I am regular poster, but I am signed in under another account, because I don't want to be identified.
A little background information: I am new(er) to my building, but not to the district. Prior to last year, my school had a really really horrible principal (whom I never worked with). She bullied teachers to the point where some were considering suicide. Because my district is afraid to fire anyone, they moved her to a different position, and the new principal was hired. This is the new principal's 2nd year. The staff at this school has been through a lot. It's almost as if they are always on guard, and are afraid to speak up.
We had a meeting this past week that really upset me. I felt like things were going ok this year, but I also realized that a lot of people were feeling really stressed. I actually have quite a few co-workers that are planning on quitting after this year, or are currently looking for a new job.
During the meeting, my principal exclaimed that we need to quit B*$#&ing and learn to deal with the reality of our jobs. We need to be giving 110%. We need to be sitting down and doing work at 9:00 at night when our kids go to bed. We can "B" to each other as much as we want, but it isn't going to do any good, because we need to step up and do our jobs. P used the "B word" a few times, and mentioned the "P word." (I am really bothered by this, but we no longer have a strong union, OR a contract, thanks to our governor.)
P also confused us all by saying, "Come to me if you have an issue. We can't fix it if we don't talk about it. Silence is compliance." And, in another breath, P would say, "You can "B" to each other, but don't come whine to me. It's your job. Do it."
The thing is, my school doesn't even have any "slackers."
We all work so. Gosh. Darn. Hard. I was at work until 10:00 last night (a 15 hour day), and I will probably be there all day on Sunday. Yet, I'm told that I'm not doing enough.
We have so much being thrown at us with intervention (we're responsible for all RtI tiers for literacy and math) and Common Core. Not to mention my district is CRAZY about technology in a very obnoxious way. We're expected to learn how to use Weeblys and Google Drive, and Symbaloos, and Vialogues, and a bunch of other weird words!
I just don't know what to do. I feel like I have no one at my school to go to. A co-worker told me not to trust anyone. We used to be pretty close, and now she is always so mad (mad at me? mad at everything? I don't know!). My team is so unhappy that our meetings consist of complaining. I really wish I could work with a group of people that were like, "Ok, this is it. Let's do what we need to do and work smarter, not longer." Everyone kind of keeps to themselves, and there is just this horrible feeling around the building. It's really hard to explain, but it's not good.
I feel like the meeting we had this past week was the icing on the cake. Now everyone is extra stressed, more worried, and really upset.
I just don't know what to do. I don't feel like I can talk to anyone. It's so sad, too, because I really believe in the importance of having a strong, close community in the workplace. I guess I can just keep doing the best that I can do for my students, and look out for myself. It's just so sad, though.
, Hiding.
