How’s YOUR Karma??

Alternative title: Playing Nicely In the Sandbox

Today was day two of our in-service. We met in the fancy pants conference center again and dined on stale scones for the second day in a row. Doesn’t take much to impress us. The theme of today was “karma”. Yes, karma.

Ms. Cocktails Before Noon started off the morning by making us interview each other. We had to get up and talk to three people to find out something new about that person to share with the entire staff. Immediately we were all annoyed because we had to stand up and leave our door stoppers/scones. Some of us took the opportunity to chat with friends, others actually humored Ms. CBN and talked to the new people. I will not reveal which group I fell into…I plead the fifth!

We learned that one of our less-productive staff members (who I swear has stock in Dunkin’ Donuts, I mean how else can you explain her dedication to consuming so many each morning? In her world the donuts are a clear priority when compared to the needs of her students) was published. Wow, maybe I was wrong about her…published? That’s impressive. And then the following occurred:

Ms. CBN: Really? Published? That’s fantastic! Where?
Ms. Dunkin’ Donuts: In a poetry magazine.
Ms. CBN: Wow! Can we find it somewhere? When did that happen?
Ms. Dunkin’ Donuts: When I was 8. (Just FYI, Ms. DD is clearly over 50)

Really? If there is such a thing as karma, she is in for it!

We then continued on with Ms. Weavalicious discussing her own career in the classroom and her wonderful ability to use humor to alleviate the stress of teaching. Somehow, that skill has left her since she became our vice-principal. She advised us to make sure that the “karma” of our classroom encourages student learning and exploration.

I may not be a perfect teacher, but I do pride myself on my ability to foster a loving and successful classroom environment. I think children are happy and excited about learning when they are in my room. As a result of my sense of self-efficacy in this particular area of teaching, I may choose not to follow Ms. Weavalicious’ sage-like words of wisdom, but I thought I would share them with you.

• “We have the most smartest staff I’ve ever worked with. You should be confident in how smart you are.” (Ummmm, hi. Yea. We’re confident in our intellectual abilities, but you should really practice sentences in your headfirst…)
• “Make sure that your classroom is relaxed, children can move about freely to get supplies, and that the room is buzzing with discussion. But, don’t forget…we value task on time, quiet children and sticking to the schedule.” (Ok, what? I’m fairly certain that your two sentences cancel each other out friend…)
• “So when I was angry that I wasn’t getting the response I wanted, I just made it into a joke. I said ha ha ha, and then was done with it.” (Yes, you said ha ha ha, then followed up with a nasty letter in my colleague’s file and I’m pretty sure that it was you who took away several of her preps in a row. Some joke! Way to just laugh that one off!)

Maybe her words are an enigma wrapped in a conundrum and I’m just not smart enough (even though yes, I am one of the “most smartest”).

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5 Comments
  • You must be smart. You used “efficacy” in a sentence without blinking. Kudos.

    …also, nice linking. 🙂

    August 29, 2007 at 1:05 am
  • Thanks Bert!! 🙂 I’m so excited about the linking!!!

    August 29, 2007 at 1:07 am
  • Excellent linking, Mimi!

    You meet the standards. 🙂

    August 29, 2007 at 2:10 am
  • Please tell me she didn’t say “most smartest”… Aaaaargh! An English teacher’s nightmare! That’s almost as bad as my many PhD’d professor in college saying “irregardless” daily.

    August 30, 2007 at 2:39 am
  • Sorry tense…she absolutely said “most smartest.” It was just too funny to leave out of my blog!! Some of her other classics are confusing “good” and “well” and I’ve definitely heard her say “irregardless.”

    Oh well…

    August 30, 2007 at 10:36 am

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