Teaching partner vent

[Anon.]

I have been working with my teaching partner for several years. She is a nice person but if I say anything about a child in my class who has a learning issue or a behavior issue she tries to outdo me by saying that she has 5 children with that same problem and I should feel lucky to only have one. Everything is a contest with her. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[MrsM]

Your partner may be insecure and/or self-centered. Turn the conversation back, saying that you were seeking advice and since she has so many, maybe she can offer the trick that will work for your particular issue. Or, if you were just griping, you could ask her to let you finish before she brings up her similar issues. You might want to think twice about saying much of anything to her if her one-up bothers you.

 

[Renea]

Your experience is common!

I feel your pain! I have MANY years of experience and have worked with plenty teachers who play the “ain’t it awful game” just like your partner. They always want to “win”. They fail to really listen you and always have a situation to top yours. What most of us really want is a friend to listen for a moment and maybe a little empathy. Then we’ll go on with our work. Partners like yours , even though they are nice, are focused on themselves. (We have to accept that.) When someone continues to top the story that’s being shared, I always have the urge to just say “You win!” and go on about my business. Of course I don’t have enough nerve to really say that. What I do is stop sharing my frustrations with them. I just won’t get into their game. If you are lucky, you’ll find at least one friend who will listen to you. For your sake, I hope you do!

 

[Eydie]

On Behavior Issues

I try not to say anything negative about the children I teach to the other teachers I work with. We do all have problems and I have found by listening to the others gripe that their attitudes just become worse towards a particular child the more they talk about them. I don't offer any suggestions about how to deal with the problems they bring up unless they ask me directly.

I do have a class full of difficulties this year and it is good to vent once in a while, so thank Goodness I have all ya'll here at Pro-teacher to vent to!

 

[c green]

It seems to be a teacher thing

I hate it. I'd like to be able to discuss what's going on once in a while without getting:

"Oh, you've got it easy."

or

"Well, your credential program should have prepared you for that."

or

"Well, you applied for this job."

or

"Everyone is dealing with these things."

Ech. I'll listen to their problems, if they'll listen to mine! I'm not proposing to shove the kids off a cliff, I don't think I'm that special, I just want to vent for forty seconds!

 

[TexTeacher]

I know someone like that. She always complains about how low her kids are and how badly behaved they are. Then she is so excited when she always seems to get the best test scores. She is an awsome teacher, but come on. Your kids aren't always the worst kids in the school. I usually just ignore it, and don't go to her with any problems.