Help me put this in perspective

[ugh]

The school I was teaching at in the past has been closed down due to low enrollment (which I am VERY depressed about, as I loved the school & staff and had been there for a long time), and I am being transferred to another school in my district for next school year.

I emailed the principal of my new school, introducing myself and telling him that I was very excited to be joining the staff of his school (in reality, I am not happy about it, but I am trying to put forward a happy face), and also asking what grade level I'll be teaching for next year, as I like to plan over the summer. I sent the email last week, and as of today, have not received any response. I know he is working right now, but is leaving on vacation tomorrow, and won't be back for a month.

The issue I'm having is that I'm feeling really put off by the fact that he has not replied to my email- not even to say he hasn't completed grade level assignments yet or whatever. I already have unhappy feelings over my transfer, and this is making me really dislike this guy, as I feel like it's rude for him to ignore my email in this way. Am I being overly sensitive? I feel like I've lost perspective.

 

[IA11]

Any chance you could drop by the office? Just to introduce yourself? Our office secretaries are working this time of year too -- and it always helps to have the secretary on your side. . . . if nothing else, you could introduce yourself to them too!

I would feel 'blown off' too -- but that may not be the case. . . . .

<<<hugs to you!>>> -- I know it's very stressful!

 

[aksuz]

Are you sure he got the email?

If he did get it then he is being rude. Although I must confess that I have opened and email intending to return to and forgotten about it because I had so many other work email come in.

Since he is gone now---relax and enjoy summer the best that you can. No point in wasting good relax time.

In a month email him again.

 

[ugh]

Stopping by the school is a really good idea. I do confess that I'm afraid my attitude will show through too easily if I go in person. I can be careful in how I word things in an email, but in person, I'm not a very good actor and I do want to appear excited about coming to this school and not totally depressed over it.

 

[ugh]

You are totally righ, aksuz, I should just let it go at this point. I really do like to plan over the summer, though! It's eating at me that I don't know what grade I'm going to be teaching.

I can only assume he's gotten the email- I know he's working this week, and I assume he must have checked his work email at least once over this week. I do hope it's a case of "was going to reply when he had a chance and then just forgot".

 

[TcherGurl528]

Can you check to see if he read it? Our school email has the ability to see whether something has been read or not, so you might want to check. I think stopping by in person is a good idea, at least to extend the proverbial olive branch. And I think it's okay if you're a little sad about your old school being closed down -- it has nothing to do with him and certainly isn't a reflection on his school. Try to channel those feelings into a "fresh start" kind of thought, and then stop by.

 

[ugh]

Thanks, TcherGurl528- I don't know how I'd check if he's read it or not- we use Microsoft Outlook. I don't know where that function would be (I'm not that computer savvy).

I'm trying hard to get into a "fresh start" groove, but it's hard when I feel like he's ignoring me and I don't know what grade level I'll be (and it could be anything!).

I'm resentful about what happened to my old school and I worry that because of his ignoring my email, I'm channeling my anger directly at him, and will start the school thinking he's a jerk. I need to just get over it, but I'm struggling.

 

[GdHrtdTchr]

Frustrating Situation

I'm sorry you're going through this. I can relate to some of your situation because I, too, am at a great school that is 'closing' due to low enrollment. (We're in Detroit and with the auto industry and other economic issues the neighborhood has come to look like a ghost town -- add in some charter schools that come and go and we've gone from 800+ kids to 200 in the 13 years that I've been there.)

Anyway, what's different about our situation is 'the plan' is that our old school isn't said to be 'closing', but 'moving' (into the neighboring school still within the district) so we are SUPPOSE to all go to that building and our principal SHOULD be our principal and select from other teachers (including those that have been teaching in the 'receiving' school) interested in teaching in 'our' school.

Like you, everyone is facing uncertainty. With everyone being pink-slipped, teachers are uncertain of having a job at all, let alone knowing exactly where or what grade they are teaching. Like you, if we did know, we would use the summer to prepare. Frankly, my hunch is that some of it this is because the district is just totally messed up and part of it is intentional to keep teachers fearing for their jobs and grateful to just have anything even at the last minute. We think that 'they' have no concept whatsoever to how much time is required into preparing effective lessons and appealing classrooms and are completely clueless how much teachers do (or would do) over the summer (IF they knew what they'd be teaching.)

Anyway, as for 'perspective' I try to just keep an open mind. Most teachers are natural planners, I've just learned to focus more on flexibility and adaptability. Plans get disturbed so frequently, it's probably more important to just try to be prepared (as much as possible) for anything. If your new/future princ. wasn't going on vacation, it would have been nice to make a written attempt to again introduce yourself and see what you could learn. But, he is. And frankly, my guess is hearing repeatedly from the incoming teacher (that he MAY not have even wanted) might be more annoying to him than impressive. You've initiated contact, expressed your interest/enthusiasm, and he didn't respond. (And yes, that IS annoying, but he's 'the new boss' so I don't think there's much you can do.) I know it's unpleasant to hear, but it's possible that he is not only still assigning positions but perhaps assembling his staff. I understand that "you've been assigned to that building/princ" so I'm hopeful that it all works out, but I'm just saying that it's possible that he was hoping to bring in some awesome long-term sub he had been eyeing who wanted to be a full-time teacher or a fantastic new teacher that got pink-slipped that he was hoping to get back. I hope this isn't the case and maybe it's not even possible in your situation, but I know our former principal either ignored or replied 'we don't need anyone' initially to almost every teacher who was assigned to her without her requesting them. Sometimes we got them anyway and most of the time they proved to be WONDERFUL teachers and they developed a great teacher-princ relationship, but it's natural for principals to be wary of folks they didn't hand-pick.

I hope this isn't sounding negative. I'm really hopeful that this all works out and I'm praying that it does. But you were seeking perspective and I'm hoping I was able to offer some. As for me, I'm trying my best to just mentally (and physically with my materials) prepare for just about anything.

Good luck!

 

[ugh]

Thanks, GdHrdTchr, I appreciate what you wrote, and I think there is a lot of truth in it. I am sorry to hear you are going through something similar.

I agree that sending another message to the P after I already sent one would quite possibly irritate him. I have no intention of sending another written message until possibly just before school starts in August.

I also agree that he may have wanted to bring in some other person instead of me (he does not know me at all), and is possibly not thrilled with the idea of having me foisted on him. He cannot turn me down because I'm tenured and the district made the assignment, so it's not a request on my part that he's able to turn down or claim he doesn't need anyone. I am not worried about the transfer not happening. But, the fact that there is not a choice on his part enhances the possibility that he had hoped to bring in someone else of his own choice and he may be feeling as resentful of this move as I am.

It is possible that he's still assembling staff- if that were so, I do wish he'd just email back something to that effect. I would totally understand that.