Tuesday, April 22, 2008

silence

in the workplace, when you've been asked not to talk about something, why is it that someone invariably keeps asking about it? yesterday, i got an email about meeting with administration about switching grade levels for next year. they wanted me to loop up to third grade. i won't be truly looping, since i doubt that i'll get my entire class again. that'd be far too much time with some of them (and not enough for others!) i was asked also to not discuss the move with anyone until letters came out to everyone with their tentative grade level assignments today. no problem. since i agreed to that, i feel like i've lied to at least five coworkers when they've asked if i got an email or had a meeting. the cat's out of the bag now, the letters are out, and i have to deal with the rumor outbreak and emotional mess it might cause with my current grade level. it feels almost deceptive, and there really was no way for me to respond to their questions without at the very least admitting that i'd had a meeting, which not everyone had! grrr...

where do professionalism and personalism intersect in the workplace? moreso in a school, i feel the line between the two gets blurred often and readily as most of the people who go into teaching tend to be cut from the same mold. with that much in common, it's easy to become friends with coworkers, even if we don't interact too much outside of school. i have a hard time dealing with these personal relationships as i don't have a whole lot in common with too many teachers at my school. i never have. sure, we have similar interests here and there, but middle-aged married/divorced mothers aren't in my usual entourage. it explains why i've sought out the younger teachers or the few men at this school as friends, or why i always befriended the interns in florida.

2 comments:

rachel said...

so you will be looping up to third or they're just thinking about it? or you're just thinking about it?

Mr. J said...

i'm going.

tentatively, that is.