Have you ever seen the movie Mean Girls? I love BFF team, but when I first joined the team I just thought I had walked into that movie. They've all been nice to me, but I was alarmed by how much they hated their former teammate. I never found a solid reason, and I was worried they'd hate me too. That didn't happen, but I did feel like my team was being rather mean to the resource teacher. I felt like it was easy for me to stay out of it because I don't have any kids qualifying for resource this year. I also had a hard time sticking up for her even though I wanted to.
Lately, I haven't really thought about any of this. I've been finding comments about other people much funnier and adding my own. I didn't really think that much about it because I figured I wasn't doing anything that would hurt anyone else.
Yesterday, we got our Reading fluency scores for third grade and across the board for third grade it was not good. We were frankly discussing the problem and solutions. We e-mailed the notes and ideas to our principal, our literacy specialist, and our team. We wrote in the e-mail what we thought needed to change about reading fluency interventions and what we needed to do. Today, though, we got a response telling us not to be so hard on the literacy specialist because she has had a hard year. She has.
The thing is that I didn't think the e-mail was harsh when we wrote it at all. I actually suggested copying the literacy specialist so it would seem like this was an open discussion between all of us.
I love my team this year, but there were certain things I hoped I would change about the chemistry of my team. Now, I wonder if I am just taking on the traits I thought I would change. I guess I should think of this as a wake-up call. Whatever the truth about that meeting was, I know that I haven't been as thoughtful of others recently as I should be. I've never been the "mean girl" and I won't start now. I have a really sharp tongue and I know that I have to watch what I say better. It's just not who I want to be.
On a positive note, as much as no one likes to be corrected, knowing that the principal took a stand against someone being targeted makes me trust him more. One thing I always look for in a leader is someone whose highest standard for the people under them is the way they treat others. I just think that is the right way to lead.
1 comment:
I think the fact that you suggested opening the email up to her shows that you aren't a "mean girl," just because it tells that you still thought about it.
That is a good sign in your principal, though.
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