Teacher Lounge Conversations

Do you know the expression "if I were a a fly on the wall..."? Well, a teacher's lounge would be a good place to be a fly on the wall. In the inner city, there is a lot of moaning and unloading about an impossible student who will not do any work, a teacher's overloaded schedule, how little they are paid, or some parent asking the impossible. Sometimes there is so much negativity that the air is toxic which makes it hard to breath. Yet, there are those who go in there to get a quiet moment away from the kids and grade papers and relay their experiences to others looking for some insight. I was always the latter description. There were these moments where I just needed some rational adult conversation to keep me grounded and realize that all situations were not like the one I was in at a particular school. Sometimes just talking about the movie I saw over the weekend would suffice.

Well, now I do not live in the city anymore. I am located in a suburban area that is fairly upscale part of Pennsylvania. Presently, I am substitute teaching until I locate a full time position this fall. (Jobs are not so readily available out here. It is quite competative.) So, I get around to visiting many different teacher's lounges in this new environment. What a striking contrast to the conversations going on in the city!! The teachers still complain about students. However, what they complain about always seems like a gift to me. Sometimes their worst trouble is about little Johnny rolling his eyes because he was asked to line up. In my humble opinion, this is not really an incident worth recollecting in the teacher's lounge. It's something that can easily be corrected with a little quiet chat away from the other students. Back in the city, I used to get cursed out on a regular basis and called every name in the book. There was often some creative news ones in the mix. I was just happy if a kid said to me "F*&@ Ms. Bernstein" because at least they called me "Ms." To me, it showed respect among the most hideous comment. These were the things I was always grateful to discuss in the lounge. I would simply turn it into a joke because I knew it came from a student who was troubled and that student would not be disciplined by the school. The issue was not about calling me a name but about that student getting a certain kind of attention.

It's really all about perspective. Out in the burbs, teachers and adults are respected by the administration, parents, and the students. This is the not the case in the city. However, it doesn't mean that the suburban teachers' complaints are not valid. However, everytime I hear about their problems, I am dancing a little jig because I know what problems I used to have in the city. Therefore, I am thankful for each and everyone of my new challenges that I encounter in a school. Nothing, I do meaning nothing, seems so bad anymore. I'll take a little eye rolling any day of the week.

Question of the Day: What are some of your best stories from the teacher's lounge?