[Ima Spedtcher]

I just need to get it out, so no need to respond (but you can if you want).

One of the teachers I work with is driving my crazy! This is one of those people who want to LOOK important, but don't actually want to do the job they are supposed to do.

She requested all the "hard" kids. I think she did this to brag about how much she works while begging for more and more and more help in her room. Now she has so many adults in her room that she just has them do everything so she can talk on the phone or surf the internet. Her class is a mess, her lessons (when she teaches) are BORING and tend to set her "hard" kids off.

But what really pisses me off is she told me all sorts of stuff about my aide which turns out to be untrue. She told me not to ever ask her to read to my kids because she can't read. My aide reads fine! She constantly talked about how lazy she is and how she can't do anything right. So far my aide has been wonderful- she is not in the least bit lazy.

For some reason everyone in the school thinks she is great (probably because she tells them she is), but what has gotten me a little worried is the fact that everyone else she has worked with has gotten a reputation as being really BAD teachers (they weren't). I am getting the sneaking suspicion that they got that reputation due to the fact that she is constantly bad mouthing them. Right now I have a good reputation at the school but I wonder if that is going to last while working with her.

My classroom and grade level is very isolated. For some reason we never have walk throughs, very few people ever even walk by our rooms so no one will really see that I am actually teaching while she is bragging. I can't bad mouth her because that just isn't me. I also don't feel comfortable bragging about what I am doing, but I do feel like I need to do something so I won't be seen as yet another crazy incompetent teacher she has been stuck working with (poor thing).

[Bertie]

After I'd been teaching a certain number of years, admin got "comfortable" with me, and I never got any walkthroughs. In the meanwhile I wasn't standing still, I was trying new ideas all the time, and I was proud of the innovations in my room. Eventually I realized I could not expect their support, not even their pride in a job well done, if they never saw the inside of the room.

I was not in a situation like you where I was worried about a co-worker gossiping about me. I just didn't want them to just assume I was doing okay, I wanted to know the facts. So I asked for walkthroughs. When I started new centers I requested admin input. When I was concerned about a particular student's progress or my relationship with another, I asked them to observe and comment. Whenever I invited parents into the room for LA presentations I invited admin too. And when we got new admin, or someone took courses on tracking teacher movement in the room or individualizing the program, I asked them to try the new stuff out on me. They did come in, they saw my work, they helped me grow, and they became very aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. No one could have told them something they didn't know.

And as a bonus, they made efforts to become more aware of the skill and growth of other staff members too. Which might be verrrrry interesting in your school!

Hey, we have the same thing in our school!.

We have two teachers - one guy and a woman. They both are narcissistic attention seekers.
But, they go about it in a different way.

First the woman. She is a second career teacher (really job hopper) who somehow was nominated for a local wally world award. Well she got and got her photo in the paper. She was flavor for the month for about a year or so, but then her really weird behavior is catching up to her.

She does several wacky things (besides getting mega boob implants )
She dresses really trampy for parent conferences - wearing tight clothes and high heels.
She refuses to share with her team (her ideas are from the school at the other end of the county where she student taught and are no secret )
She does things to get her class on the news -so parents want her kids in her class. Here they are:
She does a manners tea party where the students are required to dress up, use silverware, etc.
She does a "play" with her class in the auditorium for their parents.
She does some sort of stunt at open house - like having student life sized paper drawings sitting at their desks ..(Yawn...)
Meanwhile, here room is a mess, she cries, all the time! Yet claims that her true calling was drama! And with all this attention seeking activitiy - who is teaching her kids? They are just puppets for her own spotlight.

The guy is her buddy. We all think that he is closeted and this attention seeking is out of frustration. He does not work with his team. Does all his kids projects and actually choreographs his team for talent show. He is known to cheat at field day, and other contests because he is so competitive. Everyone would love it if these two could only teach together. IT would be hilarious. They both manipulate coaches and teachers to get awards for their children and their students. The guy is at least friendly in a southern sort of way - the woman is not at all. Neither one of their teams like them from what I hear.

[senior42]

whenever I got the chance I would speak highly of your aide and that you honestly can't figure out why her former teacher ever parted with her. I'd also mention that you hoped she wasn't talking about you the way she talked about the aide because people would really get the wrong idea. Hopefully your aide will do the same for you.

[Cat Lady]

Trust me, there's a least one of those in EVERY school! We have MORE THAN one. I always hope that the admin see through the behavior, but I'm not convinced they always do. I know how frustrating it is. One of my team members is the biggest show off in town. She is so sickly sweet in front of the admin but as soon as they are out of ear shot she would never lift a finger to help anyone or share anything. I try my hardest just to pity these people because that helps me to stay sane!!!