dannydmc

You know the worst thing in the world sometimes, is one of those days when you wake up in a great mood, fully rested for the first time in a week, and then the world conspires to piss you off at every turn! Today was one of those days. I was tired last night and collapsed into bed a bit after 11:30 and slept the entire night through except for a funny incident about 5:30 when my Dad tried to contact me through instant messanger. I'd left IM running all night and, accidently, left my speakers turned all the way up so that when the message came through it sounded the report of a rifle blasting through my room. I shot straight up, looking around, before I stumbled to the computer to turn down the speakers; I didn't have the heart to tell my Dad he'd woken me up.
So, I came to school looking forward to an easy day of giving tests (which I had smartly printed out the night before as to not hogg the printer in the morning), when I remembered that I had to speak to my former roomate about an incident involving students chewing tobacco and spitting on the floor. I was in the Dean's office when suddenly this woman, a Special Ed teacher, storms into the room in a whirl wind and starts reading me the riot act. Apparently she had been checking the records and noticed that a 'good' student hadn't passed my class last year and now wasn't eligable for basketball!
Well, to be honest with you, none of my students passed my English class last year. I make no bones about it, and don't try to hide the fact; I feel bad about it of course, but when your entire ciriculum and tests are written by the district and these same tests are required for passing, there isn't much you can do. Especially when every time I gave an assignment about a quarter of the kids would turn it in. As I said, I'm a rather honest man, and if anyone ever asks me how many of my students 'phased up' (to use district lingo) I'll be frank about it, no matter how it makes me look.
Naturally she asked, in an accusing matter, and I answered as I always did. This was a mistake, because suddenly I was being lambasted and being made to feel a failure all over again (which, when it comes to last year, isn't hard to do; I beat my self up rather badly over that one!). To make matters even worse, the Dean of Students and his Secretary is sitting in the room and getting a pretty entertaining show out of the deal I'm sure.
Even now, I'm not exactly sure what set this woman off. Up until today we'd gotten along just fine, and I'd even been known to speak quiet well of her on occasion. Its really pretty shocking. For my part I've decided to take the high road in the entire matter; I have made it a policy of mine throughout my life to not get involved in work place politics. I can play the game quiet masterfully when I have to, but it never seems to gain anything. I like harmony at work, and political plays do nothing but distrupt the precious team atmosophere and make everyone miserable. What ever fleeting power one gains from them, its never worth it to me. Which is why I've not mentioned the incident to anyone; the Dean knows, and in fact came in to sympathise later (he doesn't understand our ciriculum any better than I did last year; and I'd also been pretty generous with my time trying to explain it to him. I figure no one should have to go through what I did last year). I also made an oblique reference to it to one of my friends on staff, but didn't go into any real details (she's not a gossip by nature, which is why I felt safe to do so).
And so, although angry, I've more or less commited to the high road. That being said, this teacher has burnt every bridge she had with me, and I hope for her sake she doesn't make a point of crossing my path in the next several days. My tongue is sharp and my wit is acidic if given free reign; although I've made no plans to persue the matter, I won't be caught off guard next time, and shall defend myself.

*sighs*

I hate immaturity amongst staff just as much as amongst students.