is deeply irritating, and not just to me. The only thing that saved us is that she was only responsible for 90 minutes of our time today. But it brought home to me something one of my co-workers said earlier.
She told me how, when finding out she was a teacher, people would ask her why we had several of these days each year when the students stayed home and the teachers came to the school. (It was asked because they were peeved about having to provide other arrangements for their children since the free babysitting by college graduates wasn't available.) My colleague replied, "It is so we teachers can be reminded periodically how it is EVERYDAY for our students: trapped in a chair, forced to listen to someone drone on, no choice in the matter."
I thought that was very astute, and I was especially struck by it today when we came back from a bathroom break to find that lady setting up her presentation--utter dismay, uggh-how long will it last? Blah. So, I'll try harder than ever to make my classroom a place where students don't come in the door thinking, "Blah, her again...how long will this last?"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment