Hey. You. The new teacher sitting in your room at lunch. What are you doing? I see that you are grading papers and eating lunch, but why are you doing it by yourself? That's a terrible excuse. We all have a ton of papers to check. You cannot lock yourself up in your room at lunch every day to get work done at the expense of being with other teachers. Before long, your room will become a prison.
For all of the new teachers out there, get out of your room. It's ok to have a working lunch once in a while, but not every day every week. There are people in your department that want to talk with you and share ideas. It's the only time during the day that you will get to be around adults, so take advantage of it. Sometimes it is just nice to sit around and not talk about content. The school year is long and it can be tough to try and navigate it alone. Get out of the room and see what you can learn.
This advice is coming from a guy that spent a very lonely first year getting work done, but having no idea who his colleagues were.
- @TheNerdyTeacher
I have to say it depends. A couple of years ago I ate in my room to avoid the very negative group that had lunch at the same time I did. I couldn't take listening to their nasty remarks.
ReplyDeleteThis year I'm lucky to have a group of positive people in the lounge at my lunch time.
It is a good idea not to work through lunch period. (I do it every now and again, when I can't avoid it) If you want to avoid the negative ninnies in the staff room, then hang out with the kids where they eat (we have quite the chess culture at our school due to the influence of one guy who has been thumping kids at lunch for nearly 20 years). Work gets old real fast, but relationships never do (well, you know what i mean).
ReplyDeleteWhen I taught I found the teachers room pretty toxic and conversation not at all professional. I soon started spending lunch in my room but I opened the room to students who wanted to eat with me. As it turned out, most of them were bright and nerdy and for me a lot of fun. I think I learned a lot from them. I would encourage all to try it. Also check DrDougGreen.Com for free resources for educators and parents.
ReplyDelete