2 years a go I left our planning room around 5, excited. I grabbed 2 handfuls of nutrigrain bars from the courtesy kitchen said good by to my future principal and his assistant and headed toward my car. I drove back to boston with one of my future co-workers ready to do more "work". I'd always called it "work" because sitting in a room and planning the next school year is not as taxing as people who have to do real work like factory stamping or threshing wheat. The "work" was inspiring for three reasons, it was a new school, it was my first job ever, and I was working with a guy who was a perfect future me. The principal of our school had a movie made about his old school, he worked along side the greatest educator of our time there only to go on to work in the clinton whitehouse. Now I got to work in the recreation of this school that he founded. But first we "worked" all weekend at a posh westchester hotel and resort planning the school culture. I thought it was kind of silly that all we worked on was the school culture, but that was all that mattered.
1 year ago I left our planning room insulted. The Super hero principal had been too busy I guess to drive up to this years posh hotel and resort for our planning retreat. I still found a way to get to work on the open bar and wake the next day ready to do some "work." The assitant from last year who held us to our rigid schedule was replaced by our curriculum head. The newly hired Assistant principal had to leave early, which disappointed me, I was the only one from last year and I was ready to incorporate my memories into this years "work." I was surprised that we didn't even use the ideas at all. The "work" we did last year was replaced with softer, less permanent ""work,"" planning so superficial it makes actual planning seem sternuous by comparison. Half past noon the curriculum head broke, already in swimsuit, decided that it was too nice outside, and we had done enough ""work."" With a juice in my pocket and two hands full of nutrigrain bars I went to my car insulted.
This year I did about as much "work" taxing the open bar than I did actually "working." All memory of the work from two years ago had vanished. Also gone was this superstar principal, his assistant, and the teacher I drove with from back then. All of them on to other jobs. The curriculum head - now assistant principal - lead su through two ice breaker activities that took up 3 and a half hours of time. We then spent an hour debating what we were actually going to plan, then we broke up into groups and planned for 45 minutes. We got back together, shared our plans and called it a day. I took my book bag full of nutrigrain bars, juices, and hotel pens to my friends car frustrated.
2 comments:
God, that sounds so much like the ambitious plans of a nascent athletic team that it makes me nostalgic. Just another example of people being fundamentally all talk, no action. Unfortunately, that's generally what it takes.
I guess you have to ask yourself whether or not you want to be a "lifer."
It makes me want to be the guy in charge. For the people in charge there is this belief that talking is work, or "work". The person in charge needs to come in and say "here is the work we are going to do..." and list off an itinerary of who is supposed to come up with what at what time and then stick to it and hold people accountable who aren't.
I'm going to be a lifer in education, i won't have to worry to much about being a lifer in situations like this because they are unsustainable.
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